2002 Corvette Z06 Tiger Shark Is the More Powerful C5 That Should Have Been

Though it never quite achieved the success its maker envisioned, the Corvette Z06 Tiger Shark is still quite appealing.

Concepts are something that have existed in the automotive world for decades, giving us a sneak peek at the future in many cases – though many of these one-off creations never actually come to fruition. Sometimes that’s a good thing and other times, well, we long for production versions of concept cars, and that certainly applies to the 2002 Corvette Z06 Tiger Shark. A special machine designed and built by the folks at a company called Tecstar, the Corvette Z06 Tiger Shark was intended to be a hotter version of the already quite capable machine, though this particular outfit had bigger ambitions, a story that was recently retold via this episode of Jay Leno’s Garage.

Tecstar wanted to sell the Corvette Z06 Tiger Shark via GM’s own dealer network, making a production version of the 2001 concept of the same name that debuted at that year’s SEMA Show. Thus, it set out to create something that was both visually distinctive and more capable than the regular old run-of-the-mill Z06, starting on the outside with a new front bumper, hood, and rear bumper, though the aggressive front section meant that Tecstar couldn’t really lower the Z06 without risking turning it into a snow shovel of sorts. In fact, Leno admits he’s had to replace the front bumper of his own car more than once.

The most notable thing about the Corvette Z06 Tiger Shark, however, was what lies under the hood – a stroked-out version of the factory LS6 V8 that raised displacement from 347 cubic inches to 402 with the addition of a new crank – just like the 2001 concept –  a combination that churned out 525 horsepower thanks to that one big modification, along with a new exhaust and a tune.

That represented a fairly massive increase over the C5 Z06’s stock rating of 385 horsepower (in year one, 405 after), and made the Tiger Shark one heck of an impressive car for its era. However, when it comes to Leno’s personal Tiger Shark, it’s actually packing an LS7 swap from a later-model C6 Z06, a job that was completed under prior ownership.

Unfortunately, Tecstar never managed to totally convince GM that the Corvette Z06 Tiger Shark belonged in the C5 lineup, and the company was eventually bought out by Quantum Corporations in 2005. However, the Tiger Shark kit lives on today, and can even be purchased by those that dig the look – at least in terms of the exterior body parts – for less than $2k.

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