2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06, the first retail car to be offered at auction.

With the arrival of the 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and its mid-engine layout and screaming flat-plant crank V-8, the American sports car is finally on an exotic quest to compete with the best of Europe.

Deliveries begin this summer, and if you're interested in getting your hands on the first retail example, your chance is fast approaching.

The rights to the car (which has not yet been built) will be sold at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona on January 29. All proceeds from the sale will go to Operation Homefront, a charity dedicated to helping military families.

At these charity sales, the final bid usually reaches seven figures, even for a car with a five-figure retail price; recall that the rights to the first C8 Corvette fetched $3 million at a Barrett-Jackson auction in 2020.

Pricing for the Z06 has not been announced, but is expected to be around $90,000.

The first retail model of the Z06 will be a coupe. However, the Z06 will also be available as a convertible. It is not clear if a similar charity auction will be held for the first drop-top.

You won't be disappointed with either body style. The real star of the Z06 is its new V8 engine, code-named LT6, based on the design used in the C8.R endurance racer, which displaces 5.5 liters and produces peak power at rpm rather than through forced induction. reaches 8,400 rpm and peak torque of 460 lb-ft reaches 6,300 rpm. The only transmission is an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic that sends power to the rear wheels only. Performance figures have not been released, but a 0-60 mph time of 2.6 seconds is expected.

Incredibly, the C8 Corvette generation is expected to spawn two performance levels above the Z06. One is the ZR1, a twin-turbocharged version of the Z06's V-8 engine; the other is the previously rumored Zora, which will augment the ZR1's engine with a hybrid system; with the possibility of electric drive becoming the norm in the C9 generation, which will arrive later in the decade, these could be the last V-8-powered V-8, as the C9 generation, which will arrive in the second half of the decade, may well be dominated by electric drive.