99 and 00 FRC visually the same as other coupes but not sloping rear glass or removable top. 6M only. Same engine uptions as other cars.
01 Z06 introduced with lots of differences and 385 horses. Looks like all Z06s in a nut shell.
02 brought on more ponies and some other changes as you can see from the info you can find in the upper left of this forum. Visually they all look the same from 02 to now. Badging was revised to say 405 horsepower.
Not sure that is what you were looking for or not.
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FRC was dreamed up to be the low end selling price corvette.....the poor mans chance to have one...but it must have backfired on GM....as they came out with the Z06, certainly not the low end selling price car.
It would be interesting to have an insiders viewpoint of why the Z06 was birthed on the FRC body rather than the coupe or the convertible simply by making the Z06 features options that they could have charged an arm and a leg for...after all...it is a Corvette isn't!
It is described in the book, "All Corvettes are Red"...not so much how they came out with the Z06, but how the FRC came to be.
If I remember correctly the FRC did not come with a lot of options. There was no sport seats available, HUD, memory package, telescoping steering etc... It was unlike the coupe and vert in many ways.
The FRC was supposed to be the more inexpensive Corvette with slightly fewer options. It was a few thousand cheaper than the Coupe. But...the FRC came with a better suspension setup for the twisties and a much more rigid frame due to the fixed roof. That was where the sparke in GMs eyes began.
They figured....let's at more HP and new badges and charge more.
I think that if you were to talk to FRC Tom, you'd find that the Z06 was not "developed" based on the FRC. What I mean is that there exists certain models, that are to my knowledge, unphotographed, of the Z06, pre-2k.
Interesting the twists and turns that the FRC took to get brought to life. I think that lots of folks tend to look down on it as the "Billy Bob" Vette. Nothing really could be further from the truth in the final analysis. It is lighter than the standard Coupe, has a better (performance-wise) suspension, stiffer frame, and different lines.
I went looking for my "new" Vette the weekend after 9-11. I was at Elco Chevrolet, "Just shopping ... ". I hadn't done alot of reading on Vettes, I just knew that I was tired of my C4 (an 86 ragtop).
I saw this beautiful Torch Red Vette with a totally bizarre top (the much maligned Billy Bob Hard top). The first thing that struck me was that it was the most beautifully designed Vette I had ever seen.
With an imminent lay off coming from IBM, I knew I would not be able to swing a Z06 with good conscience, but here was an opportunity to have the body style, which I dearly love.
True, it didn't have all the special goodies that a regular Vette has, but I saw that as a performance boost, weight savings, and less stuff to have to go to the dealer for fixing as the years go by.
The performance is cracker-jack (Can't believe I finally used that phrase in a sentence ... . On a rolling run between 70 and 140, with a 3rd gear down shift and pedal to the metal, I can keep up with a stock Z06. Off the line, it's not as powerful, by any means, but even then, it is NOT a slouch. Turn off the active handling and it will throw you around like the big guys.
And when you get down to it... How often do any of us really do 70 - 140 mph pulls? Although, I did with my sainted, 83 year old Mother-in-law in the car (Another story for another day).
It has a higher drag coefficient than a coupe, but "Lookin' Good", more than makes up for that. And on that rare occasion that I drive sanely, I can get 27 mpg.
Beside all that... It is a limited membership club to be in ... The owners of FRCs... There's only a few more than 6000 of them made for all years .. er ... All two years.
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I first heard of a stripped down version of the next generation Corvette in '96. I was told of a Corvette that would list for the low $30's and that it would be equipped with no ac, roll up windows, cloth interior, etc.
I think the high demand and sales of the '97 & '98 C5 Corvette, killed this plan and Chevrolet did not want to compromise the Corvette name with such a low end model.
When the '99 Hardtop made it's debut, it came standard equipped with the Z51 suspension and 6 speed transmission, both were options on the the Coupe and Convertible. The '99 hartop was basically a convertible with a hardtop bonded to the body. It was the most rigid Corvette of the 3 models. Certain standard items on the Coupe and Convertible were optional on the Hardtop such as a power drivers seat, Bose speaker system &
lighting pkg. Not all options that were available on the Coupe and Convertible could be had with the Hardtop. Initially fog lamps, dual control AC, HUD, were not available as options, but were later in the model year. A comparably optioned Coupe and Hardtop were about $600 apart in price. (Coupe being higher)
Sales numbers for the '99 Hardtop was 4031.
In 2000 sales were only 2090 the only changes were the absence of the passenger key cylinder lock and new thin spoke wheels.
carzzy
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1994 Corvette Convertible
21st Corvette since age 18
Originally posted by FirstGear It would be interesting to have an insiders viewpoint of why the Z06 was birthed on the FRC body rather than the coupe or the convertible simply by making the Z06 features options that they could have charged an arm and a leg for...after all...it is a Corvette isn't!
The FRC is the lightest and stiffest body style. It was the obvious choice for the highest performance Vette. GM even did some other little weight saving things like leaving out the auto antenna and going to titanium exhaust. They probably could have saved even more weight, but it would have required a lot of re-engineering (and lots of $$).
Originally posted by carzzy I first heard of a stripped down version of the next generation Corvette in '96. I was told of a Corvette that would list for the low $30's and that it would be equipped with no ac, roll up windows, cloth interior, etc.
I think the high demand and sales of the '97 & '98 C5 Corvette, killed this plan and Chevrolet did not want to compromise the Corvette name with such a low end model.
When the '99 Hardtop made it's debut, it came standard equipped with the Z51 suspension and 6 speed transmission, both were options on the the Coupe and Convertible. The '99 hartop was basically a convertible with a hardtop bonded to the body. It was the most rigid Corvette of the 3 models. Certain standard items on the Coupe and Convertible were optional on the Hardtop such as a power drivers seat, Bose speaker system &
lighting pkg. Not all options that were available on the Coupe and Convertible could be had with the Hardtop. Initially fog lamps, dual control AC, HUD, were not available as options, but were later in the model year. A comparably optioned Coupe and Hardtop were about $600 apart in price. (Coupe being higher)
Sales numbers for the '99 Hardtop was 4031.
In 2000 sales were only 2090 the only changes were the absence of the passenger key cylinder lock and new thin spoke wheels.
carzzy
Couldn't have said it better myself. Once they got real and decided to not make a Cammarovette they went for a performance based car. Limited colors and no interior choices are among many reasons the FRC did not sell as well as the other models. Not to mention no auto trans.
Before the FRC in '98 they sold 31K+ C5s.
'99 & '00 the numbers went up to 33K+.
'01- '03 Totals were up to 35K+.
The FRC increased sales by 2K units on average and the Z06 another 2K.
I don't know where it all started, but I'm sure glad it did.
When the C5 first came out I just couldn't like it. It never looked right to me.
When I saw a Z06 it popped out to me like no other car I've seen. The FRC is in my opinion the absolute perfect look for the C5. I wouldn't have bought a C5 in any other body style.
On top of that I get the Z06 performance. Perfect!
Here's to the FRC.
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2004 Torch Red / Mod Red Z06 | 2003 Cobra (Gone)
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i never cared for history in school
but i'll make an exception
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I have owned both a 2000 FRC and an 02 Z06 and I love the FRC's (Z06 included)....I wouldn't have any other vette. Awesome cars and I can answer a lot of questions if anyone has them. We had 5 FRC's 00 and 99 in our vette club and I have seen just about all the options, option codes.
My 00 had the high polish rims, Power drivers seat, cargo net, HUD, dual Zone AC and the cassette with the remote CD in the trunk. My car actually had the FE3 (on the build sheet) suspension package (which is the same thing as Z51) and the new Z06's have FE4 suspensions.
No BSM. Only option my car didn't have. I also have the 00 dealer brochure and my original well cover and video that came with the car.
My 00 listed at $42 k. The seats did not look like the new Z06 seats. The FRC's had run flats.
Kaya
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2002 Electron Blue Z06, 2006 GTS Blue Viper Coupe,
2006 Dodge 3500 Cummins 4x4, 1988 IROC Z
1987 Buick Grand National, 1972 Buick GS 455
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". I hadn't done alot of reading on Vettes, I just knew that I was tired of my C4 (an 86 ragtop).
On a rolling run between 70 and 140, with a 3rd gear down shift and pedal to the metal, I can keep up with a stock Z06. Off the line, it's not as powerful, by any means, but even then, it is NOT a slouch. Turn off the active handling and it will throw you around like the big guys.
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