Corvette Z06: Pinnacle sports car with racing heritage
Chevrolet Corvette has long carried the stars and stripes to glory in international and domestic motor sports competition. With 13 manufacturer championships and 9 Le Mans 24 GT class victories, “America’s Sports Car” is a force no matter what series they enter.
The iconography does not stop there, as a symbol of Corvette Racing success is an evolving performance package known as the ZO6. Even after five generations, it continues to lead the way in worldwide endurance racing via Chevrolet’s factory supported GT3-homologated customer car program.
Through Chevrolet’s persistence, ingenuity -- and a lot of V8 muscle -- the racing lineage of the ZO6 has always been a significant chapter in automotive history.
Even if its beginnings were a little more humble.
Zora’s Passion
Auto manufacturers were keeping a low profile in part due to what happened at the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the worst tragedy in motor sports history unfolded. During the race, French driver Pierre Levegh lost control of his racecar trying to avoid the veering machine of Mike Hawthorn. The resulting accident placed a dark cloud over the sport, beginning an era of apprehension for most vehicle manufacturers.
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Henry Ford II made the first public move back towards international endurance competition, entering Le Mans in 1962 and ushering in a reboot of American participation.
At the time, manufacturers investigated different ways of appealing to a younger audience, and Ford felt they had fallen a bit behind. The now famous GT Le Mans program changed that entirely, referenced in the popular 2019 movie, Ford vs. Ferrari.
General Motors was still cautious, although their hunger to get back involved was also growing, as behind-the-scenes endurance racing projects were well underway.
Zora Arkus-Duntov’s appetite was especially strong. Seeing what Ford was doing, the former Russian immigrant and leading Corvette engineer came up with a special factory-racing package for the inaugural second-generation Stingray.
Did You Know? 1963 was the only year Chevrolet offered a ZO6 package for its production-based Corvettes until 2001. Pristine versions of the originals have recently sold for more than $1 million at collector car auctions.
As legend would have it, Arkus-Duntov convinced Chevrolet leadership to wade back into the competition waters, creating a Regular Production Order ‘ZO6’ (Zora Option 6) for the 1963 production car. Customers could check a couple of boxes and order direct from the factory a thicker front anti-roll bar, bigger dampers, stiffer springs, along with a larger 36.5-gallon fuel tank for good measure. They were race-ready right off the assembly line.
Wildly sought after today, only 199 ZO6 packages sold that first year with a scant 78 ‘tanker’ cars among that group, making both iterations some of the rarest and most valuable American vehicles today.
Race Ready
At the outset, three of the first four ZO6 coupes from the St. Louis assembly went immediately to Mickey Thompson’s Los Angeles race shop for testing. That October, the ZO6 racecars -- which did receive a small bit of additional on-track prep -- raced at a now-shuttered Riverside International Raceway road course for the annual L.A. Times Grand Prix.
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Did You Know? The ZO6 package was expensive for its time, adding a whopping $1,800 to the overall price of the vehicle. A base 1963 Corvette Stingray started at around $4,000, which is why the big tank option was sold separately, reducing the purchase price.
It was a HUGE success! Driver Doug Hooper took the new ZO6 to victory lane its first time out, outlasting the favorite Ford Cobras. The result was a statement from the factory, as well as a nice bump for the popularity of “America’s Sports Car.”
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Triumphant Return
In 2001, as the fifth (C5) generation Corvette rounded into form, Chevrolet re-birthed the ZO6 as a special performance offering.
While the base model outputted at 350 horsepower, the highly tuned, fixed roof ZO6 opened at 385 horsepower with 385-foot pounds of torque. Chevrolet evolved its popular LS1 V8 into a fire-breathing 5.7-liter LS6, adding a performance camshaft, new steel valves, increased valve overlap and lift, as well more durable alloy pistons and higher flow rates in both the manifold and head designs.
Did You Know? The 2002 ZO6 had an increase of 20 horsepower to 405. Chevrolet added an even stiffer, lighter valve train and a more robust camshaft to support that extra heft.
According to GM Authority, the C5 Corvette ZO6 retained its heritage well and was “…designed as the track-focused model of the lineup and featured a bevy of performance bits to back up its claim.”
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That was just the beginning. A new, more powerful engine brought needed FE4 suspension updates and available fortified anti-roll bars, shocks and rear springs to handle increases in torque and power.
It also necessitated sturdier setups in the rear, with an enhanced clutch, overhauled six-speed manual gearbox and bigger driveshaft. Performance 18-inch rears and 17-inch fronts were specifically designed and tested by Goodyear to fit the C5 ZO6 perfectly, replacing run-flats with more flexible sidewalls.
Did You Know? Chevrolet offered a limited number of fixed-roof C5 Corvettes in 1999 and 2000, adding 12% additional chassis rigidity over the base models. More than 6,000 fixed-roof models sold over the two-year run.
These lighter weight wheels removed 23 pounds from the car, taking a sizable chunk out of what engineers needed to reduce the overall curb weight by 38 pounds.
All of this was to say that Chevrolet outdid themselves with this future collectable. It even received high praise from Automobile Magazine, saying, “…it’s deeply pleasing to see American automakers doing a job as well as their rivals, but doing it more affordably.”
Now, the base C5 ZO6 package started at $47,500 off the showroom. If you wanted the next package up – the addition of a multi-disc CD player – that was just over $48,000 at purchase. Those were the only two options available for the trim.
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The Road to Le Mans is Full of Corvettes
A new generation – the sixth to be exact – meant another high-performance Corvette was on its way. Debuting in 2006 with successive offerings until the end of the run, the C6 ZO6 took its on-track acumen to the next level.
A lightweight, aluminum space frame reduced the car’s curb weight by 136 pounds over the standard version’s steel structure, allowing Corvette engineers to stuff a 7.0-liter, 505 horsepower V8 into the front. Known as the LS7, Chevrolet had created a new standard.
True to its original lineage, this iteration developed alongside the Corvette Racing program at Pratt Miller, as the factory C6.R racecars shared much technology with the road-going vehicles. For instance, engineers developed a race-tested, dry-sump system to handle the sheer size of the LS7 engine for the road-going model.
That impressed MotorTrend, who pointed out just how much-advanced technology in the Corvette ZO6 production car had been inspired by racing.
“The engine is filled with stuff that would have been considered exotic on a racecar just a few years ago. Titanium rods and intake valves, sodium-filled exhaust valves, dry sump oiling, and CNC-ported aluminum heads are stock. So are pressed-in cylinder liners, a dual-pattern cam with .588/.593 lift, and 12 valve angles. The weight-saving measures gave us a device that tipped the scales at just 3,352 lbs., including the driver. It makes the ZR-1 mentioned earlier feel sedate by comparison.”
Then came 2012, when the ZO7 performance package was unleashed. It had more of everything – including on-track performance bits with additional carbon fiber, adaptive dampers, high-end carbon ceramic rotors and newly designed Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires. With a few lighter engine parts from the 638-horsepower ZR1, the ZO7-packaged cars were just that much quicker than its factory brethren.
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Even More?
Chevrolet continued to race up the horsepower charts in 2015, introducing a 6.2-liter, 650-horsepower monster for the seventh-generation C7 Corvette ZO6. A more powerful option even over the C6 ZR1, the newest ZO6 had a wider appeal too with the addition of an automatic transmission and convertible versions for the first time.
The final front-engine Corvette generation had some versatility too, with adjustable aero pieces, carbon ceramic brakes and updated Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. So well received, it made the world stand up and notice, as numerous media outlets touted the vehicle, often saying that it was the best value for money of any high-end sports car out there. Car & Driver may have echoed those sentiments the best, however.
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“A line that includes a 650-hp thunder wagon with the sophistication and poise of the world’s best sports cars. There, we said it. The ZO6 must be ranked among the world’s best. You know that we here at Car and Driver are not idle flatterers, our job being to find the faults for you in haste, before you have to live with them at leisure over 72 months of payments. However, the ZO6 completely fulfills its mission to be a super Corvette. It is an accessible American fantasy intended to inject joy and fascination and, let’s face it, a healthy dose of awe into the driving experience, such that there’s not much left to shout about except details.
Oh… the manual transmission also delivers, as Car & Driver said, “… riding a ZO6 through the first four gears feels like putting a saddle on Superman.”
Like the generation before it, Corvette Racing heavily influenced the C7 ZO6. Both generations share lightweight aluminum space frames, although with the evolution manufacturing technology, the new spot-welded frame were much more rigid and durable, improving grip on both the race car and production models.
Other shared platforms between racing and production include the cooling element and aerodynamic items, increasing aerodynamics through front splitters, rocker panels, along with updated front-and-rear brake ducts.
Its road presence alone of the C7 ZO6 is still quite impressive to this day.
Not a bad way to end the front-engine era for Corvette.
Getting Exotic
The game changed entirely in 2023, as GM joined the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche in developing its first ever mid-engine sports car.
While the great Zora Arkus-Duntov has been gone for a while, his legacy lived on with the introduction of the C8. As hinted earlier in this story, Duntov was working on a rear-engine concept known as CERV and CERV II or (Chevrolet Engineering Research Vehicle). Development as early as 1959, with the goal of eventually competing at Le Mans with a factory supported mid-engine racecar. While the testing was fruitful on many fronts, more established racing partnerships won out.
The re-directed racing budget found its way back to the Can-Am Series and Jim Hall’s famed Chaparral program, the most popular form of motor sport in America at the time. Subsequent rear-engine test projects continued through the ‘90s.
Fast forward to the present day, the eighth-generation Corvette is now a mid-engine powerhouse with the ZO6 platform comparing favorably to most exotic cars on the market. With a very different, more high-pitched sound from the most-powerful, road-going Chevrolet engine ever built, the C8 checks all the boxes for supercar enthusiasts.
To best illustrate the C8 Z06’s bonafides, Car & Driver had this to say:
“Neighbors two blocks away agree that the 670-hp Chevrolet Corvette ZO6's cold startup screams good morning, America! The set of pipes attached to Chevy's naturally aspirated, flat-plane crank 5.5-liter V-8 is nothing short of symphonious, and its parade of horsepower and circular-saw exhaust note celebrates the existence of the greatest Corvette ever built. The ZO6 is the most aggressive version of the Corvette Stingray and, although it's still a worthy daily driver, its sharper set of track day tools has turned what was already a great car into a predator.”
While much had already been written about the ZO6, you can’t ignore the excitement this car still offers to everyone who sees it. That is not to mention the driving experience with Zero-to-60 (mph) times in the 2.6-second range, 1.22 ‘Gs’ of lateral force in the corners and redline of 8,600 rpms. Numbers that rival anything coming from Italy, Germany and Britain these days.
There are three option packages as well – 1LZ, 2LZ and 3LZ, each adding a little bit of comfort and technology along the way. At the upper end, the interior offers a leather-wrapped steering wheel, instrument panel, door trim and console. Suede leather is also available on the upper trim as well.
The current C8 ZO6 is a pinnacle sports car in every sense of the word. Born of its racing heritage with a few exotic materials engineered for good measure.
We’d say that’s worth a firework or two.
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