Here’s What Makes The 1967 Chevrolet Corvette L88 Convertible Such A Big Deal – SlashGear

Few Corvettes can boast about their rarity while simultaneously showcasing a shining racing pedigree. It so happens the Corvette L88 fulfills both. The L88 story begins with Zora Arkus-Duntov, a man who turned the Corvette from a ho-hum sports car to a bonafide track star. Arkus-Duntov purposely engineered the C2 Corvette to compete with Europe’s best. He developed the fabled 427 cubic-inch L88 big-block V8 engine with Can-Am spec aluminum heads, a stronger crankshaft, an 850 CFM dual feed Holley carburetor, solid lifters, a 12.5:1 compression ratio, and cold air induction (per SuperCars.net), to name just a few of the technical specifications that championed this new class of automotive marvel.

Fed with a healthy diet of 103 high octane racing fuel, the L88 V8 could pump out an astonishing 600 horsepower, good enough to destroy the quarter-mile in about 11 seconds. Moreover, the L88 engine has a heavy-duty four-speed manual gearbox, performance suspension, upgraded brakes, and a Positraction rear differential. The same engine took a class victory at the 1967 12 Hours of Sebring, and it propelled Dick Guldstrand, Bob Bondurant, and Dick Yenko’s Corvette L88 Coupe to a new record speed of 171.5 mph on the Mulsanne straight at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (via Corvette Racing Tripod and CorvSport).