Would You Consider Trading Your Z06 for a Shelby GT350 Mustang?
Corvette Forum member seeks to trade their 2017 Shelby GT350 for a ‘2016-and-younger’ Z06. Would you do it?
Some trades are easy to make: you go to your Corvette dealer, trade in your old ‘Vette, gain a better ‘Vette. Some are harder, like trading a pristine C1 for an ultra-rare COPO C3.
And then, there’s this trade proposal we found within Corvette Forum the other day: a 2017 Shelby GT350 for a 2016-and-younger Z06. It seems like an aspirational reach at first glance, but maybe there is more there than meets the eye.
Proposed by forum member p.bateman, the trade would exchange his low-mileage GT350 for a Z06 that is a 2LZ coupe with a seven-speed manual at minimum. His Shelby has a six-speed manual, two-piece vented brake rotors, and a 5.2-liter V8, that screams well past 8,000 RPM and produces 526 horsepower. It’s not your typical Mustang GT rental car, that’s for sure.
Meanwhile, the Z06 comes with the 6.2-liter supercharged V8, some fine leather seats of its own, and the ability to pop the roof off when needed. It also comes with a 124 horsepower advantage over the Shelby, and, arguably, a faster track day experience, from behind the wheel.
Both vehicles are respected high-performance icons, so it comes down to whether or not you want to leave the Z06 behind for a pony car whose rear seats may as well be deleted. Of course, the trade would bring in a new ‘Vette fan into the fold, and you could trade in the GT350 for a new Z06 on the lot. It’s a real roll of the dice, for sure. Would you do it if you were in such a position?
