Daily Slideshow: Rare and obscure C5 Corvettes According to the Forums

1999-2000 FRC (Fixed Roof Coupe)

The Fixed Roof Coupe, also known as the C5 Hardtop, paved the way for the C5 Z06 with its improved rigidity and chassis response over the standard coupe variant. The car was the lightest and stiffest Corvette available while also having the lowest price tag of the bunch. The FRC cars were only produced for two years (1999 & 2000) making them a rare breed with only 6,121 units. The rarest color of the bunch, however,  was 23U Nassau Blue with 189 units making up only 9% of all FRC cars.

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N73 Wheel Option

The N73 wheel option was introduced for the 1998 model year. These "Sport Custom Wheels" were produced by Speedline in Italy and made entirely of magnesium. The N73 wheel option was quite pricey initially at $3000, but they became much more reasonable by the end of C5 production at a mere $1500 for the 2004 model year. These are perhaps the lightest wheels you can get for the C5 as the fronts weight a minuscule 16.5 lbs and the rears 19 lbs. Approximately 3.5% of all C5's produced were equipped with these rare wheels. Check your glove box option code list!

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Crazy Colors

The C5 came in a variety of colors during its production run for a total of 23 different paint options. It is probably not surprising that Torch Red was the most popular paint scheme with over 51,000 produced in the classic Corvette color. While there are some very rare colors such as Fairway Green Metallic (87U) or Medium Purple Pearl Metallic (95U), the rarest color options were 15 Aztec Gold (58U) cars and 14 Navy Blue Metallic (28U) cars, both only available during the 1998 model year.

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Limited Editions

Corvette has long been known to release a handful of limited-edition cars during each production run and the C5 had a few of them too. The 2003 50th Anniversary Corvette with its Red Metallic Paint and Shale two-tone interior was not very limited as 33% of the cars produced were selected with this option. The 2004 Commemorative Edition Z06 in its Le Mans Blue paint with silver & red accents and carbon fiber hood was much more exclusive with a total of 2025 numbered vehicles. The rarest of the special edition C5 vehicles was the 1998 Indy Pace Car Replica. 1,110 of these beauties were produced with an outrageous Radar Purple and yellow color scheme that some either love or hate. Regardless, it is arguably the most eye-catching Corvette pace car to date.

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Special RPO Codes

There have been a number of C5 Vettes that have special Regular Production Option codes listed that identify them as Pilot or Prototype vehicles. A quick check of the option code decal for a WDO, WD1, or WD2 option can reveal a rare early production car that was sold to the public after it had undergone various tests. The WDO code is known as the Factory Option Processing Code for a future platform or model year car being built in the previous model year (i.e. a 1998 car built in 1997 as the start of a new model year). Sources claim that these vehicles were put through their paces for performance testing. The WD1 code indicates a Factory Pilot Vehicle that is often a pre-production car that was used to test assembly processes or used for evaluation/media purposes. The WD2 code designates a Prototype Vehicle that may have been several model years away from actual production. Check your option code list because you may have an uncommon early production Vette!

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