The 2023 Corvette Z06 and its Rapidly Beating Heart

This adventure — which is far from over — sprang to life at the 2022 The Amelia Concours d’Elegance this March.

Early in the morning — already dripping with Florida humidity — I walked onto a show field of hundreds of world-class cars. I spotted a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO.

A 1955 Porsche 550A was nearby. So many cool cars.

All of the cars had groups of admirers, but a huge crowded seethed and pulsed across the show field — at the sprawling Chevrolet Corvette stand.

I wandered over to see what was happening.

A 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 was the star attraction, along with a cutaway 5.5-liter V8 engine on a stand. A small card below the stand had this information:

2023 Corvette Z06

5.5-liter V8

670 hp @ 8,400 rpm

This is not your usual Corvette V8 engine. It’s a high-revving screamer. Chevrolet says it’s the fastest naturally aspirated production engine in the world. If the engine is the heart of the car, this is one rapidly beating organ. 

Gearheads clustered around the display engine and peered into the cutaways at its gleaming parts. 

I heard mutters of “naturally aspirated,” “crazy redline,” and “I need one.”

A Chevrolet rep told that guy that he’d have to wait until this summer. Maybe longer.

“Someday, I’m going to drive that car,” I told myself.

When I got home, I took a dive onto the Chevrolet website and came across an extraordinary promotional movie Chevrolet created about the Z06. In the movie, “Putting the World on Notice,” the car comes to life, and the engine roars and shrieks. This Z06 was built to compete with Italian supercars. 

Chevrolet has not released a price for the 2023 Corvette Z06, but swirling rumors has it at $90,000 to $100,000. This is a lot of money, but it’s downright cheap compared to a Ferrari. New Ferrari prices start at over $200,000, but plenty of models soar beyond $500,000.

I don’t know if the 2023 Corvette Z06 is a Ferrari killer. I doubt it. Ferrari is Ferrari. 

But I sure want to drive this Z06 down an asphalt road. Someday. Someday soon.

To learn more — and see “Putting the World on Notice” — visit https://www.chevrolet.com/upcoming-vehicles/2023-corvette-z06