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Introduction
For over a half a century, and through five distinct generations the
American performance automobile market has been led by one name. A name
that has come to stand for cutting edge style and technology combined with
brutal competition crushing performance. That name, which is recognized
worldwide, is, of course, Corvette. While the Corvette has always been known
for its ground pounding performance, over the past five generations there
has often been one model of Corvette that stood above the others in the
specific model year and generation. The eighties had the L-82; the 90s had
the ZR1, and beginning with the C5 Corvette, the Z06 became that supreme
performance model of the Corvette. It encompassed everything that the high
performance Corvettes have stood for and with the new generation of the
Corvette, the all new C6 Z06 has promised the performance car buying public
that when behind the wheel of the new Z06, there are few cars that will,
driver willing, get little more than a good, quick look at the rear end.
But heartbreaking performance is not the only feature that the engineers
focused on when this new work of art was being designed. To keep pace with
prior generations of the Corvette, some fairly radical changes were made to
the exterior of the car to help differentiate it from the previous
generation. These broad changes include a departure from
the forty plus year traditional look of the hidden, flip-up style
headlights. Another major change is the use of some unusual body materials,
unusual for the Corvette, that is. The Corvette has been known throughout
its existence for having been made from fiberglass body panels and with the
new Z06, the front fenders have abandoned the fiberglass and gone to the new
craze of carbon fiber. Many of the new features of the new Z06 are taken
from the Chevrolet backed C5-R Race Team, such as the venting system for
the brakes, and these race like features have previously not been offered on
a Corvette for sale to the general public. But, as great as the new look
and build quality of the new Z06 may be, it is the asphalt ripping
performance that will surely get the attention of everyone in the
performance market.
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