Comparison Tests
In our world, BMW M6 and Chevy Camaro ZL1 owners buy these cars because they are going to use them. And not just use them, but use every last horsepower and g of capability. We admit that we do not live in the real world. While some owners actually track and race their M6s and ZL1s, many others use them almost exclusively for phallic demonstration. For these buyers, convertibles hold a big advantage. Liberating experiential factors aside, preening is one of the big benefits of convertibles over coupes. People tend to notice cars like an M6 or a ZL1; people tend to notice the driver of the equivalent convertible.
But why these two, here, together? Because aside from their highly divergent sticker prices, these two are like members of a common species whose evolution was separated by an ocean. The M6 and the ZL1 are both sedan-based, rear-drive, four-seat droptops powered by blown V-8s; one a very German take on the concept, the other quintessentially American. Both live to display.
If the goal is showmanship, then the M6 seen here arrived in the appropriate hue. BMW calls it San Marino Blue Metallic, but we’d have gone with peacock blue. Returning to market after a brief respite, the M6 convertible equips its driver well for chest puffery. Gone is the 8250-rpm V-10, but in your moment of despair, reflect on this: The twin-turbo V-8 that replaces it, while of a less exotic construction, tops the 10’s output by 60 horsepower and 117 pound-feet of torque, for totals of 560 and 500, respectively. This new M6 wears far more graceful sheetmetal than did the previous car, and its interior is so overrun with leather that you’ll even find cowhide in the door pockets. And at $115,295 ($125,595 as tested), the M6 is some pricey peafowl.
By pairing it with the Camaro ZL1 convertible—base price, $61,745—we aim to see how much of the M6’s strut can be had for less. Much less. As tested, the ZL1 costs $552.50 less than half of the M6’s sticker. With a splitter skimming just above the pavement, its carbon-fiber hood bulge vented to cool the engine room, and matte-black rims scowling from the wheel wells, the ZL1’s plumage is permanently fanned. It’s within three inches of the BMW in all critical dimensions, seats four, and even has a matching cloth top. Its LSA V-8, a derivative of the supercharged mill powering the Corvette ZR1, betters the M6’s output—with 580 horses—and crushes its twist with a 56-pound-foot advantage. Our ZL1’s color? Victory Red. Rather presumptuous, but that’s the peacock way.
