2003 Chevrolet Corvette Z06

The Z06 is for sports car buffs who can't be satisfied by the standard Corvette's 350 hp and 375 lb.-ft. of tire-smoking torque. You know, the ones who live in mortal fear of being blown off by the occasional 500-hp Ferrari or Viper.


The 2003 Z06's 5.7-liter LS6 V-8 cranks out 405 hp and 400 lb.-ft. of torque, enough to launch it from 0 to 60 mph in four seconds flat, and a tick over 12 seconds through the quarter-mile at 116 mph. Standard '03 Corvette coupes and convertibles are good for "only" about 4.5 seconds from 0 to 60 and 12.8 seconds in the quarter-mile at 114 mph. By further contrast, the heavier, more brutal Viper hits 60 mph in about four seconds and blasts through the quarter-mile in 12.2 seconds at nearly 120 mph.


Are those comparisons important to you? And do you need that performance at a semi-affordable price? If so, then this is your sports car because it delivers that performance—plus legitimate super-car handling and braking and near-luxury quiet, comfort and convenience—for about $51,000, a price unmatched by anything comparable on the planet.

The front air inlets have wire mesh grilles, and both the brake calipers and the LS6 engine cover are red to differentiate the Z06 from standard Corvettes.

Introduced in 2001 as a lightweight, ultra-performance coupe with a 6-speed manual transmission and a new 385-hp LS6 version of the 5.7-liter LS1 Corvette engine, the Z06 was the closest factory Vette in modern times to a track-ready racer. Calling it "simply the quickest, best handling production Corvette ever," Chevy said it was "aimed directly at diehard performance enthusiasts." For 2002, it got a 20-hp bump and a slew of additional refinements.


The Z06 designation honors the efforts of Zora Arkus-Duntov, Corvette's legendary first chief engineer who in 1963 created the original Z06 package, which was intended to make the then-new Sting Ray race-ready right out of the showroom. The current 405-hp LS6 engine is named for another Duntov creation, the 425-horse (gross) LS6 big-block V-8 introduced in 1971. Only 188 Corvettes were sold with that original LS6 engine, which—second only in power to the legendary L88 racing engine available from 1967 to 1969—occupies a special niche in the Corvette legend.