Which Engine model designation is the most valuable in the 1971 and 72, which is 2nd most desireable..what year was the switch from 427 to 454. was the L88 designation on both or just the 427...any links to this years valuability and history would be appreciated.. Anyone hear of any bloomington gold cars 4 sale in these model years fwd to me. Thanks
1970 was the year of the switch from 427 to 454. List from highest horsepower, and greatest collectability is, LS7,LS6,LS5. those are the high performance 454's. Darrell.
L88 was just the alum head iron block 12.5:1 427 with one Holley carb. Factory rated at 425 hp it did not look like the hot setup to the casual buyer, but they really put out over 550 per some accounts.
DMOORE listed the big blocks, but if you go for the smallblocks, the 70 LT-1 is the most desiteable. It's a high revving solid lifter motor with 370 hp and is really the best of the 70's cars because of the weight advantage over the bb's. My memory says that although listed, the LS7 never went into a Vette, just Chevelles. I'll have to check that to be sure however.
Check my ad on ferrariads.com. 1971 LS5 A/C Convertible, 33K miles w/ documentation, Red/Red, received NCRS Top Flight this year, qualifies for Bloomington Survivor. The L88 was only available from '67-'69 and was a 427. LS7 was never offered in a Corvette, the LS6 was only offered in 1971 and is very rare, with only 188 made. Prices are going up on these, they are right behind the L88's as far as rarity. The LT1 small block is technically more desirable than the LS5 big block for '71-'72, as they made about 1/3 as many. So in order for '71-'72: 1. LS6, 2. LT1, 3. LS5.
Learn something new everyday. I did not realise the ls7 was never put into the vette. As for the value I was only thinking of the BB cars. Thanx for the info. Darrell.
Not getting on your case. F-chat is a great source of knowledge for all kinds of cars & we're all students. Anyway... as far as I know, LS-7 never went into anything... (other than the newer vette) or offered in crate motor form as of late. LS-6 was highest desgination/ engine option for Chevelle in 70' and LS-5 was second highest to ZR-1 for 1970-1/2' corvettes. IIRC, 71 was the only year for LS-6 corvette. FWIW, I think a lot of people either consider ZR-1 or L-88 (not even offered after 69') as the LS-7. My dad had friend a few years back who claimed to have an LS-7 70 vette....they used to go round and round about how a LS-7 vette doesn't even exist. One of my Vette fact books actually lists the option LS-7 for $1220.70 in 1970. I'm not sure whether it was a real option of which no one chose or a misprint?? Image Unavailable, Please Login
You recall correct, '71 was the only year for the LS6 Corvette. They were planning on putting the LS7 into the '70, but never actually built any. Your book may be based off early factory order sheets. I"ve also seen it shown as a $3000 option, but the $3000 may have been for the ZR-2 package that was going to be built with the LS7 I think some LS7 heads were available over the counter in '71-'72 - basically aluminum heads for the LS5.
LS-7 was available as a crate short block (sans carb, intake, dist., exhaust). 12.5 to 1's. Cast iron open chamber heads. ZL-1 cam. Revved like a small block, didn't like mufflers.
Hmmm...now I stand corrected. For some reason I remember aluminum heads, but I'm probably wrong on that.
All this is extremly informative.... I am not an American Car Guy... But I have a hunch that the 63 to 67 market will be out of sight very soon...especially after BJ next month... Is there a market value publication that lists the current values of these cars mentioned....I think the can is open on these cars however the lid is still attatched....In other words a wise investment time is now! So in order for '71-'72: 1. LS6, 2. LT1, 3. LS5.
Since we're on the subject of corvettes....how rare are split window coupes? I saw one today and was pleasantly surprised
Well...10,594 produced in the only year...'63. Very rare today...and higher priced by the day. Image Unavailable, Please Login
That sort of jives (the 460 HP #) with the scan from my Vette Vues fact book of 68-72 Corvettes. It's not like Vette Vues to get a lot of things wrong. I concur that no "production" car ever can with an LS-7, but there could have been a few dealer upgraded cars...wouldn't surprise at all. Wonder if/what ever happend if a few actually did exist.
A friend of mine was in a western state in late 1969 or 70. He was/is a Corvette guy with years of Corvette restoration experience. One day in the fall of '69 or early '70, he and another guy stopped at the local Chevy dealership to check out some cars in the parking lot. My friend wandered into the showroom to check out a brand new Corvette. The salesman mentioned that the car had been ordered for a local racer guy. My friend looked at the window sticker and took particular notice that the car was EXACTLY 100 horsepower MORE than his favor year Corvette which was 1962. The '62 Corvette had a 360 horsepower fuel injected engine. The 1970 model car that he was looking at had a 460 horsepower engine listed on the window sticker. The only such engine was the LS7 that was supposedly never ACTUALLY installed at the factory. Yet my friend was standing right next to the car as it sat on the showroom floor. Knowing that this car would be a golden find for the Corvette crowd, I spent several hours on the phone trying to track down this phantom. I knew the town and the dealership name. I was able to call them on the phone and talk to their oldest salesman who, unfortunately, was NOT working there in 1970. The trail went cold. Sometimes I think that I should renew the chase. But it's rather difficult to pursue leads when you're a thousand miles away. I believe the LS7 made it into ONE car,....at least.
Great story. I don't doubt these things happened. Most likely (& sadly) these/this car was burned to the ground on the drag strip, some back street or blew the enigne and a regular LS-? was fitted & without proper docs, history was lost forever. My dad's (only owner) stripe delet, LS-6 chevelle is sitting in my garage right now. He blew the orignal engine pulling on the highway in 71...it has a CE block. Car needs a little TLC, but can you imagine the value of a 1 owner, non-restored, mint interior, stripe delte LS-6 with an OEM motor. At the time he just chucked the OEM block.... that's how it goes.
Correct on the engines, but in the Corvette world, option combinations can be desirable, too. For example, the LS5-A/C-Convertible combination is probably more rare than a regular LT1. LT1 convertibles are fairly rare as well. You can't just look at the engines, you have to take condition, options, color combination, and documentation into account. This guy has started a pretty good series on what makes for a valuable Corvette: http://www.corvetteblogger.com/index.cfm/2006/10/16/Five-Factors-That-Drive-Corvette-Values--Quantity The '63 - '67 market has been steadily going up - lots of hype lately with the "last" '67 going to auction and ProTeam and other dealers doing their part to drive up prices. Big block and LT1 C3's have been steadily going up, not sure how much room there is at the top of the market, but a lot of people have been priced out of the midyears. LS6's are already expensive - not quite the level of L88's, but they are getting there.
Would you guys like to see a few photos of Duntov working on a non factory owned LS-7 in 1977. The car is a silver 1970. This car had the aluminum heads. The photos are slides from '77 so I need to convert to digital. If you are interested I would spend the time to post if not I won't waste the time. Regards, Vern
Who is yoda? I'll take that as yes. I haven't look at these slides in years but I remember that there was 6 or so. Mr Duntov was guest at Corvette gathering we had in 1977(I think it was '77) and this fellow had just finished putting together this LS-7 for his car and was having some sort of problem(I don't recall what it was) with it and Mr. Duntov had it worked out in no time. Anyway I'll get them up in day or so. Regards, Vern
