After 20 years of loving Corvettes, I finally bought mine in September 2001. What brought me to do was 0% financing for 60 months +$3,000 off.

The Z06 is incredibly fast. 385 hp really guns you down the road. Punching it when shifting into 3rd guarantees a quick zoom as fast as you can comfortably go on most public roads!

I have heard rumors that the run-flat tires that come on standard Corvettes cannot be repaired. This led a friend to spend $1,600 replacing all four after they got nails in them! Based on this, I'm glad the ZO6 doesn't have run-flats. I am curious how long these racy F1 Goodyears will last - I'm not looking forward to paying $1,200 to replace them!

The tires are extremely wide. I was reminded of this when I went to the touch-free car wash. Thinking that was the best thing for the car to avoid scratches, I realized maybe I better not do that again after the front wheel barely squeezed through the wheel guide at the wash and the back wheel actually hopped up on and ran over the guide!

The hardtop gives ample storage space behind the seats. I easily packed my full-size suitcase in the trunk for a trip this week.

There have been complaints regarding sport seats not being available in the ZO6. This hasn't been an issue for me. The seats are comfortable and supportive at normal speeds. However, I have read that high-speed maneuvers cause sliding around in the seats. I didn't have any problems with this during the SCCA rally I participated in.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the spark plugs are more easily accessed than in my V6 Camaro. That will make maintenance easier; though I guess I don't have to worry as they're 100K mile plugs. I can't imagine I'll be interested in upping the horsepower any time soon; 385 will be more than enough for a long time!

I have already learned the value of finding an expert Corvette technician at whatever Chevrolet dealership you have yours worked on at. Munday Chevrolet kept the car for three days trying to figure out why the "Service Active Handling" warning was coming on. I picked it up the third day and got the warning again on the drive home! I'm taking it to a dealer that sells many more Corvettes the next time; hopefully they can fix it quickly and correctly!

We probably have something in common - being in love with Corvettes from an early age! I remember absolutely adoring a '78 red L82 coupe when I was 10 years old; I never stopped loving 'vettes!

Amount Paid (US$): 46000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2001
Model and Options: ZO6, memory