Corvettes for Sale: A 2012 Corvette ZR1 PDE is the Only Thing Better than a Purple V Wagon

Like most red-blooded American males, your author and his dad like to keep our conversations nice and simple. We mostly talk about sports, sometimes throw in a pinch of current events, and we like to serve heavy helpings of things that transcend generations, like our mutual appreciation of Salma Hayek. One of our favorite topics, though, is the American automobile. When it comes to the modern domestic performance cars that we both love, we even have a game of sorts that we play. Once in a while, we both open up our respective favorites lists Auto Trader, eBay Motors, and the like, and we make our best Steve Harvey impression – I’ve got a good one for you – and we try to one-up the cars that the other has recently saved.

The last time this went down, I was sure that I had him! One of the most unlikely cars fielded by any of the Detroit “big three” in recent memory was the wagon version of the second-gen Cadillac CTS-V. Even though the second coming of GM’s top performance family hauler was in production from 2009-2015, the long roof body style was only available in the “midyears” of 2011-14. In chronological order, Cadillac minted 395, 575, 416, and 378 examples during that time span, for a grand total of 1,764 “Vagons.” By far, the most memorable and valuable examples are the 514 (29.1%) that were spec’d with a manual transmission. The final year cars are also notable, not just because they carried the lowest production number, but because of some testing irregularities that happened while publications were saying their goodbyes to this enthusiast legend. While the ’14s were officially rated at the same 556 HP as their predecessors, they were noticeably quicker in testing. Per Motor Trend, “It was about 45 degrees out that day, and the chief engineer of the CTS-V said: “This is perfect weather for the supercharger. The cars will probably be making 580 horsepower”… by a very odd coincidence the Camaro ZL1 features the same LSA engine as the CTS-V, and it makes 580 hp. I asked Caddy why they mentioned such a specific number. All I got in response was a smile. So either this particular car is goosed up, or all the 2014s are.” There’s a good chance that all of this is a bunch of hogwash, but it at least makes a little sense, and, more importantly, it added to the mystique of an already legendary enthusiast machine.

So, back to present day where I had uncovered a final-year manual V-Wagon. On top of that already needle-in-a-haystack luck, this was one of just 11 ever painted Majestic Plum Metallic (just two of those came with three pedals!), and of those, it is one of just four that feature the desirable “Ultraview” sunroof. I’m going a bit long on the car that isn’t the star of this post, but, needless to say, I was feeling confident, and if you’re into such things, I highly recommend reading the entire listing, because this particular unit’s story gets even more interesting, AND (subtle but unfortunate pinstriping aside) it comes with a lot of bonuses!

Anyway, Pa Sommers gave my Caddy its due and tracked it down to save it to his own Cars.com app, but then he turned over his phone so that I could see his greatest discovery. As the screen turned, there it was, sitting in front the familiar facade of Corvette World Houston, the best C6 ZR1 to hit the open market in nearly two years. It’s an Arctic White over Ebony 2012 sitting halfway between 14 and 15,000 miles, but the real party trick of VIN 121 is the PDE package! Now, there’s nothing cooler than a rarer, faster version of an already special and fast car, and the ZR1 PDE checks every Corvette nerd box multiple times over.

During its five-year life cycle, GM pieced together 4,695 examples of its LS9-powered halo model. After the Z07/Carbon did its job of closing the gap between the Z06 and ZR1 a little too well in 2011, PDE was brought to the order guide for 2012 to give the top dog its edge back. Under PDE, the 638-horse heart of the beast was left untouched, but improvements included black “Cup” wheels that cut 12 lbs. from the bottom line vs. the popular 20-spoke chrome units. PDE – along with the second-year Z07 package – also ushered in the era of “cheater” semi-slick race tires as factory equipment with the inclusion of the original Michelin Pilot Sport Cups. Lightly updated aero, including the tell-tale black full-length spoiler, round out the changes that boosted the ’12 ahead of the ’09 by over six seconds on the Nürburgring (a production car record at the time!).

Just 375 PDE cars were ever built, and this is one of 184 from its first year of availability. On top of the PDE enhancements, 2012 also scored ‘Vettes interior upgrades across the board, including re-engineered seats and niceties like color-selectable stitching, adding to the desirability of the final two years of an already highly coveted model. It is also one of just 43 white ’12 ZR1s, earning the hue before it was selected as the official paint of the 60th Anniversary Special Edition – a choice that would lead to a nearly 400% increase in popularity the following year – and one of a total of 422 total AW C6 ZR1s. Surprisingly, the Texas ‘Vette Specialists are only asking $6,000 more for this American supercar than the V Wagon that I unearthed!

After all of this, I’m only certain about two things; 1. Salma is truly ageless (this woman is 56!), and our early ’10s supercharged GM muscle would make an extremely hard-to-beat two-car garage! I think we can all agree on point 1, but be sure to chime in below with your thoughts on which Sommers found the best car in this week’s for-sale ads!

Source:
CorvetteWorldDallas.com

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