TV providers, State Farm Insurance, and Frank Fritz of American Pickers fame; the lot of them are Champions of the bundle. You can count your author among their ranks as well. I love the idea of buying TWO vehicles together in order to get a better price on both of them, so every time I find one of my Holy Grail cars, I scour the dealership’s inventory for something that I could possibly talk a loved one into buying at the same time to score both of us a deal – even with relatively modest means, this tactic has actually panned out for me on more than one occasion.
This week, one of the five or so vehicular niches that I follow most closely produced a juicy, succulent piece of fruit. We’ve never really gotten over the awesomeness of the 2006-2013 Corvette Z06 around here. There’s just nothing like the Z’s modern take on the fabled 427-cube engine displacement, a refreshing lack of irritating but now-ubiquitous electronic nannies, and a mandatory driver’s first, no-posers-allowed, manual transmission. It’s quite possible that America’s Sports Car peaked with the C6 Z06, and what I’m most interested in is the peak of the peak – Zs fitted with RPO Z07, the Ultimate Performance Package. This option box scored the 7.0L monster access to the parts bin of its newer, supercharged sibling, which it was able to leverage to the tune of a 20-second improvement (and just three seconds off the ZR1’s time) in Nürburgring lap time. Just 992 of these Super Zs were ever pieced together – with a total run of 27,995 units, these Z07s account for just 3.5% of C6Z production! The scarcest of these unicorns is the 2013, of which just 83 left Kentucky before the C7 changeover.
Today’s hero car is one of those final-year examples, and along with the ideal low, but not too low that you’d hesitate to drive it 13,638 miles, it brings even more desirability to the table as it is also one of the 103 60th Anniversary Edition Z06s made which also automatically puts it in a club of 651 (128 in ’13) Arctic White examples extant. Capping things off is a Borla axle-back exhaust system and the added perk of never having its full-length sticker stripes installed.
Before the incompatibility of this White on Blue beauty and my bank account truly sank in, it was off to the inventory tab of its host dealer, West Coast Exotic Cars’ web page, to find an ideal bundling partner. From there, it didn’t take long for another last-year Special Edition Chevy to pique my interest.
Now, with my little platform, I’ve been pretty transparent about my displeasure with Chevrolet’s weak-ass (to the point that it’s insulting) sendoff for the World’s best-driving Pony Car, but the Black Panther Collector’s Edition is the adieu that Camaro fans have to live with, and as such, all 350 examples of the top-tier ZL1 version are sure to be appreciation wunderkinds. Even though it is fitted with the traditionally less-valuable 10-speed automatic, WCEC’s 14-mile sample will go down as one of the most notable in the short-lived ’24 run because it is number 350/350! That’s right, the final matte black Panther (should the ‘Vette pinch this color for 2025?) made is available right now in brand new condition! If you’re interested, you’ll have to inquire on price; but before you do, you should know that one of the Garage 56 ZL1s sold for the astonishing sum of $260,000 on BAT last month, and dealers often hesitate to negotiate on specialty items like this, even if a buyer has an affinity for the art of the bundle!
Source:
West Coast Exotic Cars
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I saw a matte black Black Panther Camaro at a Cars and Coffee and I didn’t think that color looked good at all on the Camaro and personally I don’t think that color would look good on the Corvette either.
Thanks for chiming in, Robert. I’m honestly not that into the all-matte look, either, but I also think the Panther’s biggest visual problem is its use of the standard ZL1’s gray wheels. They just look “off” when paired with the 1LE wing and make the paint look more like an aftermarket wrap that’s been applied to a base car.
With matte black appearing in limited quantities on this Camaro and the Cadillac Blackwing twins, I’d say there’s a non-zero chance that GM also pulls it over for Vette duty—likely as part of some kind of commemorative edition as they did here and on the Sebring IMSA Edition CT4-V.
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