Even though you can’t officially buy a brand new Chevrolet Corvette in Australia, there are a small number of firms around the country that provide full right-hand drive conversions for the US muscle car. A new company in Victoria called Trofeo Performance has just opened up and introduced the Trofeo Corvette Z06 and Trofeo Grand Sport.
Although the Trofeo sports cars are essentially Chevrolet Corvettes, they come with their own Trofeo Performance badges and branding. This means they feature a complete and professional right-hand drive conversion so it’s like a brand new vehicle.
For the Z06 Trofeo, power comes from a 7.0-litre naturally aspirated V8 engine producing 377kW and 637Nm. It’s all wrapped up in a lightweight body, including a carbon fibre roof, allowing the Z06 Trofeo to weigh in at just 1450kg. You can begin to appreciate the sort of power-to-weight ratio we’re talking here.
Other highlights for the Z06 Trofeo include:
- Premium right-hand-drive conversion
- Revised suspension geometry with a racing heritage
- Front carbon-fibre lip spoiler
- Carbon-fibre side skirts
- Carbon-fibre/Alcantara steering wheel
- Carbon-fibre engine bay enhancement kit
- Carbon-fibre air intake
- Carbon-fibre roof
- Carbon-fibre rear lip spoiler
- Custom leather dashboard with Alcantara features
- Bi-modal exhaust
As for the Grand Sport Trofeo, it comes with a 6.2-litre LS3 naturally aspirated V8 producing 317kW of power and 575Nm of torque. It tips the scales at 1510kg, and comes with a similar list of standard kit.
For those wanting more performance, Trofeo offers plenty of options in that department, including supercharger upgrades, to full LS7 engines, Harrop intake manifolds, full exhaust systems, and adjustable coilover suspension packages.
If you’re after a proper V8 muscle car from the US but aren’t keen on left-hand drive, these Trofeo Performance vehicles are just what the doctor ordered.
Trofeo Motorsport partner and racing driver Jim Manolios recently spoke about the company and the cars, saying,
“Trofeo Performance has been borne out of Trofeo Motorsport and our program of developing race cars and the technology that goes into those race cars.
“We do 90 per cent of the development of our race cars, and the ongoing support ourselves and through that work we’ve seen a niche in the market for a real serious performance car for the road.
“There’s a definite hole in the market between the Australian made performance cars, stepping up into the higher levels of European built sports cars like Porsche, Ferrari Maserati and high-end Mercedes and BMWs, and we think the Corvette fits that market very well.”
Trofeo Performance is based near Melbourne, Victoria. More information can be found at TrofeoMotorsport.com
