The Chevrolet Corvette C6, and its now legendary LS V8 engine, is the perfect antidote to today's uninspiring and complicated cars. This Essential Buyer's Guide combines expert, first-hand experience with clear color photos to ensure you avoid buying a lemon, and instead get to enjoy one of the most versatile two-seat sports cars in the world. This book will guide you through the choosing and buying process, helping you understand and compare the various models, before selecting the best C6 for your budget, pointing out common and potential problem areas along the way. My C6 has travelled across the States, down to the Sahara Desert in Africa, around Europe, and in the Arctic, along the most northerly highway in the world. It has won championships on the track, and has delivered exceptional reliability and cost-effectiveness. I have found the C6 an easy sports car to work on, with good parts availability, plenty of tuning potential, support from specialists, and a keen enthusiast following. In this era of social media and the internet, there is a wealth of information available, but it can take hours and days to establish what are the genuine, common issues to look for. The purpose of this book is to cut through the often-repeated myths and one-off breakages and give you a real-world, condensed source of what to look for in a C6.

Background On its launch in 1997, the C5 set a new benchmark for Corvette design and engineering, with the now legendary 5.7-liter LS1 'small block' engine. The C5's hydroformed steel chassis was considerably more rigid and lighter than that of the C4, allowing for enhanced suspension tuning. Design cues, like pop-up headlights and the interior were due a refresh, the racing programme would benefit from an updated model, too. When the C6 was launched in 2004, for the 2005 model year (MY), some commentators suggested that the C6 could actually have been called a C5.5, such was the close evolution of chassis design and parts sharing. It appears Corvette kept the best bits of the C5 and improved on them, keeping the weight and cost down, too. The design was all-new, with shorter overhangs (by 5.

1in) and more European styling cues. The return of circular rear lights was welcomed, as was the contemporary interior design. With each new C6 model year came changes and improvements, some small, others significant, with greater choice of body type, equipment, special editions and increased engine capacity and power. The Z06's LS7 set a power record for GM in 2006, at 505hp. This was later beaten by the ZR1, its supercharged LS9 producing 638hp and a record for the fastest production car lap around the Nürburgring, with a 7:26.4, bettered again in 2012. The C6R racing programme enjoyed great success worldwide, with championship and Le Mans victories. The global financial crisis, starting in 2008, saw production figures cruelly slump, despite the introduction of the ZR1, Grand Sport and 427 models.

The Corvette C7 took over for the 2014 MY and, whilst it certainly raised the bar, particularly in interior quality, some say that the C6 is the peak blend of reliability, simplicity, power and comfort. All Corvette C6s were built at the Bowling Green, Kentucky plant. The rare and desirable Callaway Corvettes were further assembled at its Connecticut, California or German facilities.