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- Brookdale Community College’s automotive program received a donated 2024 Corvette Z06, a top-of-the-line model worth over $153,000.
- Students will use the donated Corvette for educational purposes, gaining experience with advanced automotive technology.
- The program aims to address the shortage of auto technicians by providing students with hands-on training.
MIDDLETOWN — Ivan Anderson, chair of the automotive technology program at Brookdale Community College and owner of a 1991 Chevrolet Corvette, was at a General Motors conference in Detroit last fall, when he got an email from the company wondering if it could donate a 2024 Corvette to the school.
Sure, he said, thinking it would be a regular Corvette. But when he looked up the vehicle identification number, he saw the sticker price: $153,355 with $21,000 in options. He kept reading. Metallic white. Convertible roof. And a Z06 emblem on the side.
“At this point, that’s the top dog Corvette,” Anderson said.
Brookdale’s automotive technology program is welcoming its newest addition: a top-of-the-line, limited edition Corvette with a 670-horsepower engine that can go 0 to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds, although Anderson probably will need a police escort to drive it off the Brookdale campus.
With joyrides off the table, students will have a chance to tinker with the sports car, gaining new skills that will help them find jobs in an industry facing a persistent shortage of auto technicians. And Anderson wants to load the Corvette onto a trailer and take it on tour to promote the program, visiting high schools where there is little doubt students will have the same, jaw-dropping reaction he had.
The Z06 Corvette’s design is sleek, like an gleaming arrow that cuts through the air, reaching a top speed of 195 mph. Its red interior looks like a jazz club.
Its engine, something of a Holy Grail for Corvette enthusiasts, is in the rear of the car, hidden by a cover. Its narrow trunk has enough room for two sets of golf clubs. Its rearview mirror can turn into a video screen. And it has a front lift system that can raise the car to clear an obstacle.
The car was returned by a customer with only about 400 miles on it because it needed a new transmission, Anderson said.
The faulty transmission was Brookdale’s gain. The automotive technician program has about 350 students who divide their time between the classroom and paid internships at dealers or repair shops, working their way toward an associate’s degree. And the school has partnered with GM for at least two decades, taking vehicles that the auto maker donates.
Cedric Saint Amand, 20, of South Plainfield, and Noah Kline, 19, of Middletown, first-year students, were spending most of their time working on Chevrolets, Buicks and Cadillacs when the Z06 Corvette was delivered, stopping them in their tracks.
“This is ideal,” Saint Armond said.
“The color. The carbon fiber. The red leather interior,” Kline said. “The fact that it has, like, 700 horsepower.”
It might be a while before the students run into another convertible Z06 Corvette to fix. The car was made in Bowling Green, Kentucky, one of just 5,248 produced in 2024, according to the National Corvette Museum. By comparison, GM sold half a million Chevrolet Silverado trucks last year, Car and Driver magazine said.
But the technology employed in GM’s high-end models often filters down to other cars, Anderson said.
Knowing the inner workings of the Z06 could give the students another notch on their resumes. U.S. technical schools are graduating about 39,000 service techs a year, far short of number needed to replace the 76,000 that are retiring, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association, a trade group.
With a show stopper in hand, Anderson wants to put the Corvette to work. Eventually, he wants to apply for a federal grant to purchase a trailer that can ferry the car to outreach programs.
But first, he needs to drive it another 100 miles to break in the new transmission. And since the car gets only 12 miles per gallon in the city, he needs to fill up the tank. He hesitates about driving it off the Brookdale campus without a police escort.
“This is not a car that passes by without someone seeing it,” Anderson said. “Either you hear it, or, if this thing goes fast, it’s not an under-the-radar kind of car.”
Michael L. Diamond is a business reporter at the Asbury Park Press. He has been writing about the New Jersey economy and health care industry since 1999. He can be reached at [email protected].