Z06 In Switzerland
Americans are early morning people, so it was no surprise that the GM Europe press briefing at the Geneva Salon, scheduled for 8:30 a.m., started on time. The 7-litre 2006 Z06 was already rotating on the inclined turntable when I arrived at the Corvette stand half an hour previously, and I was able to enjoy a cup of the very best Swiss coffee and breakfast pastries, courtesy of GM.
Corvette holds the prime spot, along with Cadillac, in the east end of the Palexpo exhibition building at Europe's prime motor show, with Saab on one side and Opel on the other. Corvette is no longer a Chevrolet in Europe, but a brand in its own right. The Chevrolet banner now hangs over the Daewoo range, whose Korean grilles now carry a gold Bow Tie, and their new advertisements show the Bow Tie shimmering in gold over the clever slogan, "It's a big plus." If you look at it carefully, maybe it is.
Chief Engineer Dave Hill, freshly tanned from skiing in Zermatt the previous weekend, was on hand all day to discuss the car with his usual endless enthusiasm. It wasn't lost on European journalists present that he was there to present the Z06, which was proudly announced as the most powerful car GM had ever built. The yellow Z06 on display had a VIN ending in 6X7786EX, denoting it as an experimental/preproduction model. Sixteen years ago, in March, 1989, at this very same Salon, I watched as Dave McLellan unveiled his finest achievement: the 375hp Corvette ZR-1. Like the new 7-litre Z06 on the turntable today, it was a bright yellow preproduction EX car, and I believe the same car that GM retained and still exhibits. Its wider rear wheels and tires, broader rear body with special doors, and unique tail distinguished the '90 ZR-1. For 1991, a narrower version of that tail was adopted across the range, disappointing for the buyer who had almost doubled the price of his Corvette by specifying the four-cam 32-valve engine, and might expect it to be better visually differentiated as well.
A lesson was learned, and the new Z06 is dramatically different from the standard car, with bigger and wider wheels, a unique nose, and fender panels. Hopefully, this time it will not cost double the price, given that the extra 100 hp the new LS7 offers is just 25 percent more than the LS2.
Experimental
Because the LT5 engine of the '90 ZR-1 was developed by Lotus here in England, it was convenient for some associated design work to be done here at the same time. Specialist design company Hawtal-Whiting did the external styling of the new engine, and was then commissioned to design the nose, tail, and wheels for the '91 Corvette. To do this, GM shipped over at least one EX VIN-numbered '88 automatic coupe on which all the new components were tested. In 1995, I was offered an '88 Dark Red Metallic coupe with a six-character VIN beginning with EX, and bought it.
Everyone knows that experimental and pilot line cars are no longer sold to the public, but we are a foreign country and this one made it out of the design subcontractor's gate and was sold in Auto Trader. Almost every component under the hood carried GM Experimental stickers, and the centre caps of the 17-inch wheel used the large gas filler-flap emblems instead of the smaller emblems used in production. I will always regret selling it; but one can't keep them all, and I sold it to a French dealer. In an incredible postscript to this story, the third French owner bought new front pads for this car from Eckler's, but found they would not fit. When he called me for advice about this problem and gave me that EX VIN, I told him the exciting news about his unique car.