Chevy engineers spent $25K on a Ferrari 458 engine off eBay to unlock its secrets for the Corvette Z06

A group of Chevy engineers spent $25,000 on the engine of a Ferrari 458.

It was all in aid of discovering the secrets behind the powerhouse for the Corvette Z06.

But, the source they managed to get it from wasn’t the most conventional.

However, the engineers’ clever method clearly paid off.

VISIT SBX CARS – View live supercar auctions powered by Supercar Blondie

Chevy’s smart thinking

The Chevy brand is known by many for creating a variety of autos.

From muscle cars to daily drivers, their fleet is expansive.

The Chevy Suburban is the only car to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, too.

Plus, a man from Utah couldn’t believe the towing power of the Chevy Silverado EV compared to the Tesla Cybertruck.

But, as you’d expect, creating impressive cars takes extensive preparation.

So, to help shape designs and plans, Chevy engineers decided to make a peculiar purchase.

Chevy engineers bought a Ferrari engine off of Ebay

Yes, that’s right, the savvy engineers working on the Chevy Corvette Z06 decided to buy an engine belonging to a Ferrari 458 from the resale site eBay.

It was from a supposedly wrecked car located in Poland.

But, it didn’t come cheap, and reportedly cost around $25,000.

By buying the metal masterpiece, they were able to get an insight into the way the Ferrari wired its motors, including a flat-plane crank.

But the team was initially sceptical about the whole process of sourcing the Italian engineering masterpiece.

The LT6 was a new venture for Chevy

So, by studying Ferrari’s intricate ways of doing things, the engineers working on the LT06 could harbour ideas and develop designs.

“We wanted a Ferrari 458 engine, to take a look at their components and see what they did,” Chief engineer Jordan Lee has previously said.

Now, fast forward to 2025, and the car has gone from strength to strength.

According to Chevrolet itself, the 2025 Corvette Z06 ‘features the most powerful naturally aspirated engine in a production vehicle’.

It has an LT6 5.5-L mid-engine and an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, so it really is dynamic.

Clearly, the Ferrari research paid off for the team, as Corvette’s Executive Engineer, Tadge Juechter, said that the purchase meant there were improvements in how the team developed the LT6 engine.

Would you chance that much money on an eBay purchase?

DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie