People Of Britain: A Right-Hand Drive C8 Corvette Z06 Is Yours For £180k

The C8 Chevrolet Corvette has marked several firsts for the long-running sports car: the first to be mid-engined, the first – in ZR1 form – with factory turbocharging, and the first to be officially offered in the UK in right-hand drive.

So far, though, that’s been limited to the entry-level Stingray version. That’s just changed, however, as Lumen Automotive, a dealership in Shrewsbury, is now selling the hotter Z06 version with right-hand drive, for the weirdly specific sum of £179,791.

Sounds like a lot for a ’Vette, no? But consider what you’re getting with the Z06: a car that was apparently benchmarked against the sensational Ferrari 458 Speciale, and mimics it with a rev-happy, naturally aspirated 5.5-litre flat-plane crank V8 sending 670bhp to the rear wheels (the most powerful free-breathing production V8 ever, no less).

Sending power through an eight-speed dual-clutch auto, that makes for serious performance numbers – 195mph, and 0-60mph in a quoted 2.6 seconds (we don’t know the 0-62 time, because ’MURICA). Those figures put it tantalisingly close to the likes of the Ferrari 296 GTB and McLaren 750S, both of which will run you around £250,000 before you get busy with the options.

Of course, there’ll be those who’ll put forward the argument – not without merit – that a Corvette could never have the prestige of these storied European marques, but the numbers are quite tricky to argue with.

If it still sounds a bit much, Lumen will also do you the basic Stingray in right-hand drive for £94,625, now with the full complement of 495bhp – early Euro C8s had their 6.2-litre V8 detuned to 468bhp, presumably for boring emissions reasons.

There are still a couple of ’Vette variants we’re denied in the UK, though: there’s no sign of the four-wheel drive hybrid E-Ray, and no word on whether the ludicrous 1064bhp ZR1 will make it over here either. Fingers crossed.