AUCTIONS: Ultra Rare 1967 L88 Corvette Featured at Mecum Seattle Auction
On June 14th, Mecum auctions will be auctioning off a rare 1967 Chevy Corvette L88 in blue at their inaugural Seattle event. Only 20 of these Corvettes were ever produced and it is rare that these cars ever exchange hands. Based on the last two L88 corvettes that hit the block, it is likely that the world record sale price for Corvettes will be broken.
The 1967 L88 Corvette is rarely ever seen in the public light, so many Corvette enthusiasts are excited just to be able to look at one in person. The L88 Corvette is thought to be one of the most collectable Corvettes that have ever been produced. Every L88 Corvette that has sold in the last few years has brought in over a seven figure sum.
This Blue 1967 L88 Corvette will be the third of its kind to have been sold in the last year. The first was a maroon L88 that brought in a record $3.2 million. Four months later, a red L88 broke that record, brining in $3.5 million. It is likely that this L88 will bring in a new record.
The reason why the 1967 L88 corvette is one of the most sought after Corvettes is because of two things. The first being its rarity. It is the rarest of all Corvettes, being that Chevy only produced twenty of them. The second reason is that it is one of the most powerful corvettes that has ever been produced and especially of the time.
The L88 engine that sits under the hood of this Corvette, hence the name, is a 427 ci V8. It was rated by Chevy to produce 430 horsepower, but it actually made around 550 horsepower. Chevy did this because they only wanted this Corvette to go to race car drivers.
Chevy also did not advertise this engine in their catalog which made it very hard for people at the time to know about it. All Corvettes with the L88 engine came stripped of certain features to make the car even more hard core and focused.
L88 Corvettes didn’t just come with a stripped interior, they came with a bunch of performance oriented options. They had aluminum heads and intake, a “rock crusher” four-speed manual, J50 power boosted brakes, a K66 ignition with no ignition shielding, J56 dual pinned brake calipers with semi metallic brake pads, a F41 heavy duty suspension and heavy duty front/rear springs with larger shock absorbers and sway bars. It came with a standard 3.70:1 gear ratio, but you could option it with 3.08:1 to 4.56:1 gears.
The car was built to be at home on the track, so they radiator did not have a shroud, which made it bring in more air, but made it so that the car would over heat in traffic.
The L88 ran only on 103 octane fuel. This also meant that the car had a specially built Holly carburetor, which was designed to work well with the low pressure produced by the cam. If you put in any other fuel but the 103 octane, Chevy warned that the engine could explode and made sure that it was clearly stated by the gas cap.
This particular L88 also comes with a couple of options. It sports N14 side exhaust pipes, tinted glass and 4.11:1 gears. The original owner for the car also had a roll bar and harnesses installed in the car to make it a little better on the track. When the received a cosmetic restoration, it received a rating of 95.9 from the Bloomington Gold Certification.
We will have to wait until Saturday June 14th most likely bring over $3 million and it has the potential to bring in a new record price for Corvettes.
By: Joshua Kashinsky
Image Credit: Mecum Auto Auctions
