I was reading the 1969 Corvette Stingray guide by Rick Bizzocco and noticed that there were 2 1969 Corvettes built with the LT-1 engine. Does anyone know if these two cars are still around? It might be interesting to hear more about the cars and their history.
A year or so ago I spoke with a seller in Georgia (I believe). He had already sold his 69 LT-1 car. He claimed to have been the original owner. According to him the car was ordered from the factory with the LT-1 toward the end of the 69 production cycle and what was to be the beginning of the 70 cycle. There was a G.M.strike and the car was a late production car per the seller. Who knows??? There have been some wierd things from G.M.
My recollection from Bizzocco's book is that there were two test mules built to LT-1 configuration in 69, but, they were not made available to the general public until 70.
I was reading the 1969 Corvette Stingray guide by Rick Bizzocco and noticed that there were 2 1969 Corvettes built with the LT-1 engine. Does anyone know if these two cars are still around? It might be interesting to hear more about the cars and their history.
Don't know about that, but own a very rare (1) '73 LT-1.
Location: Those who say it can't be done should get out of the way of the ones who are doing it.
The LT-1 is listed as an engine option in the 1969 Chevrolet Service Manuals. This really leads me to believe that Chevy intended to make them available during the '69 production run and for some reason held off until '70 to release it. There is no doubt that Chevy probably had '69 production mules running around with this motor installed in them. Whether or not any of those made it into production cars as built by the factory is questionable IMO as I've never run accross any references that support them being factory installed (I haven't read Bizocco's book, though). I would think if production numbers can legitimately support 2 production ZL-1's being built, they would be able to support such a limited number of LT-1's as well. I bet some dealers lent their hand in swapping some LT-1's into some '69's, especially if the LT-1 motor was available over the counter any time prior to the '70 model year.
While I can't say that any '69 LT-1s were produced, I can tell everyone that I did see an original '71 Corvette with a high compression 350/350 that was built in calendar year 1969.
I saw the car in '73 and it was clearly a matching numbers car. It also had the 350/350 console spec tag and 6000 RPM redline tach.
Just out of curiousity; why would this thread be moved to this section? It really has nothing to do with the restoration of a car; it's simply a general question about a particular Corvette.
Yep. Two (maybe 3) LT-1 engines were prepared by GM in Michigan (probably blueprinted), shipped to California, and installed in two/three 1969 Corvettes. This was done for a long lead press junket to allow automotive journalists to thrash the LT-1s before their actual debut.
ONE if these cars (a coupe) was sold by the dealership to a private individual under warranty after the press had finished with it. This car exists and has been documented with the LT-1.
The question is: Does the fact that the car was sold under warranty make it a 1969 LT-1?
I think the history of this car is interesting (what became a 1970 engine in a 1969 Corvette), but I lean toward calling it a '69 without the original engine.
No one is quite sure what happened to the other 69s with LT-1s.
While I can't say that any '69 LT-1s were produced, I can tell everyone that I did see an original '71 Corvette with a high compression 350/350 that was built in calendar year 1969.
I saw the car in '73 and it was clearly a matching numbers car. It also had the 350/350 console spec tag and 6000 RPM redline tach.
I keep thinking about this one. Just doesn't seem possible.
The factory just happens to have a 2 year old engine sitting around to install. AND, also happens to have the correct console tag hanging around to go with it too. AND, the correct old tach to match.
I remember reading something on this 69 LT-1 recently,just cannot remember where.I had saved something about this car on my computer but it crashed last month and i lost everthing.
...He had already sold his 69 LT-1 car. He claimed to have been the original owner. According to him the car was ordered from the factory with the LT-1 toward the end of the 69 production cycle and what was to be the beginning of the 70 cycle. There was a G.M.strike and the car was a late production car per the seller...
Probably just another Corvette tale. The strike involved only 1969 production for about eight weeks. The last '69 was built on December 19th, 1969 and the line was shut down through the rest of the year. They ramped up for 1970 production in mid to late January 1970, but none of the '70 models was available to the public until February, 1970.
The owner above almost certainly did not order a 1969 Corvette with a factory LT-1.
Kind of fits into the relhm of the '70 LS-7s with three dueces and 450(?) hp.
This option (with all the part numbers and assembly instructions) is clearly illustrated in my '70 shop manual, but I don't think documentation shows that any went to the public.
BTW, my 350/350 was from the first day of production (#131), but was not originally sold until like 6 months later (from original bill of sale).
Are ya'll sure about the Clipplingler Chevrolet car being a real LT-1? I remember reading the original article on the car and thought it detailed how the car was converted from an L-46 to an LT-1.
Corvette Store
1969 LT-1 Corvette?
1,000,000?
1,500,000?
