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Here's the story:
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."
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