After WWII, American soldiers were returning home in a variety of different two-seater sports cars. Healeys, MGs, Triumphs, you name it. Harley Earl, the then-head of styling at General Motors, saw a perfect opportunity to build an all-American two-seater sports car as a response to the influx of British legends. General Motors agreed, and in 1953, the world saw the first ever American sports car in the flesh for the first time: the original Chevrolet Corvette.
Unfortunately, the Corvette didn't immediately get off to a good start, mostly because it used GM's underpowered Blue Flame I6. After a few years, Chevy stuck a V8 engine under the hood, and the rest is history. Today, the Corvette is in its 8th generation and has moved to a mid-engine layout. While the new C8 is indeed awesome and a very hot seller, the Corvette back catalog is full of fantastic models, a lot of them being a great bargain. Possibly the best bargain of them all is the fifth generation, also known as the C5.
Overview Of The C5 Corvette
The C5 Corvette is the fifth generation of the original American sports car. It first arrived on the market in 1997, and was sold up until 2004. As well as its home turf in the United States, the C5 was also officially available in Europe, and differed slightly from the US-spec version thanks to rear foglights and a larger license plate frame.
The exterior styling of the C5 can be best described as an evolution of the preceding and surprisingly practical C4 generation. While that car was very boxy and was full of sharp angles and corners, the C5 was more rounded and overall more modern by 1990s and early 2000s standards. It was also the last generation Corvette to feature pop-up headlights, and with being sold in 2004, one of the last ever cars to be offered with pop-up headlights.
The rear follows the traditional headlight formula; four taillights and four centrally mounted exhaust pipes. As for body styles, the C5 was offered both as a coupe and a soft top convertible, with a fixed roof coupe version being added to the lineup in 1998.
C5 Corvette Powertrains And Drivetrains
Throughout its life, the C5 Corvette was offered with two slightly different V8 engines. Both displaced 5.7-liters, and they were both naturally aspirated. The regular C5 used the legendary LS1 V8, with 345 hp. That grew to 350 hp in 2001, whereas torque was rated at 356 lb-ft. The regular version could do 0-60 in 5.2 seconds, and thanks to the aerodynamic design, had a top speed of 175 mph. The Z06, meanwhile, was the high performance version. It used a slightly tuned "LS6" V8, with power dialed up to 400 hp. Acceleration and top speed remained the same.
Whichever Corvette you went for, they were all exclusively RWD, with a transaxle gearbox design allowing for perfect 50-50 weight distribution. A 6-speed Tremec T-56 manual transmission was standard, though if desired, you could get a 4-speed 4L60E automatic carried over from the previous models. The Z06 was only available with the manual. While the Z06's drivetrain had a very simple design, it could definitely hold its own both in sheer speed and handling.
Comfort And Quality In The C5 Corvette
Obviously, the C5 Corvette seats only two passengers. Even when it was new, this car was a bargain in terms of bang for the buck, but the interior makes it very clear that GM focused on the more important stuff. Aside from the gauge cluster and steering wheel, the interior is typical '90s General Motors. The material quality isn't the greatest, and for a sports car, it's not incredibly special. Still, at least stuff should be cheap to replace if it goes wrong. One distinction the Corvette has when compared to its GM stablemates is the heads-up display.
The heads-up display projects onto the windshield, and contains stuff like a tachometer, a speed readout, and a G-meter for cornering. Depending on which body style you go for, the C5 either has a liftback or a trunk. The coupe has 24.8 cubic feet of cargo space, whereas the convertible has 13.9 with the top up and 11.2 with the top down. As for reliability, the LS motor is well known for being a durable powertrain, although later Z06 models can be affected by valve spring failures.
C5 Corvette Pricing
As for pricing, the C5 Corvette is well known for being a total performance car bargain. Not only are there tons to be found in the classifieds, but they are properly cheap. Even Z06 models, though we suspect that the demand will start going up eventually, so it's the perfect time to buy one now.
Even pristine, relatively low-mileage examples can be found for less than $30,000. The Z06 models don't really hold a premium over the regular version, and the prices for those are somewhere in that neighborhood as well. Between the reliability, awesome looks, badge kudos, performance and pricing, the C5 Corvette is definitely worth considering as a bargain performance car/sports car.