The Z06 is proving to be a major windfall for the Corvette team at Chevrolet, as this latest bit of news shows just how popular the supercharged Stingray is with enthusiasts. Reports from the recent Midwest Automotive Media Association Fall Rally in Joliet, Illinois confirmed what we already knew about the Z06’s demand, and then some.
According to Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter, the highly-anticipated Z06 has swelled past the 5,000 mark for pre-orders, taking just weeks to fill the backlogs of the manufacturing facilities in Bowling Green. It’s expected that the frontrunners of the pre-order queue will receive their brand new Vette as early as December (how’s THAT for a Christmas present, eh?) for the manual coupe models, while automatic coupes and convertibles will follow in January and February.
This isn’t the first time that GM has had to handle in-demand Corvettes, however. When the Z06 first appeared in 2006, it accounted for over twenty percent–6,272 of 34,021–of Corvette models sold, and back then, buyers paid over $65,000 to get access to an LS7, bigger and better tires and brakes, and a restyled body that cut down significantly on weight, bringing the total to 3,132 pounds.
With the new Z06, the list of features and options is enough to make any Corvette fan drool. The 6.2L LT4, supercharged to put out 650 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque, pairs with either a 7-speed, rev-matching manual or an 8-speed, paddle-shifted automatic transmission. In either configuration, the Z06 zips to the quarter-mile marker in less than 11.3 seconds, and 0-60 in less than 3.3 seconds.
All this data and highlighting tends to point toward continued, high demand for the Z06, and has us wondering–how many units will be sold over the next year? Take a guess and let us know what it is in the comments below.