Sitting down? Maybe you should.

Yes, Steamer, serial #1. The first 1967 L-88.

jf84tl.jpg


Chevrolet
0.0.XP - PROVA - 0001
194377 - 00 - IT - EX.702


0.0. = Experimental Corvette
XP = experimental
PROVA = Proving Grounds
0001 = first prototype
19437 = Corvette coupe
7 = the year 1967
00 = Experimental Corvette
IT = Heavy-Duty 427 L-88 engine
EX.702 = distinguishes which type of experimental this is

Here's the car's story at Corvette Fever - 1967 Chevrolet Corvette L-88 Prototype

Pay particular attention to the side-mount headers. Quite unusual.

By the way, unofficially, there was another one before this. ;)
 
That car's definitely got IT!:D

The sound of the L88 is PERFECT! Wow! Thanks for posting the vid! Now if I could only use that as my alarm in the morning I would be set!
 
I had the privilege of hearing the L88 Corvette that Beare motors sold in '69. Al, the salesman that I knew, took me out to the back shop. The car had just been prepped for delivery. He fired it up and it sounded pretty radical. I think it was on fast idle at about 1700 rpm and the car was still shaking. It was over 2K before it actually started to smooth out. Al is still around and lives just outside Haliburton. He too was into Corvettes in the sixties.
 
The overall purpose of starting this thread was three-fold: 1) to bring the incredible story of the 12-mile 1967 L-88 to the forum; 2) to enlighten some of the younger owners who may think that high-performance began with the C5-Z06 or the C4-ZR1; and, 3) to tip my hat to those (led by Duntov) who paved the way forward for the amazing marque known as Corvette.

I had the privilege of meeting Zora and Elfie long ago and was impressed by their warmth and modesty. Without Zora Arkus Duntov, the 1969 all-aluminum ZL-1 427, the 1967-69 L-88, the 1965 4-wheel disc brakes, the 1963 independent rear suspension, the 1963 Corvette Grand Sport, the 1963 Corvette Z-06, the 1957 fuel injected 283 and 4-speed, the 1955 265 V8 and many, many more leaps forward would never have been developed and none of us would be on this forum. He was the man who performed CPR on a gasping/almost-cancelled 6 cylinder automatic boulevard cruiser and began the march towards the impressive high-performance, world-beating sports cars we enjoy today.

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This man, single-handedly, saved the Corvette from cancellation in the dark early days of sluggish non-sportscar performance and almost zero sales. He took Corvette from a car for librarians (in the early '50s) to a fire-breathing, ground-pounding, all-out racer. WHAT A GUY!

Will we ever see his like again?

:seeya:
 
duntov truly was a pioneer and a visionary, even before his involvement with chevrolet. the ar-dun heads for the ford flathead were quite an acheivement.
 
Case75 said:
Great story Bob. I wonder if that guy has ever found out what happened to his car and what it's now worth? Oh, and did you know that some small block '67s were shipped from the factory with big block hoods? Seems there had been a problem with the mold for the small block hoods and instead of waiting for a fix, GM shipped the cars with the big block hood.
Click to expand...

Case75,

Sorry I missed your question the first time through. The big-block hood factory-installed on some small block '67 Corvettes is a myth. How do I know? I got it from a very knowledgeable source - John Hinckley (JohnZ on the Internet). John worked as a Corvette engineer under Chief Engineer Duntov, and says the following...

"In five days, they would have built 625 cars, 40% of which were big-blocks; that leaves 375 small-block cars that allegedly were built with big-block hoods. Where are they? They never existed. Half of those 375 bodies would have come from A.O. Smith, and they didn't have big-block hoods in 1967. Any hood substitution would also have been noted with an "RN" number on the tank sticker to reconcile the plant's inventory records, and that didn't happen either. It's a myth."

I'm sure I posted a photo of John on this forum some weeks back. Many of you will be aware that John's word is gold.

P.S. You may also have noted how many small-block midyears there are out there with big-block stinger hoods on them. Wannabes. I guess I can't blame them. :D
 
The '67 big block stinger hood had to be the nicest ever. I don't blame guys for putting one on their cars. We were parked beside a green 400 hp 427 at the Bridgenorth Cruise Night this summer. Old 400 hp with new 400 hp. Duntov had a huge impact on Corvette and GM as a whole. Without him the horsepower race may have never developed the way it did. Without Duntov's horsepower push we would still be using fuzzy dice, continental kits and the like to give the cars some life.
 
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Z.A. Duntov must have been quite a guy like Shelby who have done so much for performance and racing. It's a real privilege to be a beneficiary of the era.

Great stories and videos.

C.
 
Even though Zora hated the split window it's still my all time favourite followed by the '66-'67 with a 427, and the most amazing hood in GM history...the stinger hood. Cool story and great pics.:cool:

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2
 
67HEAVEN said:
Oh, and just to add some confusion to the mix, the L-88 wasn't the only '67 Corvette to get aluminum heads. The other one is even rarer....but that's another story.
Click to expand...

I guess I left a few loose ends in this thread. So let's tie them up.

The other aluminum head engine in 1967 was the L-89 427; or to state it absolutely correctly, the L-71/L-89. Quite simply, it was an option on a option. You ordered the L-71 cast iron head 435hp 427, and then added the L-89 aluminum heads on top. L-71/L-89. Horsepower rating remained at 435hp.

Rare? Well as you know by now there were only 20 aluminum head L-88s sold and everyone knows how rare they are. But the L-71/L-89? Only 16. Rare, eh? :D

The other loose end? I mentioned there was apparently another L-88 prior to Prototype #0001 above. Anyone interested?
 
Totally ignorant question, but did a fully aluminum 427 make it into the Corvette? The L-88 still had an iron block, right? There was never a ZL1 Corvette, was there?
 
A few years ago a guy told me about a guy who worked in GE in Peterborough and that he had a '69 L89 Camaro. That's all I know. Didn't know the guy and never saw the car. Still, very few even knew about the L89 option so it makes me wonder how the story got going. Fact or fiction, you just never know about these stories. I worked with a tool maker back in '71, going through his mid life crisis I guess. He ordered a new 454 Corvette. In the conversation the fact came out that the car had aluminum heads. That would be a rare LS6. Again, I never saw that car either but the guy wasn't the B.S. type.
 
Riley P said:
Totally ignorant question, but did a fully aluminum 427 make it into the Corvette? The L-88 still had an iron block, right? There was never a ZL1 Corvette, was there?
Click to expand...

Riley,

Many people are aware of the ultra-rare ZL-1 1969 Camaro - 69 built. If ultra-rare is a suitable description for 69 Camaros, how would we describe two ZL-1 Corvettes? :D

Yeah.....two. Rumours suggest three, but only two are documented...perhaps one for certain (Roger's).

By the way, Roger Judski (Rogers Corvettes, Florida) who owns those two 1967 L-88 cars, one of which is the 12-mile car that started this thread - he also owns a ZL-1 Corvette.

n5242c.jpg


Yes, the stripe is factory real.

http://www.rogerscorvette.com/spots/feb98/spot.htm
 
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This is the rumour...
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It can be seen most years at Corvettes of Carlisle.
 
Riley P said:
Totally ignorant question, but did a fully aluminum 427 make it into the Corvette?
Click to expand...

Since Zora was behind the all-aluminum 427, the correct phrasing of that question would be, "...did a fully aluminum 427 make it into the Camaro?"

:D
 
May as well throw up the other one. This one is claimed as a real car, and indeed may be. Documentation, or lack thereof, is possibly the issue.

289wlzd.jpg


You'll notice completely different striping from Roger's car. Both are apparently correct for the ZL-1 Corvette.

And, this was Zora's test mule ZL-1.
2moxqtf.jpg


You'll notice the great big fenders and the taller than other big-blocks hood. Both are elements of the L-88 and ZL-1, although the fenders came "with" the car and not "on" the car for shipping reasons.
 
By the way, the 1969 ZL-1 Corvettes were the result of a RPO (Regular Production Option). In other words, most Chevy dealerships were aware of their availability.

The 1969 ZL-1 Camaros were COPO 9560 cars, not available as regular production options. (Central Office Production Order - 9560 ZL-1). Most dealerships never heard of them.

Consider that a base 1969 Corvette cost less than $5,000 new in the U.S. Adding the ZL-1 (plus the mandatory high-performance options) jumped the price to over $10,000. That's one of the reasons only two were sold. Not many people were willing to tick off ZL-1 on the order sheet when they saw that it doubled the price of the car.
 

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