| Convertible Z06 |
 Notwithstanding Corvette's early spotty racing history, their presence wasn't missed at race tracks, as they are usually loud and always a challenger. Were it not for Corvette's rich racing heritage, the auto never would became GM's radiance auto. Not like the 50's when GM declared, "We don't race cars", the '80's and '90's saw many drag racing and NASCAR factory racing efforts from Oldsmobile and Chevrolet.
By the time the C5 came along, GM was certainly racing. Race car builders Pratt & Miller were employed to help design, develop, and build the C5-R. By '99, the 1st no holds barred, factory-supported Corvette racing team hit the track. The 1st year was coarse with two finishes in five races.In 2k the team picked up two wins in eight races. Then in '01 the team took eight wins in ten races, including the final prize of winning Le Mans for the 1st time. For 2002 the C5-R team won ten of eleven races, including Le Mans. In 2003 the team modified its colours from the familiar bright yellow paint to dark blue with white and red hood and top stripes. Competition was particularly wild in '03 and the team "only" won five out of ten races and came in 2nd at Le Mans. Back in the world of production Corvettes, work was way below way on the C6 Corvette. The C5 had been so well designed that by '99 Corvette engineers had done just about everything they wished to do with the C5. It did not take much persuasion for Chief Corvette Engineer Dave Hill to support an all-new Corvette with a projected launch date to coincide with the 2003 fiftieth anniversary. 2001 wasn't a good year for GM and the economy, so that the suggested C6 was put on hold. When the C6 was ultimately given a green light, the projected introduction was as an '05 model. The advent of a new Corvette offered a challenge to Corvette planners ; how does one generate interest in the year of a car's production when consumers know a new auto is coming soon? Answer ; make a "special edition." The last C3 and C4 Corvettes offered special editions. So planners tapped into the success of the C5-R racers and offered the Memorial Edition option available on all 3 Corvette models ; the coupe, convertible, and the Z06. All '04 Memorial Edition Corvettes had special Le Mans Blue paint with bold white strips that ran over the hood dome, top, and the head of the rear deck, with thin red strips on the outside of both white stripes. Included were special badges, embroidery on the head restrainers, and polished Z06 wheels with special center caps. Since carbon fiber is a standard material used on race autos, the Memorial Edition was the 1st production Corvette to employ a carbon fiber hood. You can see the carbon fiber weave between the white and red stripes. Coupe and convertible editions had a two-tone shale interior, while the Z06 had an all-black interior. To sweeten the deal, each performance and luxury option was included. The coupe and convertible option cost $3,700, while the Z06 version cost $4,335. A total of 6,899 units were built, accounting for 20-percent of all '04 Vette sales. The Z06 version was the most pricey Corvette in '04, costing roughly $13,500 over the base Corvette, for a total of just below $58,000. Therefore to get back to our original question ; is the '04 Memorial Edition Z06 "the best" of the C5 Corvettes? Not to lessen other C5s, but this package had trim, paint, and the unique carbon fiber hood, all of which were available only in '04 with this option package. Hence if I should pick a Corvette that represents the pinnacle of production, performance Corvettes, I'd vote for the '04 Memorial Edition Z06. I am certain that if Zora Arkus-Duntov was still running the Corvette show, he'd have wanted "more" for the Memorial Edition - at least front and back spoilers, a domed hood, driving lights... Ah, now I am getting carried away. |