2001
Chevrolet Corvette Restoration Kit
Historical
Backgroun~.
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The 47-year history
of
the CorvetteiS::packed with stories and legends,
and the Z06 and LS6 designattonsthat tOday's Corvette Team has
. chosen to iderltify the hottest GorveHe to-date and its 385-hp engine
are
notnew.
TheYIiIJ;e
terms frornColVette's glorious past, and it was
precisely for that
'f~~~O~l
that thesedes1gnatjons were chosen - to.
recognize
and
pa.Yhon:ia.ge
to
the significant accomplishments
of
past Corvette Teams.
Zora
Du~to~'~:
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....
TodaY'sZ06
isthe·e'i~~tidr1.~.to·riCePtfirst
put forward' by
tlie
I~gendary
Zora Arkus-Duntov.
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1964?GMwaso.QsQn.o;t~En\u~omobile
Manufacturers Association's ban on all forms
of
competitive
activity,:.a.ban
..
that.ha<f6e~Jn
effect~in~e1957,
and Zora was chafing under its restrictions. As every
student
bf"C:orvette
.histDry.
knows, Zora dellghted
in.
finding
Ways
to circumvent authority and go fast at
the same time.
In
1963
this.
rebellious streak manifested itself
in
the form
of
the Z06 RPO (Regular
Production Optio.n)
..
, apacka.g.e specificalrydesigned for competition-minded Corvette buyers who could
order:a.r~ce:.rE')ady
mOdel
with just
one
check
of
an option box.
The Z06 RPO. debuted on what was then a startling new Corvette,
the
1963 "split-window" Sting Ray
coupe, a car that would go down
in
Corvette annals as a aefining moment
in
more ways than one.
The Z06 package was not a cheap date
in
those days. It added $1,818.45 to the Sting Ray's $4,257.00
base price.
In
addition, Z06 required $661.75 in forced content, including the optional fuel injection
($430.40), four-speed manual transmission ($188.03) and Positraction rear axle ($43.05). All together it
resulted
in
additional option costs
of
$2,480.20,
or
58-percent
of
the Sting Ray's base price.
Includl:Kl
in
the Z06 package were AI-Fin power drum brakes with sintered-metallic linings (four-wheel disc
brakes
would not be offered until the 1965 model year), heavy-duty front and rear stabilizer bars, stronger
shocks, much stiffer-than-stock springs, a dual master brake cylinder, and a long-distance 36.5 gallon gas
tank for endurance racing.
As a reflection
·of
Zora's determination that the Sting Ray coupes be
GT
-class or
SCCA
contenders, the
Z06's debut was particularly auspicious.
In
the fall
of
1962, a group
of
Z06-equipped Sting Rays headed
west from the St. Louis factory to California. They were driven
by
Bob Bondurant, Dave McDonald, Jerry
Grant and Doug Hooper.
The
destination was the Riverside Raceway and the Los Angeles Times Three-
Hour
Invitational Race scheduled for October 13, 1962. The drive served as the break-in period for the
powertrains, and upon arrival the cars were race-prepped
for
the event. Bondurant, McDonald, Grant and
Hooper
would also do the on-track driving honors.
As luck would have it, that race also marked the debut
of
Carroll Shelby's soon-to-be-Iegendary Ford-
powered British sports car known as the Cobra. The
gauntlet was well and truly thrown.
In
what must have been a moment
of
pure ecstasy for Duntov, one
of
the Z06 Sting Rays, owned by
Mickey Thompson and piloted by Doug Hooper, took the checkered flag for
an
out-of-the-box win. Even
Mickey
Thompson seemed stunned, reportedly exclaiming,
"I
don't think it's ever been done before ... a
new production car winning the first time out."
Ultimately, only 199 Z06-equipped Sting Ray coupes were produced, making it one
of
the rarest and most
collectible Corvettes
of
all time. And even though the package was eventually offered
for
the Sting Ray
convertible (with an option price
of
$1,293.95), records indicate that no such cars were built.
Later on
Zora Duntov stated, "Suitably equipped and set up, the
new
Corvette promises a potential that is
hard to equal
or
surpass
by
even the world's costliest cars.
To
make the Corvette this kind
of
vehicle is
the
goal
of
Chevrolet's engineering personneL"
Page 10
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