only two made

[Arnold Greene]

Originally Posted by X-TECH MAN

NO BIG DEAL BUT................
For what its worth Chevrolet only made 20 (TWENTY) PRODUCTION L-88's. These were the assembly line assembled cars. 17 are known to exist and 3 have the original engines. The rest have replacement engines no matter what the re stamped block says. The rest were cars with engines used as "Service parts" (engines) so they could be used in SCCA type of events. The famous "K-MOTION CORVETTE" from Motion performance in NY was NOT a real L-88 driven by the late Astoris Chas shown in car magazines. But who cares !! It was a car that made for "Wet Dreams"I have a copy of EVERY Corvette Black book printed and they ALL say 20 prodction L-88 cars I know personally the 2 guys who own the ZL-1's The Yellow one and the bule one. The blue one has NO paperwork and is about 1 hour from me here in Florida. The yellow one is fully documented and is also in Florida just off Rt # 4 at his dealership along with a cpl. of REAL L-88's of the 1967 varitey. A good frien had a RED 69 L-88 Coupe that he tried to race with a factory Turbo 400. He was a salesman at a local Chevrolet dealer in Md. The guy with the white ZL-1 I do not know but it is supposed to be fully documented. . I have been a Corvette guy since before I had a drivers liscense. I have owned 11 of them and raced a few (not L-88s) including a 435 HP '67 roadster which was one of 20 (yes twenty) built that I ordered new with the M-22 trans. Look them up....its all there in the Corvette black book.

Terry is absolutely correct. There were 20 L88 (427/430, aluminum head, 12.5/1 comp. ratio, radio/heater delete, aluminum radiator, w/expansion tank without a fan shroud) optioned 67's and16 L89 (aluminum head 427/435, also the rarest 67 BB option) optioned 67's, so this could be where the 36 number comes from. The Corvette Black Book and NCRS are authenticated sources for these and other Corvette questions anyone may have. In 1988, the Special Collection at Bloomington Gold, featured many L88's from 67, 68, and 69 and was known as EarthQuake 88.

[X-TECH MAN]

Thank you AR for the back up. I was going to mention the L-89's but this thread was about the L-88's. Don't forget the deletion of the distributor shielding on the L-88's. No radio so it wasnt necessary.It is possable that the L-89's were counted and why some believe more L-88's were built. My '67 435 HP car was ALMOST an L-89 but I couldnt stand the price of the alum. head option back then. $368.65 after I had to come up with $5302.00 plus insurance and sales tax was a LOT in 1967. If I only had a time machine.....LOL. Hope all is going well with you and your wife. If your around stop in and say hello.
Terry

[Dwight Southerland]

My first class racing was done in the summer of 1968 with a '57 Chev 150 business coupe and a 283 two bbl. I raced about six times that summer at a little dragstrip south of Ft. Smith, AR. Three of those times a soldier from nearby Ft. Chaffee showed up with a maroon '67 Corvette 435hp-427 roadster with some JC Penny slicks mounted on white steel wheels stuffed into the compartment behind the seats. He would put the slicks on and run mid - low 12s all day through the side pipes. During the same period of time, a friend of mine in Little Rock had made friend with another soldier stationed at the Air Force base at Jacksonville, AR who also had a black 435hp-427 roadster and even got to drive the car a couple of times. I rode in that car twice. X-Tech, if you say only twenty were made, then I have personally been around two of the twenty! I did not know the cars were that rare.

[Jeff Lee]

Originally Posted by Dwight Southerland

My first class racing was done in the summer of 1968 with a '57 Chev 150 business coupe and a 283 two bbl. I raced about six times that summer at a little dragstrip south of Ft. Smith, AR. Three of those times a soldier from nearby Ft. Chaffee showed up with a maroon '67 Corvette 435hp-427 roadster with some JC Penny slicks mounted on white steel wheels stuffed into the compartment behind the seats. He would put the slicks on and run mid - low 12s all day through the side pipes. During the same period of time, a friend of mine in Little Rock had made friend with another soldier stationed at the Air Force base at Jacksonville, AR who also had a black 435hp-427 roadster and even got to drive the car a couple of times. I rode in that car twice. X-Tech, if you say only twenty were made, then I have personally been around two of the twenty! I did not know the cars were that rare.

That's 20 1967 L88 427 / 430 HP cars. You drove the 427/435 try-power 'Vett's. Much more common.

I had a client with a '67 427/435 4-speed, 4.11 side pipe 'Vette. He had the original engine on a stand for prosperity but a 427/425 in it's place. He threw me the keys and said "drive it as hard as you want". I though that was an offer to good to be true. I gotta say, it sure ran good, but I wouldn't call it smooth or overly fast. If it was faster than my '70 'Cuda 440-6 with Shaker, 4-speed & 3.54's, it wasn't by much and I think if geared the same it would be darn close. But I guess a 'Cuda is not a 'Vette and never will be.

Back to the subject, maybe somebody needs to persue this with NHRA ONE MORE TIME!

[Terry Cain]

Just slap a COPO, Drag Pack or CJ emblem on it. End of story.

[Chad Rhodes]

Originally Posted by X-TECH MAN

Thank you AR for the back up. I was going to mention the L-89's but this thread was about the L-88's. Don't forget the deletion of the distributor shielding on the L-88's. No radio so it wasnt necessary.It is possable that the L-89's were counted and why some believe more L-88's were built. My '67 435 HP car was ALMOST an L-89 but I couldnt stand the price of the alum. head option back then. $368.65 after I had to come up with $5302.00 plus insurance and sales tax was a LOT in 1967. If I only had a time machine.....LOL. Hope all is going well with you and your wife. If your around stop in and say hello.
Terry

My dad also had one of the 67 427/435 M-22 cars. He ordered it brand new in 66. After he picked up the car he found out about the L88, he would have ordered one of those had he known about it. His was marina Blue with both tops, no side pipes. Said it had a tag ( i believe on the shifter) that said not for highway use, off road only.

[Jeff Lee]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lee

If they would have done that AND had the Z-28, they would have had full control of the market.

More of ads like this may have helped!
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2...et/?refer=news

[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by Chad Rhodes

My dad also had one of the 67 427/435 M-22 cars. He ordered it brand new in 66. After he picked up the car he found out about the L88, he would have ordered one of those had he known about it. His was marina Blue with both tops, no side pipes. Said it had a tag ( i believe on the shifter) that said not for highway use, off road only.

My 67 435 HP car was also Marina Blue with a black interior but with "off the road" side pipes. Both tops. AND the speed warning buzzer. A friend had a yellow(Ugly) one (435 HP) with the rare "J-56" brake option and a standard M21 Muncie. The M-22 trans was OK for the street but was loud. Not to bad with the side pipes sounding off in my ears. It "whined" a lot with the straight cut gears. Never saw the tag on the shifter on mine. The L-88/430 HP option was way to expensive for a single young guy at almost $950 unless you had a rich mom and dad. Plus living in Md. a heater was more important in the winter time than the L-88 option. I could NOT hear the radio anyway with the side pipes but who cares. it was a rough riding car (rode like a dump truck) that sucked gas especially after I changed gears to 4.88's and got 4 1/2 MPG but at .39 cents a gallon for SUNOCO 280 so what. It was HOT as hell in the summer as A/C was not avaliable with the solid lifter cam engines. Back then what self respecting car guy would have A/C anyway. To much extra weight and used precious HP. Most good restored REAL 435 HP cars go for around $125,000 to $250,000 today. Maybe a little more for a really nice one with the right color and options. A REAL L-88 with the original engine brings approx $3,000,000 to $5.000,000. (Thats million). If we only knew. There are probably many more 435 HP cars today than Chev. ever made with all the bogus stuff out there like restamped blocks etc. One 435 HP car was traced to have begun life on the assembly line as a 300 HP powerglide car a few years ago. Im sure there are a cpl. of BOGUS L-88's out there but harder to fake. Not as many and most are accounted for. I ended up running 10.97 (Best) with mine with a cam (L-88 gear drive cam) change and 8 inch slicks and open headers. Mostly 11.0's and 11.teens in A/SP class at Aquasco and Capitol. My favorite Corvette was a 1966 roadster. Maroon with black interior and a white top. 327/350 HP with a 4-speed muncie. All Id need today is A/C in it because Im old. My 73 was the first with automatic and A/C. It was a John Lingenfelter look alike. Ugly green and (UGH) a tan interior. My latest is a 2010, 430 HP LS-3, 6 speed auto, A/C as all of them have, rides like a Cadilliac and "The way it was". Looking for a nice 67 small block (less expensive) Coupe to "CLONE" as a 435 HP look alike with a pump gas friendly big block with vintage air and a 5 speed tremic. Maroon with american spoke torque thrust mags. Who cares about numbers matching !

[Terry Cain]

Terry,
There's a guy here locally who takes the 64-67's and makes 435 Clone cars out of them. He does about 6 a year. Frame off complete restore. They are nice cars when he's done with them. He let's the buyer know UP FRONT that it is a clone but people don't seem to mind and he's making a good living doing them. I can put you in touch with him if you'd like.
Terry Cain

[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by Terry Cain

Terry,
There's a guy here locally who takes the 64-67's and makes 435 Clone cars out of them. He does about 6 a year. Frame off complete restore. They are nice cars when he's done with them. He let's the buyer know UP FRONT that it is a clone but people don't seem to mind and he's making a good living doing them. I can put you in touch with him if you'd like.
Terry Cain

Thank you for the info. I will keep that in mind but I not that old yet(I think)....LOL. I can still do it all except the paint work. Paint and body work was never my thing though. Maybe I should call him to see if I can pick up some parts I dont have like a Tri power intake for a 67. They are a little taller than the 68-69 versions. Date codes and numbers are not a concern to me. Most dont know what they see anyway. I have new carbs. I need something to keep me busy anyway since I retired and I want to make it road worthy and comfortable to drive on long trips. Im building a new 40 X 60 garage at the moment on 5 acres. My plan is to spend my last penny about 30 seconds before I drop dead.