Corvette Z06 (C8)
Why 4.3: The LT6 is America's finest engine, full stop. Dealer markups and flip culture kept half the run in plastic wrap — the ownership data reads exotic, not Corvette.
Layout
Natural habitat
Ride comfort
Sound
The LT6 is a flat-plane 5.5 with a racing crank, revving to 8,600 with the intake tract directly behind the cabin — the sharpest, most Italian noise ever fitted to an American road car. It sits just under the naturally aspirated Ferraris because the car around it is still an insulated everyday coupe.
8-cylinder · naturally aspirated · 8,600 rpm redline · rated 9.4 / 10 for engine sound
Market value
Median asking price, good condition · €129k (2023) → €103k (2026), trending down · illustrative data
Child seats · ISOFIX
There aren't any — strict two-seater.
Same solution GM's used since the C6: no LATCH anchors and no rear seat, so the manual documents belting a forward-facing child restraint straight into the passenger seat, with the passenger sensing system meant to kill the airbag when it detects one.
2020 Chevrolet Corvette Owner's Manual (GM, shared C8 restraint design)
The long version
The dealer-markup crowd treated allocation letters like scalped tickets, changing hands for a profit before anyone had driven the LT6 in anger — an engine that revs to 8,600 rpm and deserved better than idling at a meet. That speculation has already round-tripped: values sit below where they opened, the rare case of markup money losing instead of printing. The buyers who kept theirs and actually use the redline are propping the score up past where a badge this diluted usually lands; everyone who bought the letter instead of the car is currently underwater.