GT5 Transcripts/Chevrolet Corvette (C5)

After enthralling American sports-car enthusiasts with the original C5 open-air Corvette, Chevrolet decided to add a hardtop version to the mix in 1998.

This car was a purer performance car, as it made full use of the greater body rigidity supplied by the fixed roof. Included in the Z51 handling package was the fixed roof and a manual transmission, which made the Corvette's performance on par with European exotics costing thousands more. Even more impressive was the fact that this new hardtop was priced lower than a standard Corvette.

The car proved so popular that, in 2001, a new 380 HP LS6 V-8 - an improved version of the LS1 - was dropped into the engine bay. The car was designated as the Z06, named after the race package option code for the C2 Corvette.

The new Z06 also received a titanium exhaust system (very unusual at the time for a production car), a more aggressive wheel alignment, and numerous reinforced suspension components. It came with a manual transmission only. As the years passed, the Z06 became meaner and meaner with engine output upped to 399 HP in 2002 and 405 HP for 2004. Achieving 394 HP in a normally-aspirated small-block V-8 was unprecedented, and it made this relatively high-volume Corvette one of the fastest production cars in the world, putting America back on the world sports-car map.