1967 L88 Corvette>

It seems that inflation has once again hit the C2 Corvettes hard. Someone paid $3,200,000 for the Marlboro Maroon 1967 Corvette roadster at the Dallas edition of the Mecum Auction.
I wonder what the Rally Red 12 miles since new 1967 Corvette coupe is worth now? That L88 had a black interior but there is another Rally Red 1967 L88 Corvette coupe that is the only one that came from the factory with a red interior. One 1967 L88 Corvette that won't be coming back is the Polar White 1967 L88 Corvette roadster that was crashed long ago in Jordan...
CH

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Tires were junk back then for sure and with a very narrow tread width. Also the 1967 L88 motor was quite fragile. The specifications were upgraded for the 1968 L88 motor. The drive train was not able to withstand 500+ horsepower for very long either. It's no surprise that these cars eventually broke.
CH

 

The L88 was said to have been one of two consecutively number L88 models. One version says the Corvette was crashed by the brother of King Hussein and never repaired. That the Corvette was simply stored with other cars from the collection. No way to confirm that now...
CH

 

LARRYH thanks for that info!
The 12 mile Corvette was found in the northwest about 1975 by Ed Lincoln who got a tip from a police officer doing a safety inspection for a brand new never driven Corvette. At first Ed thought the police officer made a mistake about the mileage and it was 12,000 miles and not 12 miles.
The original owner wanted to drag race the car and took it all apart to 'make it faster' for racing. Never turned a wheel and he sold the L88 Corvette coupe to Ed; frustrated that he never got to race the Corvette at the drag strip.
18 of the 20 1967 L88 Corvettes are said to be accounted for now with 3 or 4 still having their original motor.
Roger appears to still have the other 1967 L88 Corvette, a Polar White coupe>
CH
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The red/red L88 Corvette coupe was ordered through a dealer (Mike Savoze Chevrolet, 1000 South Woodward Ave, in Birmingham, Michigan) by a General Motors executive in the Pontiac Motor Division. The Corvette was purchased for his son. Sold a couple of times after that; so it was the third owner who figured out it was an L88 motor version Corvette from the tank sticker. The original L88 engine however was gone by then. The factory 4.56:1 gears in the rear end may have contributed to it's demise though. After being sold a couple of more times it was Ken and Gary Nabers of Houston who were commissioned to restore the red/red L88 coupe. The Michigan lic plate was UL*8807. They did not stamp the L88 motor and it only received a NCRS judging 'silver' certified award at 99+ points. It should be noted that red is a popular but rare interior color for any 1967 Corvette and especially if the exterior is Rally Red or the more rare Tuxedo Black exterior color. There were only three 1967 Corvettes painted Silver Pearl that had a factory red interior, for an example of rare color combinations.
This red/red Corvette L88 documented with the tank sticker and the window sticker is perhaps the ultimate collectible 1967 Corvette.
CH

 

I think having your dad's 1970 LS6 Chevelle is way more important than the question of a CE block. In recent times the line between 'born with' motor and replacement motor has become blurred. The restorations have made it much more difficult to determine what is original and what is not. The CE block is a known entity that speaks to the history of the car. In some ways better than a block bought and stamped to match a car some time later, to be seen then as 'numbers matching'. I recall only a black LS6 1970 Chevelle with the stripe delete but not the cowl induction delete. Unique indeed.
1967 Corvette RPO code 407 was red vinyl and code 408 was red leather for the interior color choice. With all the choices back then it is a challenge to find the 'right' car these days with the color combination and options you want. There is a 1966 Corvette L72 coupe loaded with options including the big gas tank. 6k miles on that Corvette and yet it has a replacement block. The replacement block really hasn't hurt the appeal of that Corvette. For a rare 1967 Corvette sold new with an L88 the replacement motor is now simply part of the history for that particular Corvette.
CH

 

and yet a few years ago there were several buyers fighting over a red/red 1967 Corvette 435HP coupe. There was no paperwork for the car. The third high bid was 70k but the high bid was 87k with the underbidder slightly below that number. Several buyers wanted that undocumented Corvette and the buyer was willing to pay almost 17k more than the realistic market value at that time.
Down in Ohio a 1967 Corvette with an L88 motor and the big tank was offered for sale with little in the way of paperwork to back it up. It sort of disappeared so probably not real but there is still only one of the two 1967 big tank Corvettes accounted for...
CH

 

No the big tank L88 I remember was in Ohio. I recall thinking at the time it must not be legit if Terry Michaels hadn't gotten his hands on it!
The other big tank 1967 Corvette was in I believe New York state. The owner had the car for years and it just sat unused. He would not sell it. Took years and years to pry it loose but persistence paid off. Eventually the new owner who was in the car parts business purchased and restored the car. It was a Polar White coupe with the bright blue interior. Standard rallye wheels and the car had a radio. Motor was the 327 350 HP small block.
There was a red 1963 coupe down in Texas that had the big tank and the 327 250HP motor and a PG transmission.
The big tank option in the C2 started with the 1963 Z06 race package. Later the package was modified that year to be sold without the knock-off wheels. The KO wheels were not production ready until the 1964 model year build. The 3 Bar KO wheels were seen in some promotional pictures for 1963 model year Corvettes. Also the hand built (at the Tech Center) 1963 prototype Corvette coupe had 2 Bar knock off wheels and fuel injection. That Corvette was painted the 1962 Corvette color Honduras Maroon. Some 1963 Z06 Corvettes were ordered without the big tank. One Z06 Corvette convertible was built without the big tank in 1963 to though it did feature a set of 2 Bar KO wheels...
CH

 

Those Corvettes you mention would do better than money, in the bank these days.

The 1969 L88 Corvette was quite the handful. In 1969 the L88 Corvette press car Chevrolet ordered for journalists to drive was equipped with the M40 automatic transmission. It would chirp the tires just shifting into reverse to back out of a parking space. One of the 1969 ZL1 Corvettes was also ordered with the M40 automatic transmission to.
Some drag racers preferred the automatic transmission cars for racing.
CH
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That would be about mid 11's at 128 MPH in the 1969 Corvette. 1969 Orange Camaro set up for drag racing would be in the 10's with the Motion ZLX motor...
The fast car of choice for pure stock drags today though is a 1969 L88 Corvette.
CH