The Chevrolet Corvette may be a quintessentially American sports car, but the mid-engined C8 is the most global the model’s ever been, and that includes it being built in right-hand drive for markets like the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
Now, those latter two are getting their own special edition of the supercar-slaying Corvette Z06, marking the car’s debut in the brutal Bathurst 12 Hour race, which takes place this weekend at the storied Australian circuit.
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A Mayoral Seal of Approval
Chevrolet
The C8 Corvette has been going racing pretty much since it was launched, but it’s so far not had a chance to compete in one of sports car racing’s totem events – the Bathurst 12 Hour that runs from dawn til dusk at the punishing Mount Panorama Circuit in New South Wales, Australia.
That’s changing on Sunday February 15, as a pair of Corvette Z06 GT3.R racers will take the start, marking not only the car’s Bathurst debut but its first race on Australian soil full stop. To celebrate, GM Speciality Vehicles – the outfit responsible for importing US-built GM vehicles to Australia following the death of Holden five years ago – has created the special edition Corvette Z06 Bathurst 12 Hour.
It’s not often you hear a mayor giving a new car the thumbs up, but that’s just what’s happened here, with the mayor of the town of Bathurst, Robert Taylor, saying: “As owner of the Mount Panorama Motor Racing Circuit we’re excited to be involved in this project… It cements the importance of the circuit on the international stage and helps us to continue to grow our brand and reputation in the motorsport market alongside an internationally recognised company”
A Unique Spec
Chevrolet
Mechanically, the Bathurst 12 Hour edition is identical to the standard Z06, meaning it gets the flat-plane crank 5.5-liter LT5 engine – the most powerful naturally aspirated V8 ever fitted to a road car at 670 HP. The Z07 Performance Package comes as standard too, bringing magnetic adaptive damping, Brembo carbon ceramic brakes, sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R rubber and a carbon aero package. As a reminder, all that means 0-60 MPH in 2.6 seconds and a 195 MPH top speed.
The special edition comes exclusively in Switchblade Silver with its carbon aero bits painted in Carbon Flash. Elsewhere, there are blue brake calipers, a C8.R-inspired graphics package and wheel center caps featuring ‘Jake’, the skull/crash helmet hybrid that serves as a mascot for the factory Corvette racing efforts. The interior’s trimmed in Jet Black and Santorini Blue leather, and the whole thing is topped off with a smattering of Bathurst 12 Hour logos inside and out.
A Serious Rarity
Chevrolet
Just 12 Z06 Bathurst 12 Hour editions are set to be built, all for the Australian and New Zealand markets, and representing the entire 2026 allocation of Z06s for those countries. As well as serious exclusivity bragging rights, the 12 buyers will get some other goodies thrown in, including a Bathurst 12 Hour art print, a Corvette Racing merch pack and a fitted car cover that apes the livery of the Z06.R racer.
The only question mark left is the price, but with so few units available, and all of them likely going to antipodean Corvette superfans, there’s little doubt that the run will be snapped up quicker than a crocodile strikes its prey.
