Pick of the Day: Attractively priced performance

Of all the high-performance cars of the last 20 or so years, the one that at the time most surprised me with its sheer ability and bang for the buck was the C5 Chevrolet Corvette Z06.

This was the first car in years that really put the Corvette on equal footing with the best that Europe had to offer.

Doubt that? Then consider this: When the 2002 Z06 was released it had 405 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 400 pound-feet of  torque at 4,800 rpm. This allowed the 2002 Corvette Z06 in stock form to hit 60 mph in 3.9 seconds, to cover the quarter mile in 12.4 seconds, and to reach a top speed knocking at the door of 170 mph.

But what was most amazing to me was that the Z06 Corvette offered this kind of performance for a base price in 2002 of only $49,128.

The great things for buyers now is that there have been not one, not two, but three new generations of the Corvette since the last C5 Z06 rolled off the production line, and those cars can be offered today for prices that are just as remarkable as they were when those cars were brand new.

The Pick of the Day is one of these cars, a 2002 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (click on the link to see the ad) finished in black paint over a black leather interior and being advertised on ClassicCars.com.

According to the dealer offering this stunning car, it has covered only 46k miles from new. The only modification is an upgraded stereo head unit, though the original stereo comes with the car.

I am a bit baffled as to why you can still buy these amazing sports cars for such little money — this one is being offered for $32,000. The top price for any C5 Z06 on our site is around $50,000 and that is for one new in the wrapper.

This car offers the same levels of performance and is priced very aggressively, likely due to being an older car with higher miles. The only real issue with these cars is that some of them have been known to break valve springs. Being that this is a pushrod engine, that is not an expensive issue and many have already had this issue addressed.

The only other thing to know about these cars is that you can find yourself destroying tires at a pretty quick rate if you drive it like you stole it. These tires are expensive due to their size and necessary performance levels, so keep that in mind after doing a few burnouts.

The other thing about the C5 Z06 is that it really the last analog Corvette model. This makes the car a driver’s car in the purest sense of the word and this car would work as a track car as easily as it would as a daily driver.

The asking price for this 2002 Corvette Z06 is only $32,000 and if you can find a higher performance sports car for that price, don’t forget the service costs as well, please let me know in the comments section.

To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.