12 Original Mile 1967 L-88 Corvette

No original motor...wonder what it's worth.

http://www.rogerscorvette.com/inv/special/67L88/index.htm

This car is one of only 20 L-88's produced in 1967.

Shipped from the facotry by train to Seattle, Washington, the red L-88 coupe was driven a few miles to Alan Green Chevrolet. Then it was trailered to a secret warehouse where it was to be turned into a 1/4 mile dragster. However, after eight years, the original owner was unable to complete the project and gave up in frustration. Not only did it never drag race, it never left the warehouse. Then in 1975, it was sold to Lincoln Auto Salvage still with only 12 miles on the odometer. They immediately sold it to a collector in Minnesota who in turn sold it for an estimated $12,000. In the process, it seemed like a good idea to someone to trade the engine block for a new short block in 1975.

It remained in seclusion with a Wisconsin collector for another ten years before it was acquired in 1975 by David Burroughs and Jim Krughoff.

Krughoff is a long-time collector of premier Corvettes. Burroughs is a well-known authority on L-88's and the creator of Bloomington Gold. Burroughs removed the white paint that was installed on the chassis and reassembled it per factory production. Also, they found and re-installed an accurately dated and never stamped L-88 block to replace the one from 1975. However, the engine pad has purposely not been restamped.

Remarkably, the window sticker is still glued to the driver window and is documented by photos from 1975 in Corvette News. Likewise, the original warranty book remains in the glove box.

The red paint and black interior are nearly perfect, having seen almost no daylight in over 30 years. A factory quirk has been left unaltered. According to the original owner, the driver door wouldn't shut right due to a factory misalignment. When asked why he didn't fix it, he said, "I was interested in engine and chassis engineering. I couldn't care less about body work." To this day, the driver door still won't shut right.

Although all the racing decals have been removed years ago and the chassis has been put back to stock, one memento of the original owner still remains in the cabin. Stuck to the inside rearview mirror, a black dymo tag reads, "Don't Relax!"
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Not numbers matching KILLS it. Nice car though!

 

http://proteamcorvette.com/1967.html

Here's 32 different 1967's for sale.......they're just data points obviously......don't know what it's worth, maybe the owner and Terry Michaelis can argue over it. They probably have already......heh.

His mint 427/435's for sale are at asking prices of $125-200K..........

Personally, I can't justify low or mid 6 figures for a Bloomington Gold C2 Vette........don't care how rare it is. I am starting to look at cars a lot differently than I used to as well......and from anecdotal chat, I think a lot of other people are too. Witness what the LS-6 Chevelle just sold for.

When you can build something better than stock for under $100K.....why pay double for an OEM piece you are too scared to drive. Here's some math assuming the worst.....subtract $6k for a small block car with 600 HP.......

Beater 1964-1967 C2..................$25K
Frame off resto.........................$25K
New interior...............................$5K
Schafiroff engine @ 695 HP.........$11K
Keisler TKO tranny......................$7K
New diff/suspension/brakes..........$10K
Misc........................................$10K

Total........................................$93K

 

Known car and only delivery-mile '67 L-88 you'll come across. $1M+ mid-'geddon w/replacement block (doesn't matter as much w/only 20 extant).

 

12 miles? IMO a real shame

 

Then again, you could buy Jerrari's car.......he's asking $39K USD.......

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/vbclassified.php?do=ad&id=2743

Drop in Schafiroff's all aluminium 540 ci 625 HP pump gas engine for $12.5K and away you go.........

http://www.ultrastreet.net/engines/540_aluminum.asp

Or pay $14.5K and have his 598 ci with 855 HP on pump gas.........

Spend $15K on suspension, brake and tranny upgrades and you've got something special for mid to high $60's you aren't afraid to drive......who cares if your NOM L88 has 12 miles........

I am sure there is someone who is about to have an aneurism and would pay stupid money for that thing if it was for sale.........and I'd like them to meet the guy who bought the LS-6 Chevelle, because the pool of "greater fools" is getting thinned out pretty good right now. The demographic "really big money" buyers for these cars are all in their mid 60's right now.............planning for retirement soon......which is "probably" one reason why Michaelis (the Proteam owner) is cashing out his $10M + Corvette parts inventory on the cheap for $1.5MM http://www.proteamcorvettes.com/parts.html

In 5-10 years the unique C2's are going to be worth much, much, much less than they are today. It is a pill waiting to be swallowed IMHO. Later C3's are already plummeting due to the birdcage/frame rust and "Bubba ownership" issues. Don't get me wrong, I love Vette's.......I have just changed my outlook on how I view cars now.

 

Another red 1967 L88 Corvette coupe was found by accident. The car was purchased long after the L88 motor had vanished without knowing it started life as an L88. The car was eventually restored with a correct L88 motor and sold for what was top dollar at the time; even with a replacement motor.
CH

 

Jim Krughoff the collector mentioned earlier found another interesting Corvette. It was a green on tan 1965 convertible equipped with the 327 Fuel Injection engine. What made this car unique among the 771 built was it had been parked in 1965 having only travelled 1,500 miles. When found there were newspapers dated October 1965 still covering the carpet. The tan color seats that had seen very little sunlight were used as the color match example for 1965 reproduction seat covers. Al Knoch interiors color was faithful to the original color for tan.
CH

 

Another 1967 L88 this one a roadster was sold new into the middle east. It was later involved in an accident and has not been seen since then.
CH

 

At the shop right now we have a 1972 ZR1 (1 of 20) with 290 miles on the clock. The original owner bought it new and drove it around the block once a year. Other than that it's been in a garage, covered. It even smells new inside. Even better, he never titled it (still on MSO paperwork), so whomever eventually buys it and titles it will be the "original" owner. We got NCRS Top Flight this summer, will probably get it judged at Chevy Vette Fest in Chicago next March. I have a few pics on my PC at home, will post them later.

http://gunnersgarage.oldcarsweekly.com/2009/06/12/CORVETTE+WITH+290+MILES+DEBUTS.aspx

 

How true.
And never to aquire many more since that's it's special feature.
So, the baddest Corvette of it's era(all time?) that never got to be and never will be a "car", so sad and stupid.
How much does anyone want to bet that "original" motor magically turns up?
I'm happy that I was able to properly pound on one(a'68) back when they were just fast cars. The poor stooge who coughs up a mil. or so will get to wax it.

 

The 67 L88 story is very interesting and shows that unique cars are still out there for the collector who has to have the best. Who cares if they drive it. Many collectors want cars like these because of their position in that particular car's genre. I have owned several low mileage original cars and would have never driven them except to keep them limber. The lowest was a two owner 11,000 mile 1971 LS6 vette with evry option. That thing gets hit, it will never be the same. Ask Steve Wynn about having expensive things in harms way (or elbow's way).

 

Well another Corvette from Roger's Collection did lose it's motor in the past. The Daytona Yellow 1969 ZL1 Corvette coupe was originally ordered by an engineer who worked at the GM Tonawanda New York engine plant; were all the Chevrolet big block motors were built. The car was driven for a while and then ended up at a Chevrolet dealer in Virginia. Because the motor option cost almost as much as the Corvette itself it didn't sell. The car went to another dealer. There a rich kid came in and purchased the ZL1 Corvette. Of course he blew up the motor street racing the car. GM didn't want to warranty the motor so the car just sat. Some time later the block 'disappeared' from the dealership. The car was eventually sold on and the new owner knowing what the car represented tried to find the original block. Lots of money and asking questions of the right people resulted in the original block being 'found'. There were further ownership 'problems' and the ZL1 was eventually sold at auction for $360,000 if I remember correctly. There are thought to be two other ZL1 Corvettes; a white coupe which once graced the Otis Chandler collection and a Monaco Orange? convertible, black vinyl hardtop with an automatic transmission.
CH

 

The block was found in a boat of some sort...

 

I remember in the late 1970's, looking at an orange LS-6 convertible, in original collector grade condition. The asking price was in or around 14K from the Corvette specialist.

 

Ralph.......

And the worst thing was that it was probably parked beside the $10K Daytona that was a trade-in.

 

Yes it was. With all the restamped blocks around these days it's sort of academic. While it is nice to be able to say 'born with' motor it is getting more difficult to know for sure.

The pushrods were a weakness in 1967 L88 motors and many of those did not survive intact.
There was a silver L88 coupe offered that was said to have been sold new in Virginia. The motor and drivetrain including the M22 were long gone and the seller still wanted 75k for the car; many years ago.
CH

 

I love the 67s. Saw a few interesting cars today at the swap meet. One of them was a very pristine, very low mileage Buick GNX # 186. I would kill for that car.

 

Keith,

I know an airline pilot, who purchased a Miura in 1976, for 10K.

 

There are a lot of guys who will put way more into a restoration than the car will ever bring on resale. For many, it's just really a challenge to make the vehicle as correct as possible. For the most part all of this is strictly academic...finding a correct and date coded distributor or a set of date-coded shocks, for instance. One can easily spend $15k-$20k on a decent paint job. And that's before any other restoration work...now you're getting into sandblasting the frame, new suspension pieces, interior, gauge resto, etc.

There are folks out there who really do not care what it costs, only that the car is exactly as it was when it rolled off the assembly line 42 years ago, right down to the crayon markings and paint daubs. Theoretically you could spend $150k+ (including the car) on a proper NCRS level resto for a 67.

For some it's the journey more than the destination.

RMX

 

Tony,

I understand and agree with you........just look at my thread on the Porsche 911 RS clone I built over in the Porsche section........my client who comissioned that is 47 years old.........not mid 60's looking to retire, like your average C2 Vette demographic is.....and I also think the guys who care about the smallest part being accurate are few and far between too. There is someone out there who sees value that the current owner thinks is in this 12 mile chassis car, but he hasn't been found yet.

 

Very well stated. Corvette owners try to recreate the 'factory look'. Beyond that level are a few collectors for whom it is not about the money. It is about finding a 'time capsule' Corvette with low mileage that has never been restored. Just a few examples of what is 'out there' - 1956 2,200 miles 1963 Z06 6,000 miles, 1967 435 4,400 miles & 1967 435 600 miles. 1967 435 9,000 miles.
For some the ultimate 'find' would be the 1967 black w/white interior 435 HP L89 aluminum head equipped Corvette coupe. This Corvette was used by Chevrolet engineering to test the new aluminum heads with the 435 HP tri-power motor. The black L89 Corvette which was probably built in January of 1967 has never been found.
However Chevrolet Engineering retained for testing a similar but 427 L88 powered 1967 Corvette coupe during 1967. The Chevrolet Engineering L88 coupe was eventually sold as a used car at the end of the year through a normal Chevrolet dealer in Florida with racing connections.
CH

 

As far as demographic, I'm younger than the car we're discussing and I would not want a 67 unless it was a big block # matching vehicle. I simply cannot afford one right now. If I could afford it, I would have one. That era holds a lot of fascination for me - we were a different country then and a different people. Unfortunately I can not buy one of these new off the showroom floor, so having one as close to original as possible would be a small way to experience what it must have been like.
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The ZR1 I mentioned before was a package deal with a nice '67 big block. The car was all-original EXCEPT for the block, which was a later LS-6 block but the owner kept the tri-power setup. That was a really nice driver - and it really moved, too. Most of what we deal with are all-orignal, numbers matching, but this one was too good to pass up.

The second car below is a '68 L89 we have on consignment right now. 9,800 miles on the clock.

I think a lot of people value originality. There's plenty of room in the hobby for those that like to show and those that like to drive. Some like to do both.
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The one thing I don't really get is the people that get an older car and then try to make it as "modern" as possible. To me, part of the experience is driving the car the way it was back then. Put modern radial tires on it, but leave the rest alone.