This Chevrolet Corvette C8 Z06 in black over black is based in Orange County, the anchor Z06 for this fleet. All black is the serious spec, built for a stealth night drive or a photo where the car should look menacing rather than fun, and it is where most first-time Z06 renters land.
Nothing about the way this car looks prepares you for the noise. The 5.5 liter flat-plane V8 idles low and unremarkable, and then above about 4,000 rpm it turns into something European and keeps going to 8,600. There is no turbo lag because there are no turbochargers, so the throttle does exactly what you ask the instant you ask it. Run it out toward Pelican Hill on Newport Coast Drive and the extra width over a Stingray shows up as grip you can lean on through the climb rather than a number on a spec sheet. Sixty arrives in 2.6 seconds.
All black, inside and out, which makes this the Z06 that reads as menacing rather than loud. Dark cars are harder to shoot and better when you get them right, because the shape has to carry the image without colour helping. Late light along Newport Coast Drive and any background with something bright behind the car both work in its favour. The wide rear arches and the centre-exit exhaust are the details to frame, and it is the one to book when the car needs to look serious in a photo rather than fun.
The only all-black Z06 we run. Everything else in the group carries colour somewhere, in the paint or in the cabin, and this one deliberately does not. That makes it the pick for night shoots and lit garages where a bright car blows out the frame, and the wrong pick for a bright daylight session where it can flatten into a silhouette. Same 670 horsepower as the other three Orange County cars and the same rate as the blue and grey cars, without the wait for anything colour-specific.
This is a Corvette C8 Z06, which brings the mid-engine 5.5 liter flat-plane V8 at 670 horsepower as standard, along with the 3.6 inch wider body, Magnetic Ride Control and the larger Brembo brakes fitted to every Z06 we run. Power goes to the rear wheels through an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic. This car runs all black, exterior and interior both, the only one of our four Orange County Z06s without any colour break inside the cabin.