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Illustrated Corvette Series No. 131 - '67 - '69 L-88 Racers
"Bringing Back Racing Respect"
Every Corvette owner had a best friend in Zora Arkus-Duntov, Chief of Engineering for the Vette from ‘56 to ’75. Duntov created a foundation of uncompromising performance for the GM’s flagship sports car. Were it not for his personal racing experience and his never-ending push for improvement, GM surely would have axed the car early on. Even better, Duntov always made sure racers had plenty of hot parts for their Corvettes.
The ‘63 Sting Ray should have put the Corvette ahead of the competition, but with the advent of the Shelby Cobra and the death of the Grand Sport, the Vette remained outgunned until the arrival of the big-block in ’65. It took two years for Duntov to sort out the details, but his latest Corvette stealth bomber—the ‘67 L88—was worth the wait.
While an L88 Corvette was some 900 pounds heavier than a ‘63 Grand Sport, Duntov nevertheless took the car as far as he could for a production vehicle. Make no mistake: The L88 Vettes were one tick away from being all-out race cars. As everyday drivers, they were all but unusable, just the way Duntov wanted it. Here’s why.
By the mid-’60s the Detroit horsepower wars were in full swing. Hot-rodders and wannabe racers were buying anything with big power numbers. While the solid-lifter, big-block Chevys were beasts for the street, the L88 was designed for one thing: racing. Not only was the L-88 stealthy in appearance, it looked like a second-rate performer on the order sheet. Most obvious was the power rating of 430 horsepower—five less than the 427/435 L71. And creature comforts? Fuggetaboutit! The L88 had a special “delete option” that removed items such as the heater, the radio, the A/C, and the radiator shroud. The engine had aluminum heads, a radical cam, a huge four-barrel carb, 12:1 compression, a 103-octane fuel requirement, and a 2,000-rpm idle. With open headers and a sharp tune, an L88 could generate over 600 hp.
Duntov made sure that the car’s underpinnings were also race-ready. The F41 suspension included stiffer shocks and springs, front and rear anti-sway bars, and racing brakes. Fender flares to cover racing tires were included in the trunk. The engine option alone cost $947, and when the other mandatory options were added, buyers were looking at least a 50 percent increase over the car’s base price, making the L88 package the most expensive Corvette to date. In keeping with the package’s low-profile nature, no special badges were added. During the three years the option was offered—’67 through ’69—only 216 L88s were ordered.
The L-88 delivered the goods on the track. The ‘67 Sunray DX and the ’68 Garner A.I.R. Corvettes were good examples of what these cars could do when treated to some well-executed race-prep work. Sunray Oil Company sponsored a pre-production ‘67 L88 Corvette with the help of Don Yenko. Three weeks after Yenko took delivery, the car was on the starting grid for the 12 Hours of Sebring. Driven by Yenko and Dave Morgan, the Sunray Vette smashed the GT class track record, won First in class, and Tenth overall. At the ‘68 24 Hours at Daytona race, the car ran 194 mph on the high-banked track, thanks to some special 2.60:1 gearing from Chevrolet.
The James Garner American International Racing team (A.I.R.) took delivery of three ’68 L88 Corvettes that were then driven from St. Louis to Culver City, California. With help from Dick Guldstrand, two of the cars were prepared for the 24 Hours at Daytona. Car No. 44 finished the race but was sold soon afterward when the team switched to Lola T70 Mk II coupes. Many years and many racers later, the car was completely restored. It occasionally runs at historic races.
The most aggressive and successful of the L88 Corvettes was the Owen-Corning Fiberglass car of Tony DeLorenzo and Jerry Thompson. Although not a numbers-matching L88 car, this all-out A/Production racer racked up 22 straight class wins, qualified on the pole at most of its races, and won two national championships. At the end of ’71, OCF decided that they had gotten enough out of racing and pulled the sponsorship.
Duntov envisioned a much lighter car, but the L88 package proved that with 600-plus hp and suspension parts to back it up, the Corvette once again had a fighting chance on the race track. - K. Scott Teeters
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Illustrated Corvette Series No. 129 - 1967 L-88 Corvette Drag Racer
"Bringing Back Racing Respect"
From its earliest days, drag racing was the little guy’s motorsport. Shade-tree mechanics wrenched on their street cars during the week and competed at their local drag strip on the weekend. The tale of Charley Snyder’s “KO Motion” L88 ‘67 Corvette reads like the Buddy Holly story of drag racing.
During the late ’60s, Long Island, New York was a hotbed of musclecar activity. Motion Performance owner Joel Rosen had a sweet deal with the owners of the local Chevy dealer, Baldwin Chevrolet. Rosen was building brand-new Chevy Phase III supercars while his business partner and friend, Marty Schorr, then editor of CARS magazine, kept Chevy fans drooling with a continuous stream of articles about Motion’s street and strip activities. These were very exciting times for high performance street cars.
Charley “Chas” Snyder was a local guy who lived in Astoria, New York, just a few miles from Rosen’s operation. In February ‘67, the 19-year-old Snyder took delivery of a new Marlboro Maroon 427 Corvette roadster. He took the car straight to Rosen’s shop for some serious tweaking. It wasn’t long before Snyder’s Vette was winning races at both the local strip and the late-night street-racing scene on Connecting Highway in Queens.
Unfortunately, Rosen’s enhancements proved to be more than Duntov envisioned when designing the frame of the C2 Sting Ray. The twisted chassis was replaced with a new gusset-welded unit, and a fresh L88 427 engine was installed.
Shortly after the car was worked over, Snyder, by then 20, was drafted into the Army. His racing exploits now fell in between his Army duties. Rosen was putting every trick in the book into the KO Motion car and had it running solid low 11s. Snyder ultimately volunteered for Airborne Ranger training and was sent to Vietnam in the spring of ‘68. One month after his arrival, he was killed by a mortar round.
Needless to say, the Snyder family and his friends at Motion Performance were devastated. A year later, Rosen and driver John Mahler got permission from Chas’ mother, Grace, to continue racing the L88 Vette with the objectiv of winning the national record for Chas. When Rosen was ready for the AHRA record run, the L88 was chock-full of the hottest parts from Chevrolet and the after market. The L88 was balanced and blueprinted, and its bottom end was beefed up. Modified aluminum heads, a performance camshaft, an 850-cfm Holley double-pumper, Hooker headers, 4.88 rear gears, a Hurst shifter, and 10-inch slicks were added. With Bill Foster at the wheel, Snyder’s L88 took the AHRA A/Corvette national record with an 11.04 e.t. at 129 mph. The official listing in the record book reads, “In Memory of Astoria Chas.” Later, Mahler ran a 10.47 at a local track The car was then trailered to Snyder’s sister’s house, garaged, and covered for the next 31 years!
Long Island businessman Glen Spielberg was just eight years old when he first saw the KO Motion car and knew he just had to have it. After three decades, the Snyder family finally agreed to sell the car to Spielberg on the condition that he would not restore or modify it. Today, the car is as it was the last day it was raced. The Buddy Holly of Corvettes lives on. - K. Scott Teeters
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Illustrated Corvette Series No. 29 - 1967 Corvette - "The Finished Sting Ray"
Sometimes unexpected efforts turn out the best. Such is the case with the 1967 Corvette. It is common for designers to be working on the next generation as soon as a new model comes out. As the 1963 Sting Ray was being shown, Bill Mitchell and his team of top designers were working on the Sting Ray's replacement.
The new Corvette was supposed to be released as a 1966 model. The Mako Shark had unexpected problems that had to be solved, in addition to internal directional struggles. Zora Arkus-Duntov wanted a mid-engine Corvette while Bill Mitchell pushed his Mako Shark II design. Although the Mako Shark II was a smash hit on the show car circuit, the car suffered from front end lift and Duntov didn't like the reduced visibility the sexy, budging front fenders created. Mitchell won the layout battle and toned down the styling while Duntov's team made the Mako Shark II styling into a real car.
Performance hounds went ga-ga over the 1967 Corvette, especially the 427 / 435 horsepower version. Visually, the '67 model was clean as can be. Gone were the fake vents, scoops, and badges. Front fender vents featured five angled slots and the big-block had an aggressive looking hood scoop. Hub caps were replaced with five-slot, 6-inch, steel rally wheels with chrome beauty rings and caps.
The 427 /435 engine was premo! Carburation used three two-barrel carbs with a progressive, vacuum operated linkage that only used the center two-barrel carburetor for normal driving. If you put your boot into it, the remaining two carburetors cranked out amazing power. With the right rears and a four-speed, quarter-mile times in the 13s were standard, with a top speed of 140+ mph! Every possible performance option was available. Chevy sold 22,940 cars, costing over $5,000 each.
Although more 1966 cars were sold, 27,720, the 1967 427/435 model is one of the most valued cars in Corvette history. - K. Scott Teeters
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lllustrated Corvette Series No. 30 1967 L-88 Corvette - "Monster Vette!"
After four years of chasing Cobras, Duntov and his crew knew that they had to do something to put the Corvette back in the winner's circle. Endurance racing was the pinnacle of sports car racing. So the sights of Chevrolet were set on the 1967 24 Hours at Le Mans in France. Thus, the L88 legend was born.
The L88 was so close to being an all-out race car that Duntov deliberately had the engine rated at 430 horsepower at a low 5,200 rpm. The true rating was 460 horsepower at 6,400 rpm. With open headers, 103 octane gas and a few other tricks, the power was over 500. This kept unknowing performance hounds from checking off the option with the highest figure. All creature comforts were missing. There was no heater, defroster, radio, power steering, windows or radiator shroud. A/C was not available either. The J56 brake option was required with competition-only brake pads. Also mandatory was the F41 special suspension, and the M22 "rock crusher" four-speed transmission. From 1967 to 1969 only 216 L88 optioned Corvettes were built.
Details of the L88 were exotic stuff for 1967. Using the same four-bolt main cast iron block as the street Corvette, all sorts of special parts were added. The forged steel crank was cross-drilled and tuftrided. Rods were shot-peened and magnafluxed. The forged aluminum pistons had 12.5:1-compression.
The L88 used a radical camshaft and solid lifters. Up top was an aluminum high-rise intake manifold with a huge 830-cfm Holley four-barrel. The entire valvetrain was heavy duty and a K66 ignition was used. Also there was an aluminum radiator and a special cold-air hood scoop. The sexiest parts were the aluminum heads.
Dick Guldstrand, Bob Bondurant and Don Yenko drove a specially built L88 at Le Mans, hitting 171.5 mph on the Mulsanne straight! While leading the GT class, one of the stock wrist pins broke at the 11-1/2 hour mark , putting the L88 out of the race. Guldstrand commented, "Nobody was getting in your way... we showed them the short way around the track." - K. Scott Teeters
