The early 2000s had been good instances for the automotive aftermarket, with many good automobile platforms to select from and plenty of automakers prepared to cooperate with aftermarket firms on upgrades.

One of many merchandise of that period is Jay Leno’s 2002 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Tiger Shark, constructed by Tecstar and Wheel 2 Wheel.

Paul Rivera, world director of enterprise for the sibling firms, just lately appeared on “Jay Leno’s Storage” to elucidate the Tiger Shark’s historical past.

The C5 Corvette debuted in 1997, initially in T-top coupe and convertible physique kinds. For the 2001 mannequin 12 months, Chevy added a Z06 efficiency mannequin to the lineup, with a novel “mounted roof coupe” physique type that was extra inflexible and cheaper to fabricate. It additionally got here with an upgraded model of the 5.7-liter LS1 V-8 from the usual C5. Designated LS6, this engine made 385 hp at first, however bought a lift to 405 hp for the 2002 mannequin 12 months.

Tecstar and Wheel 2 Wheel administration thought they might take the Z06 even additional. Hoping to get backing from Common Motors for an aftermarket package deal that may very well be offered by the automaker’s components division, one thing it had already finished with the S-10 Xtreme pickup truck and different tasks, the administration initiated the Tiger Shark undertaking. The plan was for Wheel 2 Wheel to design elements and for Tecstar to construct the automobiles.

The LS6 V-8 was bored and stroked to six.6 liters and given a customized exhaust system with quad ideas. Output rose to 525 hp. The corporate additionally developed a physique package with a bigger entrance air consumption and chin spoiler (Leno admits he’s gone by three of them, in the event you had been questioning how weak that low-hanging piece of bodywork is to wreck), and dressed up with the inside with carbon- fiber door sill plates and new leather-based upholstery.

Whereas a powerful package deal on paper, the Tiger Shark additionally reveals the travails of aftermarket upgrades. A grounding challenge would trigger Leno’s automobile to randomly scale back energy till it was lastly traced to defective wiring in one of many doorways, and the bespoke 6.6-liter V-8 proved unreliable total. It was changed with an LS7 7.0-liter V-8 crate motor.

Plans to make the Tiger Shark broadly obtainable by no means materialized. Leno’s automobile is the one full one in existence, based on Rivera, though a number of the Tiger Shark beauty bits have ended up on different automobiles. With the present C8 Corvette Z06 sporting a 5.5-liter V-8 making 670 hp, there actually isn’t a lot want for the aftermarket efficiency. So the Tiger Shark may be very a lot a creature of its time.

This text was initially revealed by Motor Authority, an editorial accomplice of ClassicCars.com