[Z06] For All Who Have Driven The New Z...enjoy!
05-17-2006, 05:48 PM
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
For All Who Have Driven The New Z...enjoy!
by Dr. Bud E. Bryan
Road Kill is one man's musings about life, love and automobiles, not necessarily in that order. Dr. Bryan is a bit of a loose cannon (and that would be different than how?-ed.), so his stories will be sporadic, sometimes chaotic, but hopefully, always entertaining. He has racing experience, life experience and other experiences we don't really care to know about, actually. We don't know what he is a Dr. of exactly, either (he gets kind of "excitable" when pressed), so we don't go there. At any rate, here goes...
My Kingdom for a Silver Bullet.
Austin, Texas. The road was as straight as a librarian's convention, but the sticky black asphalt bleached white by the blistering Texas sun had turned into a milky gray blur. I was hangin' on to a Silver Bullet, my right foot buried deep in a Corvette Z06, reveling in the unholy moan that only 427 cubic inches of Chevy small-block V-8 stretched to the absolute limit of technical feasibility could possibly make. I was deep in a speed trance, hurtling down the road at 165 mph toward a horizon that was lost in the shimmering heat waves - a vanishing point of speed and light that dangled the elusive promise of being able to shrink space and time...if only I could get there.
I was exploiting a narrow window of opportunity to put my spurs to the finest Corvette ever made - and arguably one of the best super cars ever built - and I wasn't going to pass it up.
The time was now.
When you're flyin' on the ground, you need every possible advantage you can get - and that old fighter pilot's axiom of keeping the sun at your back so you can have a visual advantage over your enemies was never truer than it was right this second. The sun was low in my side view mirror, surrounding the bulging rear haunches of the Z06 in an ethereal red glow. And with the laser-like shards and piercing sun glints providing me cover, I hammered the magnificent metallic beast for all it was worth.
The harder I pushed down on the accelerator, the closer the vanishing point got, but then again, who's kiddin' who here? I was chasin' a rainbow I didn't really want to catch. I just wanted to go nowhere - fast.
Right about then it dawned on me that the Z06 carries the weight of 50 years of Corvette history on its shoulders. The Corvette SS at Sebring in '57. Zora Duntov saying, "Let's go" at the beginning of that rare, 45 RPM recording of him flogging a Corvette - the record I played constantly as a kid. Dr. Dick Thompson in the original Sting Ray (when it was red). And the first time I saw a production Sting Ray in the flesh, seared in my memory like it was five minutes ago. The brutally fast Grand Sports at Nassau, humiliating the Shelby Cobra team with Penske et al behind the wheel. The countless SCCA victories - from Elkhart Lake to Sebring and from Riverside to Watkins Glen, including the Owens Corning Corvette team's glory years. And, of course, the C5.Rs and C6.Rs of Corvette Racing today - the most dominant GT cars of the modern era and winners of every major road race on the calendar, including four out of the last five 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Corvette Z06 represents every scraped knuckle, every droplet of sweat, every all-night pit stop, every all-day development slog, every last-minute thrash at the track and dreams of glory both fulfilled - and unfulfilled. It's the embodiment of every single chapter of Corvette history wrapped in a glorious, unapologetically raucous package that delivers the goods and then some.
Sure, you can drive it like a standard-issue Corvette, and it can be a faithful all-around companion that can deliver excellent real world highway mileage and all that good stuff. But you'd be wasting its talents. The Z06 begs to be flogged - hard. It taunts you and tempts you and dares you to hammer it - and you will, repeatedly.
As I slowed the Z06 down for one of those lonely Texas Farm-to-Market road intersections in the middle of frickin' nowhere, I was waiting for signs that the beast was spent or tired or in need of a rest. Not a chance. I sat there contemplating which way to go, scanning the horizon 180 degrees for signs of traffic while blipping the throttle, and I was pleased to see nothing. I glanced in the rearview mirror. Not a soul. Not a bird. Not a wisp of activity. Nothing.
I swear it was talkin' to me, saying, "Well? What the hell are you waiting for?"
I nailed the throttle, it squirmed sideways a little before taking a set and then it launched me down the road like I was being shot out of a catapult - with a piercing howl providing the soundtrack. 7,000 rpm, in first, second and third, my foot still hard in it in fourth, I was back up to 150 mph in no time.
This car is addictive. A no excuses, no bull**** super car that I wouldn't trade for anything else. No Ferrari, no Porsche, no BMW. Forget 'em all. A direct, track-to-the-street manifestation of the Corvette racing program, the Z06 is a tribute to every hot rod Corvette that ever came before it. Unlike some poseur super cars costing thousands and in some cases hundreds of thousands more, the Z06 not only has a winning competition pedigree, it has that elusive combination of grit and character that translates into an actual soul - something that's getting harder and harder to come by in this dumbed-down, lowest-common-denominator world we're stuck in. And the fact that it delivers more bang for the buck than any of those other cars is just icing on the cake.
I've driven a lot of fast cars in my day - from Cobras to Turbo Porsches and everything in between - but at this point in time and at this point in my life I can think of no better way to blister the countryside than in the Corvette Z06. It's that good.
My Kingdom for a Silver Bullet?
Oh, hell yeah.
Adios until the next time.
Road Kill is one man's musings about life, love and automobiles, not necessarily in that order. Dr. Bryan is a bit of a loose cannon (and that would be different than how?-ed.), so his stories will be sporadic, sometimes chaotic, but hopefully, always entertaining. He has racing experience, life experience and other experiences we don't really care to know about, actually. We don't know what he is a Dr. of exactly, either (he gets kind of "excitable" when pressed), so we don't go there. At any rate, here goes...
My Kingdom for a Silver Bullet.
Austin, Texas. The road was as straight as a librarian's convention, but the sticky black asphalt bleached white by the blistering Texas sun had turned into a milky gray blur. I was hangin' on to a Silver Bullet, my right foot buried deep in a Corvette Z06, reveling in the unholy moan that only 427 cubic inches of Chevy small-block V-8 stretched to the absolute limit of technical feasibility could possibly make. I was deep in a speed trance, hurtling down the road at 165 mph toward a horizon that was lost in the shimmering heat waves - a vanishing point of speed and light that dangled the elusive promise of being able to shrink space and time...if only I could get there.
I was exploiting a narrow window of opportunity to put my spurs to the finest Corvette ever made - and arguably one of the best super cars ever built - and I wasn't going to pass it up.
The time was now.
When you're flyin' on the ground, you need every possible advantage you can get - and that old fighter pilot's axiom of keeping the sun at your back so you can have a visual advantage over your enemies was never truer than it was right this second. The sun was low in my side view mirror, surrounding the bulging rear haunches of the Z06 in an ethereal red glow. And with the laser-like shards and piercing sun glints providing me cover, I hammered the magnificent metallic beast for all it was worth.
The harder I pushed down on the accelerator, the closer the vanishing point got, but then again, who's kiddin' who here? I was chasin' a rainbow I didn't really want to catch. I just wanted to go nowhere - fast.
Right about then it dawned on me that the Z06 carries the weight of 50 years of Corvette history on its shoulders. The Corvette SS at Sebring in '57. Zora Duntov saying, "Let's go" at the beginning of that rare, 45 RPM recording of him flogging a Corvette - the record I played constantly as a kid. Dr. Dick Thompson in the original Sting Ray (when it was red). And the first time I saw a production Sting Ray in the flesh, seared in my memory like it was five minutes ago. The brutally fast Grand Sports at Nassau, humiliating the Shelby Cobra team with Penske et al behind the wheel. The countless SCCA victories - from Elkhart Lake to Sebring and from Riverside to Watkins Glen, including the Owens Corning Corvette team's glory years. And, of course, the C5.Rs and C6.Rs of Corvette Racing today - the most dominant GT cars of the modern era and winners of every major road race on the calendar, including four out of the last five 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Corvette Z06 represents every scraped knuckle, every droplet of sweat, every all-night pit stop, every all-day development slog, every last-minute thrash at the track and dreams of glory both fulfilled - and unfulfilled. It's the embodiment of every single chapter of Corvette history wrapped in a glorious, unapologetically raucous package that delivers the goods and then some.
Sure, you can drive it like a standard-issue Corvette, and it can be a faithful all-around companion that can deliver excellent real world highway mileage and all that good stuff. But you'd be wasting its talents. The Z06 begs to be flogged - hard. It taunts you and tempts you and dares you to hammer it - and you will, repeatedly.
As I slowed the Z06 down for one of those lonely Texas Farm-to-Market road intersections in the middle of frickin' nowhere, I was waiting for signs that the beast was spent or tired or in need of a rest. Not a chance. I sat there contemplating which way to go, scanning the horizon 180 degrees for signs of traffic while blipping the throttle, and I was pleased to see nothing. I glanced in the rearview mirror. Not a soul. Not a bird. Not a wisp of activity. Nothing.
I swear it was talkin' to me, saying, "Well? What the hell are you waiting for?"
I nailed the throttle, it squirmed sideways a little before taking a set and then it launched me down the road like I was being shot out of a catapult - with a piercing howl providing the soundtrack. 7,000 rpm, in first, second and third, my foot still hard in it in fourth, I was back up to 150 mph in no time.
This car is addictive. A no excuses, no bull**** super car that I wouldn't trade for anything else. No Ferrari, no Porsche, no BMW. Forget 'em all. A direct, track-to-the-street manifestation of the Corvette racing program, the Z06 is a tribute to every hot rod Corvette that ever came before it. Unlike some poseur super cars costing thousands and in some cases hundreds of thousands more, the Z06 not only has a winning competition pedigree, it has that elusive combination of grit and character that translates into an actual soul - something that's getting harder and harder to come by in this dumbed-down, lowest-common-denominator world we're stuck in. And the fact that it delivers more bang for the buck than any of those other cars is just icing on the cake.
I've driven a lot of fast cars in my day - from Cobras to Turbo Porsches and everything in between - but at this point in time and at this point in my life I can think of no better way to blister the countryside than in the Corvette Z06. It's that good.
My Kingdom for a Silver Bullet?
Oh, hell yeah.
Adios until the next time.
05-17-2006, 05:55 PM
#2
Drifting
Great article. Read it yesterday-another thread had a link to it.
You got to love this part "The Z06 begs to be flogged - hard. It taunts you and tempts you and dares you to hammer it - and you will, repeatedly"
You got to love this part "The Z06 begs to be flogged - hard. It taunts you and tempts you and dares you to hammer it - and you will, repeatedly"
05-17-2006, 07:30 PM
#4
Racer
Member Since: Mar 2005
Location: Savannah GA
Posts: 277
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
That's it I am finally succumbing. Maryland is absolutely beautiful and a lot of opportunity but I am moving to Texas, land of Corvette tuners and open fricking road.
05-17-2006, 08:13 PM
#6
Melting Slicks
Originally Posted by Geoff17
That's it I am finally succumbing. Maryland is absolutely beautiful and a lot of opportunity but I am moving to Texas, land of Corvette tuners and open fricking road.
05-17-2006, 10:24 PM
#7
Melting Slicks
Member Since: Oct 2005
Location: Kennesaw, Georgia
Posts: 2,654
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by Z Fast
Great article. Read it yesterday-another thread had a link to it.
You got to love this part "The Z06 begs to be flogged - hard. It taunts you and tempts you and dares you to hammer it - and you will, repeatedly"
You got to love this part "The Z06 begs to be flogged - hard. It taunts you and tempts you and dares you to hammer it - and you will, repeatedly"
I don't think I could have said it better myself....
Oh and you will hammer it....
to that
05-17-2006, 11:55 PM
#9
Safety Car
Member Since: Apr 2006
Location: Ventura, CA President GOCC
Posts: 3,930
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
Originally Posted by Exterminator
How's this for open road Geoff? Is this the stuff your dreams are made of?
05-18-2006, 11:26 AM
#11
Melting Slicks
Originally Posted by OregonC6
glad all you good ole boys enjoyed this
My reaction was:
LOL
rather than dr this post suggests bs more likely
IMO
My reaction was:
LOL
rather than dr this post suggests bs more likely
IMO
05-18-2006, 12:24 PM
#12
Advanced
Member Since: May 2006
Posts: 93
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Wow Ex that is a great shot. Was that road paved or just rolled dirt/gravel? Our roads here are crowded with blue haired old ladies and tourists crowded in rent a cars. Can't wait to head for No California later this summer. How are the bugs in Mohave? Here in W. Florida we need a car condom for protection. When I commute accross Allegator Hwy over to Ft. L I damn near need a fire hose to clean off. Any ideas on clear bras for my new '07??
05-18-2006, 01:19 PM
#13
Melting Slicks
Originally Posted by BabyBowTie
Wow Ex that is a great shot. Was that road paved or just rolled dirt/gravel? Our roads here are crowded with blue haired old ladies and tourists crowded in rent a cars. Can't wait to head for No California later this summer. How are the bugs in Mohave? Here in W. Florida we need a car condom for protection. When I commute accross Allegator Hwy over to Ft. L I damn near need a fire hose to clean off. Any ideas on clear bras for my new '07??
Bugs aren't too bad in desert during spring but summer time they get big and plentiful too.