At $32,000, Would You Toy With This 2002 Chevy Corvette ZO6?

Today’s Nice Price or No Dice ZO6 produces 405 horsepower, which is apparently so notable that it gets a fender badging saying so. Let’s see if its price tag warrants equal admiration.

Peter Parker’s Spiderman is a superhero whose crime-fighting responsibilities were adopted due to happenstance rather than to history. Similarly, the 1998 Alfa Romeo Spider we looked at yesterday came to us not through its manufacturer’s legacy of being here but through the U.S.’s 25-Year Import rule. It came here to fight boredom, not criminal acts, but at $12,500, the majority seemed to think buying it would be a crime. That was made clear in the 59 percent No Dice loss the car suffered at that asking.

Malcolm Forbes wasn’t a superhero but he did famously note that “the difference between men and boys is the price of their toys.” Today’s 2002 Chevy Corvette ZO6 could be considered an adult toy, although obviously not in the salacious manner such terms typically imply.

Right out of the gate, the C5 ZO6 was intended to be more fun—or to be taken more seriously—than the standard Corvette. The model features an LS1 V8 massaged to make 405 horsepower and upgrades to the brakes, suspension, and tires to better make use of those extra ponies.

That’s all wrapped in a special fixed-roof coupe body that’s several hundred pounds lighter than the standard Targa coupe or convertible and fitted exclusively with a six-speed manual gearbox. It should also be noted in its favor that the C5 in general was the last Corvette to mount its gearbox right behind the engine rather than in the back. It was also the last to feature pop-up headlamps.

This ZO6 takes that factory work and turns it up, if not to eleven, then at least a notch or two. Positioned as a street/track car, it has apparently been imbued with even bigger brakes, AFE coilovers all around, and 18-inch APEX wheels mounted with sticky Falken tires.

To ensure all those bits get a workout in the straights as well as the corners, the engine has been given a hotter cam, and intake and exhaust updates. The hood has been ventilated in three places to keep it all cool. All that work demands some updates in the driver’s office, too, and there, the stock driver’s seat has been replaced by a racing bucket and harness. The seller notes that the stock chair will come with the car.

According to the ad, the car has 57,000 miles on the clock, although it doesn’t state how many of those were racked up on parking lot gymkhanas and closed courses. Despite that discrepancy, the ad does give us a number of details and describes the clean-title car as being in “excellent condition,” assuring that it “Runs strong.”