The Most INSANE and RARE Corvette Ever Built - The 1967 L88 Corvette

[@al_in_philly5832]

When I was growing up in Chicago’s suburbs in the early 1970’s, we had a neighbor down the block, named Mike. Though Mike grew up in my neighborhood, many of our parents weren’t too fond of him. He was a mechanic (at the local Chevy dealership, if I recall right) in his mid/late 20’s, and very fond of fast women and even faster cars. To a teenager who was still waiting to get his driver’s license, Mike was “cool.” Mike always had the coolest cars, though he didn’t keep many very long. I can recall him having an early GTO, a (’56?) Chevy Nomad, and even a Yenko Stinger. But one day, I saw something really impressive, at least to me, sitting in his driveway: a candy blue 1967 Corvette convertible with a big hood scoop and side pipes. Though this was a last-generation Corvette, this one still looked really cool to a 15 year old. It wasn’t long before I caught him washing the car on a weekend, and I talked to him about it. He told me all about it, popping open the hood, and telling me about what an L88 was, and what made it different from ordinary engines. He even started it up for me-the side pipes were deafening, even at idle. I helped Mike finish washing the car, and he asked me if I wanted a ride. That ride became etched in my memory. Top down, we pretty much idled though the neighborhood-even driving like that, I could sense the power under the car’s hood seeping out from the side pipes a couple of feet below my ears. He drove down to a stretch of road without too many houses and told me to “hold on.” He hit the gas, and though we started to move, it didn’t accelerate too quickly at first: the tires were mainly spinning in place, smoking, engine and burning tires screaming. Suddenly, the tires caught grip and the car rocketed forward, fishtailing at first. Then he took his foot back off the accelerator and we drove back to his home. While that was my one and only ride in his ’67 L88, it put the hook in me, and I’ve craved fast cars and motorcycles ever since. That experience is only that much more meaningful today, knowing what a rare car it was that I had a chance to be thrilled in as a teen.

[@stevej.6792]

I COPO'ed a '66 L72, one of two built that year. Don Yenko bought the other one. Actually mine was 'one of one' as it was a coupe. The Yenco/Summers Vette was a roadster. There was a recall of all L72's which only amounted to removing the 450HP air cleaner decal and installing a 425HP decal. 1966 Vette L72/M22/K66/N14 side exhaust/N11/F41 susp./K66Ti transister ign./radio&heater delete/with 450hp decal on air cleaner/G81 4:11 posi/factory Isky gear drive cam.

[@mikescaffo4850]

What a car absolutely positively bad ass

[@gordocarbo]

Yep! Friend of mine owned both a C2 & 3 L88. Simply put a fan shroud on them and put miles on both. Unfortunately like a lot of vette guys he would lug the engine refused to put gears in them. Eventually started complaining about manners. Im 56 and still love rowdy solid lifter engines that are loping well above 2k. Close ratio 4 spd 4.xx series gears it just doesnt get old. I dont care about stats, mpg of "practical". Its how it makes ya feel when the rides over. Best hangover & depression cure on earth!

[@fhatuwaniglentonnetshivhul9202]

Thank you Mr Zora for giving us such a machine and lied about its power!! Mr Zora knew his customers very well

[@Stab_Knifewind]

The coolest car ever made.

[@michaelcallahan5358]

One of my favorite dream cars!

[@ExtremelyOnlineGuy]

I heard the main reason Hendrix didn’t try and get one of these was the lack of radio. Which is wild cause he put in an aftermarket tape deck unit in his so he could listen to his own jams and studio tracks in the car. Way ahead of his time with the aftermarket stereo in the whip but that’s my little tidbit

[@joe-g5h3b]

Back in 1967, my cousin saw one of these on a rail car parked in the train yard. He rounded up a few friends and they stole that thing right off of the train. Sadly, they damaged the body pretty bad doing it. I still remember seeing the L88 427 and the Muncie 4spd sitting in his garage in 1985. He never did put it in anything. Sadly, he was killed in the bathtub by hair dryer. I never knew what became of the motor and tranny. It may still be there.

[@stereolababy]

nice dumb made up story

[@joe-g5h3b]

@@stereolababy yep, all lies. Get under it. Want me to delete it for you so you won't have to read lies? Answer me now.

[@JoeFreeman-y2d]

​@joe-g5h3b Well.. I believe you if only because your lackwit relative died by hairdryer an appropriate end for someone so incompetsmt thst he steals something damages it so its indrivsble then of course cant sell it so it sits and rots... and in fact msy still be rotting. pf course the Chev records showc20 made and zim pretty certsin thstvthevcurrentvfatecsndcwhereabouts ofbthese 20 cars is well known.

[@MatthewWilson-vl7qc]

Launch Control : for guys who Cant work a clutch :

[@Highlander8282]

Great video! Really interesting. The 67-69 Corvettes were not front-engined, though - that would mean the engine is above the axles, which it was not. They were front-mid-engine cars - engine between the axles and in front of the driver. It does them and Zora a disservice to call them front-engined and the C8 a mid-engine car. The C8 is a rear-mid-engine layout. Zora made Corvettes mid-engined starting in 1963.

[@lesbratton]

You could buy an L88 crate motor otc at Chevrolet dealers in the 70's.

[@jeffc3563]

Remember driving a 68 Camaro convertible I just paid 1600 for and then seeing a 67 Vette with a 427 4 speed, and yes it was an L88 for 1700, I still see that car in my nightmares!!😢

[@MichaelMarshall-c9h]

'68 Camaro is the most beautiful car ever made. Convertible not so much. The RS/SS and the Yenko 427 are hand's down best car ever! I'd sell the L88 and buy both the '68 RS/SS and Yenko!!!

[@Laheyfinegoods]

I May or may not know exactly where a real deal L88 block and heads are sitting in An old man’s shop in Texas taken out of a wrecked corvette. Nobody knows but me and him

[@gordocarbo]

Better grab them! If it were me Id use some Dart or AFR heads mill the logo off and paint them orange. With headers youd have close to 600 hp +- easy

[@ECC-ec]

Grab them worth a mint

[@craigthescott5074]

It doesn’t really matter if you don’t have a numbered car to go with it. Maybe an engine collector would want it or sombody that wants it as a spare for their real L88 car.

[@FYMASMD]

So what.🙄

[@sethmaki1333]

One of the 69's?

[@fyeguyq180days]

love this car man

[@OfficalThrottleNation]

Me too!

[@Thedoug369]

GM under reported the hp of the L88 for insurance reasons PERIOD Same as all the other manufacturers did. You believe a '69 426 Hemi only made 425 hp? I rest my case.

[@bwaters698]

Where's your Proof??? Just because you say so!! I tired looking the hemi up Only found 425 hp , not saying you're Wrong or Right

[@utuber1694]

The '69 L-88 shown was restored by Tim Thorpe, not Jim Thorpe as mentioned at 7:32. Tim is in O'Fallon, IL which is in the metro St Louis area. He has been entrusted with restoring nearly 50 L-88's over the years.

[@cbotten106]

Jim Thorpe was an Olympian. I wonder if he could turn a wrench?

[@jims2286]

It also had no cooling fan shroud, so it would overheat at a stop light to discourage driving on the street !!!

[@bretthatfield2516]

Porsche is a two syllable word. Bobby Baker's L88 coupe sold at Mecum's Glendale, AZ auction in March 2021. I covered it for Sports Car Market magazine. My buddy Elliott Alvis is in the green Corvette at 7:25!

[@carterlee8344]

I knew a man who had a ‘69 L-88 Green(identical to the car at the auction. It had around 20,000 miles on it. He had many other cars of particular interest. His dad bought the Green Vette for him for college graduation. The man died 20 years ago. He was a good man. Positive, helpful, humorous, sincere. He was a landlord of mine whom I leased a shop from. We were friends. It would not surprise me to learn the Green car was his.

[@DavidSchuster-eq3jl]

It was in fact, the number one bad ass I owned one you won’t believe the horsepower and the torque tri power was the way to go those three carburetors under the hood really made it cook if you didn’t drive one you missed out !!

[@JoeFreeman-y2d]

I bought one from a military auto broker in August 66. Factory order 427 435 hp. Transistor ignition J56 Brakes red line tires side exhaust F41 suspension Muncie M21 4 spd 3.36 posi rear end AMfm radio power windows black on black coupe with red hood scoop. The tripower option needed a bit of eork butcwas fanyastic. zwhen the front and rear csrbs cracked open around 3500 there was justca slight hesitstion and then the csr started really running all thecway up to the 6500 redline

[@RobertGuidry-f3f]

Zora Duntov built five track only 1963 corvettes. Or you could count the Carrol Shelby/Scalietti corvette, only three were made. And out of those three, Shelby's had a unique grill on it.

[@bobwilson758]

But , the hi - performance Corvette was perfect for a Sunday afternoon ride ! Perfect ! 😅

[@user-jx2sk5cv7c]

67/68 L88 engines were different from 69 when open chamber heads were used, creating even higher power. Should have noted in 69 the ZL1 was available but only 2 or 3 were built.

[@gordocarbo]

Chased what was supposed to be a black 69 ZL1 for 2 yrs through a friend of mine .Knew the history location etc. Sounds like some cons got ahold of it, deal never happened. Car was totaled in 72 ordered new by a Vietnam vet in Camarillo Ca. Im guessing it was really an L88 or someone did a head swap. Saw pics of it sure looked orig/legit sitting this whole time. Oh well! Was a fun chase anyways.

[@johnpopoff7950]

ZL1 engines were put in way more Camaros than Corvettes.

[@steveflor9942]

L88 - Yes, it is quite rare. Yes, it has a bunch things that make it unique and fascinating. But, I imagine a base C8 would run away and hide from it on any racetrack.

[@JoeFreeman-y2d]

well on any roadvourse track likevWillow Springs or Lime Rock or Nordschiefe. On a track like the old Me Mans or Daytona tracks zdont think so.

[@steveflor9942]

@JoeFreeman-y2d That is an interesting argument. High speed tracks it comes down to horsepower vs areodynamic drag. Although...... I don't think it would be much fun going 190mph on high bank track like Daytona in a C2/C3. The rear swing arms have poor lateral stiffness. A driver more skilled and brave than me......

[@drobson8004]

You're kidding. Right?​@@JoeFreeman-y2d

[@vernanderson4358]

Wow 550 HP? That's almost as MUCH as the Studebaker Avanti R5 experimental at 600 HP. but the vette was 427 cubes vs the Avanti 304.5 cubes. And the Avanti ran 196 MPH at Bonneville The Vette did not. The Avanti could have eclipsed 220 MPH but lost traction at 196. Interesting the Vette In67. The Avanti in 63. But even the avanti R3 was timed at 178.5 at Bonneville and this Vette couldn't top it. Very interesting indeed.

[@mikeskidmore6754]

The real race car that got shut down by GM was the 350 CI or 370 CI Small Block Tubular Chassis Grand Sport Corvette. I spotted a Vette in a snowbank in Frisco CO in 1980. A Bank owned it and it was for sale. Another guy had put $500.00 down on it a month Previous. The Banker told me that he will sell it to me of the other guy did not come up with the Balance by March 1st. I was a Skibum living in Dillion CO .. I called my Bank back in MI and got approved for a loan for $3,000.00 the selling price was $3,500. It had a tilt front end faired fenders for wider tires for road racing and a tilt front end. It had been used as a track car not a street car. I drove past the parking lot on March 1st and there was a hole in the snow pile where it had been sitting. I still have my 1979 Z-28 Camaro that I bought new however.

[@bobwilson758]

Worked on a Yenko Camaro ‘68 with 427 cid L-88 Ruff , but a fun - dangerous car ! Power frt. disc brakes were not always boosted - no power steering - 4 spd. Trans . 4:56 ring / pinion Silver / white top paint - Original car - Ruff , but fun , and owner was a hammer head ! Scared me -

[@OfficalThrottleNation]

That's awesome! Funny enough we're working on a video about the Yenko Turbo Z right now!

[@buckster2575]

I think they called it the "widow maker"

[@gordocarbo]

Dont know never heard that but its beievable! 930 Turbo Porsches were called that for sure

[@shabbos-goy9407]

@@gordocarbo Also 427 Cobra

[@Robbie-sk6vc]

These 2 cars come from the sane place, and share a similar idea. But judt with a very different approach.

[@Pacavelli]

They ALL lied about their horsepower back then, supposedly for insurance purposes....... The 70 Chevelle, with the 450hp 454 was rumored to have ove 600hp

[@woska7493]

What wins on Sunday, sells on Monday.

[@larrynelson7950]

Give me the old one over the new.

[@iambossco]

The car being assembled at 7:58 is NOT a 1967 L88. It is in fact a 1963 Stingray. The "split window 'Vette" was only produced in 1963. I know this because the split window stingray is my favorite model and was the only Corvette that had that particular split window style. It's also the year I was born.

[@scottbarker9058]

nice car but any-1 whoo pays anywhere near that much 4a car.....needs his heads...examined!!!!...hillarious

[@juansaladzar]

This shows you the disconnect the baby boomers have today. When they were young they could be a sailor & trade in a 1 year old Corvette for a new Corvette L88. That’s like the average person being able to trade in a 1 year old C8 for a new C8 Z06 with all the options. Do you know any average person who can do that today or do they need to be rich brah? 🤔

[@markhale8084]

Title indicates focus on 1967 but a huge number of images used are of 68 and 69 models.

[@Tman76]

I find it funny how many times the C3 is shown here in a video about a ‘67- they don’t look anything alike inside or out.

[@garymoon2829]

That's because the "AI" robot that made this entire video is a moron. So it can't recognize one picture of a Corvette from any other picture. Did you notice a lot of repetition in the script? Did you notice the repeated identical shots of the car with #89 on it? What an annoying presentation for such an intriguing topic. I despise AI content like this. It's just clickbait. Thumbs down for the product, double down for doing a disservice to an extraordinary car.

[@McRocket]

It should be noted that this is probably a gross horsepower figure. My guess is the net horsepower figure is closer to 470 hp. An amazing engine for the time. But that is with solid lifters and mandatory 100 octane fuel. Today, a base Mustang GT comes with 480hp net. Plus, it runs smoothly and can use regular gas. I think cars look bland today - like deformed jelly beans. Blah. But their powertrains are far superior to those of the muscle car era. ☮

[@jims2286]

Only older corvettes are cool they might handle or as fast as newer Corvettes, but older ones are much cooler!!!

[@bo-dine7971]

The fact a 60's car had MORE horsepower & ESPECIALLY more Torque than most modern performance cars, including MOST of it's offspring, tells you a lot, it's UNREAL! Buuuut no-doubt it had worse efficiency, though with such cars do you don't really buy them for MPG or affordability..!

[@gordocarbo]

True! Born in 68 10 yrs too late. If I was young enough Id have financed one for sure I dont care how practical it wasnt. To buy a brand new car like that....wow!

[@JoeFreeman-y2d]

well... he got it about half correct. First Duntov wasnt hiding anything. One of the very first L88s was sold to Penske who wanted to take the car to Le Mans Guldstrand.. a long time Cirvette racer picked the car up at the factory and drove it to California. in the winter. Without a heater. The engine was torn down by Traco a then premier road race engine builder on the West Coast in Culver City. Extensive prep and tresting revealed that the engine had a weakness in the piston wrist pins. The correct answer would have been for Cevrolet to redesign the wrist pin put a part number on it put it in the catalog and move on. But the marketing director of Chevrolet opposed it due to his desire to portray the L88 engine as perfect as selivered. Penske And Udstrand went to Le Mans The only faster car than the Corvette was a Ferrari prototype. Guldstrand and others stated the car was running close to 190 down the Mulsanne straight Sadly Tracos engineers were correct. Around hourx11 the Corvette was retired with a broken wrist pin. Ive had occasion to drive an L88 as well as a Corvette Gran Sport. The Gran Sport was truly a handfull withva power to weight ratio ofcaround4.5 lbs per hp. The L88 was around 6 lbs per hp. The L88 with racing tires was fairly predictable and controllable. The Gran Sport was a hot handful. I think there are multiple race car drivers who could handle the L88 very werr. The Gran Sport? Not many. The car was like a fersl cst on meth.

[@gordocarbo]

Ill take the old school version. Put a fan shroud, wire up an aux electric to a thermostatic switch then daily it for my retirmenent! Dont care about stats from newer ones. Yes they are great for longer trips and fast but it would bore me after a few weeks.

[@real_talk8749]

Cover the Ford Fairlane 427 HO side oiler. By far the most ridiculous factory vehicle ever

[@OfficalThrottleNation]

Will for sure put that one on the to do list!

[@real_talk8749]

@@OfficalThrottleNation aka the ford fairlane thunderbolt, i believe it ran 9s in 1963 lol

[@rogerodle8750]

Wrong. 1969 Corvette ZL1. Same internals as the L88 engine in an aluminum block. They made two. Do your homework.

[@mazukakai]

Isn't that the Mick Mars car?

[@MojoMedicineMan]

👍👍

[@formulam6]

I will need to see real Dyno numbers at the wheels or 1/4 mile trap speeds along with weight of the car before I would believe this. Physics trumps options.

[@ECC-ec]

It looks longer than usual

[@followyourbliss101]

the modern vette is more geared towards the modern man with much lower T levels who literally don't have the balls to be able to handle an old vette :-D

[@dancingtrout6719]

OK So the Brakes '' The Brakes were Racing Brakes ''' and Owners Had Too Be Told About Using The Brakes. The Brakes were Loaded For A Race , So on the Street The Car Would Pull Right Or Would Pull Left When the Brakes were Used::: Very Dangerous: at low Speed::::

[@gordocarbo]

Never heard that one. C3 brakes were notorious for doing that those calipers sucked.

[@dancingtrout6719]

@@gordocarbo trying to hold back A L88 Is almost impossible

[@Retroscoop]

Interesting but no need to repeat some things ("no radio") 3 times... Ah but yes, indeed, the ads.... More blahblah means more ads-intermezzo's

[@sethmaki1333]

Still not as rare as the ZL-1.

[@juansaladzar]

So they cheated by lying bout it’s horsepower. That’s a douche bag move brah 😑

[@juansaladzar]

So somehow you knew these were under rated but the insurance companies didn’t know? Come on brah 🤣

[@loveoldcarsguy]

What a disappointment!! We all know Corvettes history but few know of the 67’s. Looks like a Chevy commercial. Thanks for a nothing click bait…🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁

[@40calDeathPunch]

An American Icon

[@detierross8340]

IM A FIREBIRD FAN but me and my body re built a CAMRO 1967 RS 327... bought from a teacher clean but lot of miles... SHIIIIT I think we got 400 HP. out of it... I LOVE PONY CARS!!!

[@greatreset3]

New vette's have 1050hp! So saying L88 is most insane is just clickbait BS! 👎

[@OfficalThrottleNation]

I thought it was pretty insane considering how old the car is!

[@colleenschulze3976]

Dude its from 67', it earns its title. Power to weight and sub standard suspension, yea its crazy just the same as the a/c cobra

[@bo-dine7971]

Comparing a car from '67 to a modern, high-tech mid-engine supercar is pretty dumb, it IS THE most insane one when EVERYTHING is taken into account. I don't think you understand how hard it is to get high numbers without forced induction & a computer CPU for every little part of the cycle.. They didn't have CFD & all this other technology back then, it was all trial & error + a little knowledge from theoretical physics. Saying this is the most insane one also doesn't mean modern Corvettes AREN'T amazing, they really are, the NA version of the C8 engine not only makes great HP too but it also has such intelligent design of the manifold that it manages to create above-atmospheric pressure aka BOOST with just it's shape & the flaps inside it, whereas most old engines always had slight negative pressure in the manifold when cranking hard due to poor flow. Besides, you need better taste in cars if you think peak HP is the only relevant measure, not even mentioning peak HP doesn't necessarily mean better performance ANYWAY, a naturally aspirated large 300hp Diesel would SMOKE a methanol turbocharged engine with TRIPLE the HP when it comes to towing and MAYBE even drag-racing with a manual transmission & no anti-lag. Or a better example is a motorcycle engine, they often have amazing HP for their size, yet you never see cars using same architecture, it's because the HP is made by revving to dumb-high RPM but the low-end is horrible and makes the realistic car-driving horsepower LOWER than the less-powerful car engines of similar displacement, not to mention the efficiency / MPG and last but not least, the longevity of the engine..

[@gordocarbo]

There was no ls in 67 sort of a moot point? So what factory C8 is making 1050? Guessing youve never ridden in or driven a big block chevy. Torque is frigging brutal at any rpm

[@gordocarbo]

@@OfficalThrottleNation His arguement is stupid must be a kid playing video games. Most 1000hp dyno sheets are fake, guesses and dont make anywhere near that. NOthing feels like a BB.

[@bobwilson758]

But , the hi - performance Corvette was perfect for a Sunday afternoon ride ! Perfect ! 😅