Some common criticisms were “oh it’s just a C5.5” they didn’t change enough! Or my favorite, “oh no you took away the pop-up headlights, Corvettes always have pop headlights!” No not really, so soon some forget that the Corvette had exposed headlights up until 1963.
After owning a few C6 Corvettes, the last one a beautiful 2012 Torch Red Coupe (manual of course!), I began to appreciate the subtle design changes over the C5. Chief Designer Tom Peters, much like Harley Earl half a century before, drew inspiration from airplanes, specifically the YF-22 fighter. Peters also had an affinity for the C2, and if you look closely you can see the C2-inspired sharp fenders on the C6.
The upgraded LS2 in the 2005 C6 had a whopping 400 hp, just 5 hp short of the former “king of the hill” C5 Z06. GM engineers also managed to put the C6 on a bit of a diet, slimming down from 3246 lbs in the outgoing C5 to 3179 for the new 2005.
I still miss that ole C6, any Corvette you’ve owned that you still kinda miss, like an ole girlfriend that will pop into your head for no apparent reason?
Enjoy today’s retro video flashback, courtesy of Motor Week.