2010 Z06-X Corvette Concept: C7 Club Racer Preview?
Preface: For decades, Chevrolet teased the faithful with a series of special “engineering study” and “concept” cars. It was if regularly they’d say, “Psst… come here… check out this beauty we’re working on….” On May 6, 2025, I shared a May 1992 Motor Trend article titled, “TOP SECRET CHEVYS!” The project Corvettes in the story are amazing. Corvette was being run by “car guys”! Decades later, these cars are still over-the-top cool. Perhaps the new world order of GM is that they don’t have time for such indulgences. Too bad. But then again, they may surprise us!
Designing cars is not all thrills and excitement. It is tedious and complex, with more concerns than one might imagine, and flagship cars such as the C7 Corvette are expected to be nearly flawless right out of the box.
It took around five years to design and develop the C7 Corvette from start to finish. Along the way, Corvette product planners talked to fans, asking what they like and don’t like. One consistent question was, “Why don’t you offer a club racer Corvette?”
Doug Fehan was asked this in November 2012 at the “Corvette Racing Legends Event” at the Simeone Museum in Philadelphia. Doug answered, “Yes, we could do that. The cars would cost over $200,000, and we might sell 100 units. We’re in business to sell cars – lots of cars. But we have thought about it.”
Indeed, they did think about it. While work was progressing on the C7, product planners had some fun with the parts bin and dished up a set of club racer concepts at the 2010 SEMA Show in November 2010. Since Pratt & Miller is the brain trust behind the ultra-successful C5-R and C6.R race cars, it made sense to bring them in to help create club racer versions of a possible 2010 Z06X Corvette and SSX Camaro. All you can really say is, “It’s about time, and when can we get one?”
The Z06X concept is simple since Chevrolet already makes plenty of parts for “heavy-duty” applications. Wouldn’t any red-blooded car guy love a design task such as this? Corvette product planners and engineers came up with a package of off-the-shelf hardware with some genuine racing goodies that are sure to raise your blood pressure and temperature. In one respect, it shows just how out front the Corvette team really is. Except for a few parts, almost everything presented is mass-produced by Chevrolet and ready to rock’n roll!
Designers started with a basic Z06 Corvette. The C6.R race cars are built on the Z06’s all-aluminum chassis, and C6 Z06s were the lightest Corvettes produced in decades. While the supercharged LS9 monster motor might seem like the engine to use, the 505-horsepower LS7 is durable and race-proven. Not that the 638-horsepower LS9 isn’t durable, but a supercharged engine for racing is a whole other animal.
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The factory parts in the Z06X are comprehensive and include the following: the Z07 Performance Package that includes Brembo carbon ceramic brake rotors and special brake pads; the ‘11 CFZ carbon-fiber package that has the front splitter and side rockers; the carbon fiber raised hood from the Z06 Carbon Edition; the ZR1 carbon fiber roof panel and B-pillar; and the racing pedal kit from the Corvette Accessory catalog. You could buy a new Z06 optioned out as outlined above, but you’d only be halfway there.
The Pratt & Miller side of the project includes more carbon fiber parts added and swapped out to reduce weight, including: an adjustable carbon fiber rear wing; carbon fiber headlamp buckets; and a lightweight polycarbonate rear window. Like any serious racing car, all of the sound-deadening material is removed.
Now we’re getting serious. An SCCA-spec roll cage and window net are installed, along with a racing seat with five-point safety harness, a fire suppression system, a driver’s drink system, and a video camera mount. Other goodies include: a low-restriction air intake; a high-capacity radiator and cooling package; painted black lightweight racing wheels (19-inch in front and 20-inch in back) shod with Michelin racing tires; a mono-ball control bar bushing; adjustable stabilized bars; and adjustable camber plates for the coil-over struts.
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The entire package was finished off with low-gloss Icy White Metallic paint, with exposed carbon fiber, red accents, and a sinister-looking Z06X logo.
Could they have added more? Oh, sure, but the objective here isn’t to build and offer a turn-key race car. No, in the tradition of the original Z06, L88, ZR1, and ZR2 Duntov racer options, the point is to offer a car that’s a few ticks away from being an all-out racing machine. They have to leave “something” to the racer to do, besides driving the car.
Overall, the Corvette Z06X and Camaro SSX are stunning examples of just how far GM has come in embracing something that fans have known for years – that Corvettes and Camaros make for fearsome race cars. Unfortunately, the Z06X never made it onto the option list. The original 1963 Z06 was one of Duntov’s many “Racer Kit” options designed to give particular Corvette buyers all he could give them to race their Corvette. No doubt, Zora would have LOVED the C6 Z06X! – Scott
PS – This story was originally published in VETTE Magazine in 2013. Typically, my monthly column was on the last page of the magazine. Here’s what the layout looked like…
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