Ken
Gone but not forgotten
From the Louisville Courier-Journal:
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
500 -hp Corvette Z06 may scream bargain at $65,800
By Robert Schoenberger
rschoenberger@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
It goes from 0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds.
Its top speed is about 200 miles per hour.
At $65,800 some are calling it a bargain.
General Motors announced the price tag for the high-performance Z06 version of its Chevrolet Corvette on Monday, making it the cheapest sports car on the market with more than 500 horsepower.
"A lot of people were expecting it to be in the high $70,000 range or even into the 80s," said Jim Hall, an analyst with consulting firm Auto Pacific. "Sixty-five thousand is astonishing, and it all but guarantees it will sell out in its first year. Probably its first few years."
Built in Bowling Green, Ky., alongside traditional Corvette models, the Z06 has an aluminum frame instead of steel. Its body panels are made of carbon fiber rather than heavier fiberglass. Its 7-liter V-8 engine, hand-built in Michigan, is a liter larger than the traditional Corvette's.
Russ Coleman, a Louisville small-business owner who races a Porsche some weekends, called the Z06 a great deal.
"There's a lot of bang for your buck there. You could put that car against anything out there," Coleman said.
He added that he would be interested in buying a Z06, but "I have two kids and a growing business."
The closest competitor to the Z06 in terms of price and performance is Dodge's Viper. The $85,745 Viper has a bigger engine but the same horsepower as the Corvette. Hall and other analysts also said the Viper is less comfortable to drive.
The Z06 is not only significantly cheaper than the Viper, it may be within reach for drivers considering traditional Corvettes, which start at about $45,000 and climb to about $52,000 for a convertible, said GM spokesman Travis Parman.
European sports cars from Ferrari and Porsche offer the Z06's power at six-figure prices, Hall said. Parman said the Z06 gets to 60 mph a tenth of a second faster than the Ferrari F-430, which costs $170,000.
Hall said that despite its great performance numbers, the Z06 has its drawbacks. His biggest complaints are the seats, which he said aren't as comfortable as comparable vehicles, and a dashboard that relies on plastic more than the wood and metal inlays often found in luxury cars. Although it improved with the Corvette's redesign last year, "It's still not a $50,000 interior," he said.
He also said the car will likely sell for far more than the manufacturer's suggested retail price.
"Dealers set the final price, and they could still ask $75,000 or $80,000 for this and get it," Hall said.
The Z06 will go on sale this fall. Parman would not release production plans, but he noted that Chevrolet sold 5,000 Z06 versions of the 2004 Corvette, the last year that a high-performance Z06 was available.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
500 -hp Corvette Z06 may scream bargain at $65,800
By Robert Schoenberger
rschoenberger@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
It goes from 0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds.
Its top speed is about 200 miles per hour.
At $65,800 some are calling it a bargain.
General Motors announced the price tag for the high-performance Z06 version of its Chevrolet Corvette on Monday, making it the cheapest sports car on the market with more than 500 horsepower.
"A lot of people were expecting it to be in the high $70,000 range or even into the 80s," said Jim Hall, an analyst with consulting firm Auto Pacific. "Sixty-five thousand is astonishing, and it all but guarantees it will sell out in its first year. Probably its first few years."
Built in Bowling Green, Ky., alongside traditional Corvette models, the Z06 has an aluminum frame instead of steel. Its body panels are made of carbon fiber rather than heavier fiberglass. Its 7-liter V-8 engine, hand-built in Michigan, is a liter larger than the traditional Corvette's.
Russ Coleman, a Louisville small-business owner who races a Porsche some weekends, called the Z06 a great deal.
"There's a lot of bang for your buck there. You could put that car against anything out there," Coleman said.
He added that he would be interested in buying a Z06, but "I have two kids and a growing business."
The closest competitor to the Z06 in terms of price and performance is Dodge's Viper. The $85,745 Viper has a bigger engine but the same horsepower as the Corvette. Hall and other analysts also said the Viper is less comfortable to drive.
The Z06 is not only significantly cheaper than the Viper, it may be within reach for drivers considering traditional Corvettes, which start at about $45,000 and climb to about $52,000 for a convertible, said GM spokesman Travis Parman.
European sports cars from Ferrari and Porsche offer the Z06's power at six-figure prices, Hall said. Parman said the Z06 gets to 60 mph a tenth of a second faster than the Ferrari F-430, which costs $170,000.
Hall said that despite its great performance numbers, the Z06 has its drawbacks. His biggest complaints are the seats, which he said aren't as comfortable as comparable vehicles, and a dashboard that relies on plastic more than the wood and metal inlays often found in luxury cars. Although it improved with the Corvette's redesign last year, "It's still not a $50,000 interior," he said.
He also said the car will likely sell for far more than the manufacturer's suggested retail price.
"Dealers set the final price, and they could still ask $75,000 or $80,000 for this and get it," Hall said.
The Z06 will go on sale this fall. Parman would not release production plans, but he noted that Chevrolet sold 5,000 Z06 versions of the 2004 Corvette, the last year that a high-performance Z06 was available.
