856666

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2019/05/...ng-to-auction/


Is it worth more because it was the first L88?

Phil

Easy Rhino

Don't think I'm a buyer.

$$$$$$$

Swept57

I don’t know much history about the L88, but the article says a “new” L88 was installed at Chevrolet engineering. Was this car originally delivered with an L88? Or was it something else that was later updated after delivery?

Easy Rhino

Yeah, I found that confusing, too. From the article:

Not long after, DeLorenzo received a call from Arkus-Duntov himself, who asked him to bring the car by Chevrolet Engineering’s headquarters in Michigan to “take care of a few things” before he went racing with it. The car was later delivered back to him through Hanley Dawson Chevrolet in Detroit, which was funding DeLorenzo’s raicng ventures, with a host of suspension and braking upgrades and a new 500 + hp L88 V8 engine.

Also the article states that Tony's father bought the car new, but that Zora modified the car and returned it to him through the dealer that was "funding the racing."

Now, all this may just be "journalism," such as it is, but it's not very clear.

Nowhere Man

Might be the first 67 L88 but the first L88 was a 66 coupe sold to Roger Penske

mikelj

As with all these old, beat up race cars that have been restored, you have to wonder how many original parts are left in it. I would doubt very many are left.

SWCDuke

That car was built with a L-72, heater delete, HD brakes and suspension. Guldstrand picked it up at St.Louis in January about two weeks before the Daytona 24-hour race and drove it to Penske's Pennsylvania shop where the race prep was done. A racing exhaust system was installed along with a prototype cold air induction system provided by Chevrolet.

The car practiced with the factory installed L-72. Then for qualifying and the race a Traco-built big block with prototype L-88 parts supplied by Chevrolet was installed. The only way to prove a race engine is to race it, and a 24-hour race is the acid test. It won the GT over 3-liter class and raced at Sebring a month later.

The L-88 option was finally released about half-way through the '67 model year.

Duke

Avispa

I wondered about that. RPO L88 is clearly shown in the 1966 AIM.

GUSTO14

But wait, I thought this was the 1st production '67 L88...







I'm so confused...

Oh wait, that is the same car...

SWCDuke

Chevrolet anticipated releasing L-88 in '66, so AIM sheets were prepared, but the L-88 option wasn't RELEASED for production until mid-'67... similar to the '63 KO wheel option. The sheets are in the '63 AIM, but the option wasn't released during the '63 model year.

Just because sheets are in the AIM doesn't mean that the option was actually released for production.

Duke

Swept57

I read two other articles on this L88 and neither makes any mention of the car being called back to Chevrolet Engineering. They claim all mods were done at the sponsoring dealership.

http://www.superchevy.com/features/1...e-l88-mystique

Wayne88

So how does this sit with the purists? Is it original or a 'put together' car?

65hihp

I would call myself a purist. If someone wanted to buy that car and gift it to me, I would say thank you, and take it.

vettebuyer6369

Id say most purists (I am one as well) have different perspectives on correctness for established race cars than they do for simple factory produced street only cars.

That said, I wouldn’t be writing that check any time soon either way.

mvftw

Yes, the '66 Penske car is owned by Kevin McKay from Corvette Repair, in Long Island...

gbvette62

I always assumed the Don Yenko/Dave Morgan 67 DX Corvette coupe was the first production 67 L-88. The Yenko/Morgan Corvette raced in the 67 Sebring 12 Hour on April 1, 1967, so it had to have been built in February or March. Tony DeLorenzo didn't race his L-88 until sometime later in 67.

I believe DeLorenzo's black 67 was a true L-88. DeLorenzo had been SCCA Club racing in a Corvair. He'd been pretty successful and wanted to move up to faster cars, but couldn't afford too. He sent out sponsorship proposals to various dealers, and the owner of Dawson Chevrolet liked the proposal. Dawson ordered the black 67 L-88 for him, along with a trailer and truck to tow it, and provided space at the dealership for him to prep the car.

Penske's 66 was built with an aluminum head L-88. The FIA paperwork listed the horsepower as 425, but it was still an L-88. The story goes that because of the radical nature of the engine, the plant workers couldn't get it to start, so Guldstrand got in it and eventually started it. The factory installed L-88 was used for testing and qualifying at Daytona, and then was replaced the night before the race with an L-88 built by Traco, that was detuned slightly, to improve it's chances of surviving the 24 hours.

It's my understanding that the cold air hood was installed at St. Louis on the assembly line. Chevrolet made a few more copies of the hood, and installed them on Grand Sports 001 and 002, before selling the Grand Sports to Penske.

Dan Hampton

I would think having the documentation that Duntov removed the original engine and inserted a modified one would trump the originality issue that people are concerned about. Racing engines of that period never survived, in any event, and I doubt that the Duntov engine did, either. Shelby's Factory Cobras, which bring huge premiums today, had engines replaced a number of times throughout the season. It isn't an issue with collectors, as long as the car in question can be tethered to the Factory and/or a Factory team driver.

856666

So there is no way to know if it really was the first L88?

Swept57

I am curious if there is any existing documentation that Zora did have it modified at Chevrolet Engineering. I would think that would increase the value a bit over if it is just a cool story, but no proof it actually happened.

SWCDuke

FIA homologation papers say nothing about how a particular car is built, but they were required to make the car legal under the then GT rules with the "special parts" like aluminum heads.

GM does NOT install prototype parts on the production line. They only install parts that are RELEASED for production. Prototype parts installations are done by engineering or an outside contractor. In this case, Penske, and that included the cold air induction.

I inspected McKay's large documentation book about 15 years ago. There was lot's of interesting documentation, but NOTHING that shows the St. Louis build configuration. Since that time I believe he's backed off from his claim that it was built at St. Louis with a "L-88".

The information that I previously posted is from a contemporaneous article in Corvette News about the car and its '66 Daytona GT class win, but the myths, misinformation, and speculation will likely never end.

Duke