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Here's the story:
Illustrated Corvette Series No. 118 - 2004 Corvette
"The Last of the C5s"
2004 was the end of the
line for the C5 Corvette, and the '04 model was arguably the finest
Vette offered to that point. After all, aside from offering an optional
supercharger or turbocharger, there wasn't much else that Corvette
designers could do with the C5 platform. The car was as good as it
would ever be and that was pretty darned good.
One could argue that the C5 had its roots in a
little-talked-about 1957 Duntov engineering proposal called the
"Q-Corvette." Duntov's wish list included an all-aluminum,
fuel-injected small-block engine; a dry-sump oiling system; a fully
independent suspension; and a transaxle for perfect 50/50 weight
distribution. The project never made it past a full-size clay styling
study, as Chevrolet deemed the requisite tooling too expensive for a
car that had yet to prove a sales success. The Q-Corvette's unique
styling and independent suspension did, however, make it into
production in the '63 Sting Ray, while the rest of the elements (save
for the dry-sump oiling) came together in the '97 C5. In the 30 years
since the Q-Corvette proposal, Duntov, McLellan, and Hill got
everything they wanted and more.
The '04 Vette was the fourth-best-selling C5, with
total sales of 34,064 units. Chevrolet kept the cost increase for '04
to just $640, bringing the coupe's sticker to $44,535. The roadster
model jumped by $1,165, to $51,535, while the Z06 climbed by $1,230, to
$52,385.
The hot option for the '04 Vette was the Commemorative Edition, which
saluted Corvette Racing's class victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in
2001 and 2002. Unlike the '03 50th Anniversary option, this one was
available on all Corvettes, including the Z06. This homage to the C5-R
was not inexpensive, costing $3,700 on the coupe and roadster and
$4,335 on the Z06. Although there were no performance enhancements, the
Commemorative Edition cars were stylish and distinctive.
In 2004 the Corvette made its sixth appearance
pacing the Indy 500, this time with actor Morgan Freeman behind the
wheel. A basically stock C5 Vette had also paced the legendary race in
1998 and 2002. Obviously, the Brickyard likes Corvettes.
2004 also marked the first time the Corvette's
platform was shared with another GM vehicle. The Cadillac XLR began
production on the Bowling Green assembly line that year and was soon
garnering the same kind of critical acclaim previously heaped on its
platform mate. This marriage of convenience gave GM two world-class
performance cars based on the same underpinnings.
By '04, equipment that was once optional had become
standard. All models included active suspension, traction control,
leather seats, a six-way power driver's seat, a Delco stereo CD player,
dual-zone electronic air conditioning, tilt steering, cruise control,
fog lights, and floor mats. The Preferred Equipment Group was a $1,200
option that included heads-up display, power-telescoping steering
wheel, auto-dimming mirrors, a memory package, and the Twilight
Sentinel feature. Almost two-thirds of all '04 Vettes had the PEG
option.
Since there was no power increase, the performance
of the '04 Corvette was much the same as that of the '01-'03 models.
Top speeds were 175 mph for the coupe and 162 mph for the roadster.
Sprints from 0-60 took less than five seconds for the
manual-transmission cars and were in the mid-five-second range for the
automatics. Quarter-mile times were in the 13.20 range. The Z06 posted
0-60 times in the low-four-second range, with quarter-mile times in the
mid-12s. Suspension settings for the Z06 were reworked at the famous
Nerburgring race track by refining the shock-absorber valving and using
softer rear anti-roll-bar bushings. The modifications enabled the '04
Z06 to break the eight-minute-lap barrier, the unofficial benchmark for
supercars. Commemorative Edition Z06s also sported a carbon-fiber hood,
which cut just over 10 pounds from the car's curb weight.
The C5 Corvette was so well rounded that the only
things road testers had to complain about were the seatback latches and
door handles. Pretty lame complaints, but that's how good the car had
become. Chevrolet might have been able to continue on with the C5
platform, but the time was right for a new Vette. Just over the
horizon, things were about to get even better.
Here's the story:
Illustrated Corvette Series No. 119 - 2004 Commemorative Edition
Corvette
"Salute to the C5-R"
It all goes back to one
man’s passion for racing. Zora Arkus-Duntov was the only
executive at GM to have raced a car at Le Mans, where he enjoyed class
wins in 1954 and 1955. Duntov took his passion and experience and
poured it into Chevrolet’s beauty queen, the Corvette,
elevating the car to legendary status.
Duntov had the kind of
expertise that only comes from putting it all on the line in a
four-wheel drift. Throughout the Corvette’s development, he
always had racing on his mind. Bill Mitchell called this quality
“having gasoline in your veins,” and in
Duntov’s case, it showed: No sooner had he stuffed the new
265 small-block into the ‘55 Vette than secret plans were
hatched to build the first Corvette Le Mans racer, the Corvette SS.
It’s hard to
imagine how Duntov kept the program secret from the GM brass for so
long. But when the Corvette SS went public in 1957, management came
down on him like an avalanche. The project was shelved, though
fortunately the parts escaped the crusher. Two years later the running
gear was used for Bill Mitchell’s Sting Ray racer,
experiencing moderate success.
As much as Duntov wanted to
build racing Vettes, he was relegated to making parts for independent
racers. In 1960, with backdoor help from Duntov, privateer Briggs
Cunningham built three Corvettes to race at Le Mans. He won First in
his class and Eighth overall.
Then, in 1963, Duntov tried
to sneak his lightweight Grand Sport Corvettes past the higher-ups.
When word of the project leaked out, plans for a production Grand Sport
were shelved indefinitely. Duntov spent the rest of his career
improving the Vette and providing material support to private race
teams.
In 1967 Dick Guldstrand and
Bob Bondurant took an L88 Corvette to Le Mans. The team would
ultimately drop out with mechanical problems, but not before the car
had hit a top speed of 171 mph. Then, in 1972, John Greenwood and Dick
Smothers raced the BFGoodrich L88 Corvette at Le Mans, dropping out
after 10 hours. Greenwood was back at Le Mans in 1976 with his wild,
“Batmobile” wide-body Corvette; he was sidelined
after five hours.
There wasn’t
another major Corvette effort at Le Mans until 1995, when Reeves
Callaway’s cars grabbed Second and Third Place class wins.
With the C5 selling well, and a new attitude towards racing inside GM,
Corvette fans saw the first factory-supported Corvette racer in 1999,
in the form of the C5-R. After two years of sorting out the car,
Duntov’s dream of a Corvette winning at Le Mans came true in
2001. The C5-R repeated the feat in 2002 and 2004. The 2004 season was
the best to date, with 10 First Place wins in 10 races!
To celebrate the success of
the C5-R Corvettes, Chevrolet offered the Commemorative Edition option
on all ’04 Corvettes - coupes, convertibles, and the Z06. The
paint scheme and stripes were based on the ‘04 C5-R cars, and
every available performance and luxury feature was included. This was a
$3,700 option for the coupe and convertible, and a $4,335 option on the
Z06. A total of 6,899 units were built, accounting for 20 percent of
all ’04 Vettes.
All Commemorative Edition
cars had the special Le Mans blue paint, crossed-flags embroidery on
the headrests, polished Z06 wheels with unique centers, and special
emblems. The Z06 version also had a carbon-fiber hood that saved 10.6
pounds. The coupe and convertible had a two-tone shale interior, while
the Z06 cars had a black interior.
Commemorative Edition
Corvettes can often be found parked together at Corvette shows, making
for an impressive display. It may have taken 48 years to win at Le
Mans, but it was worth the wait. We owe it all to one man’s
vision, many years ago.
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