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Back in 1967 how was a person able to order an L-88 ? From what I can see in the sales literature, it was not mentioned. If someone were to order a new car today, should they try to investigate other engine options that are not advertised ? Just a curious question.
The original first edition sales brochure didn't mention the L88 because it wasn't in existance at the time of printing and I'm not sure if a second printing was ever released or, if so, the L88 was listed. The option was scheduled to be released some time in early 1967. (January?)
Most of the people that purchased 67 L88's were "insiders", or racers, that GM was secretly helping in the early part of the year. Later, the L88 option was featured in a multi page article in a 67 Corvette News. Once that hit the streets, everyone knew about the option.
Chevrolet did not list the L-88 engine option in the 1967 and 1968 sales brochure, but 1969 it was listed in the power train configurations with transmissions and rear axle ratios chart. Chevrolet had promoted it in the Corvette News publication to the Corvettes owner.
Chevrolet has for the 2006 Corvette the Z06 option for new engine optional of a 427 CI. Will Chevrolet offer this in other models? Time will tell or the insiders leak out future plans.
The goverment standards and requirements play a big part of manufactors to comply of bring out the engines to consumers. The marketing has to fill the needs of the consumers to offer products to sell.
It is not like 35 plus years ago in our changing times.
Regards,
Drew Papsun
Also, back in 1967, a manufacturer could offer any engine option they liked, and just release it and plop it out there; there were no emission certification requirements in those days. When emission regulations came along with extensive certification requirements for each powertrain family, each of which required the full gamut of successful 50,000-mile emission durability testing, in 125# test weight class increments for each application, it became VERY expensive and Engineering resource-consuming to offer engine options, especially if they were only released and certified for one single carline/test weight class application. That's why you don't see many engine options these days above and beyond the engine certified for the base car.
As far as I know the '67 L-88 option was never mentioned in common sales literature.
A college classmate of mine ordered a '67 L-88 that was delivered in May. (This is now the "12-mile L-88" that traded hands a couple of years ago for $600+K). He knew of the option from his contacts at Alan Green Chevrolet in Seattle and Green was involved in racing. Back in '63 Green got one of the first six Z-06s built and later raced a Camaro in Trans-Am. My friend's goal was to built the L-88 into "the ultimate Corvette drag racing car", but for various reasons he was unable to complete the project and sold the car disassembled in 1975. The rest of the story is well documented in press articles over the years.
Another issue is that the '67 L-88 was NOT street legal in the US because it did not have a closed PCV system, which was a federal requirement dating back to 1963 (and California to '61), so there was little point in advertising it. It was a "racer's special" to homologate the various components including cold air induction for FIA and SCCA racing. It was not intended for street use and was, in fact, ILLEGAL for street use. My friend's '67 L-88 was delivered to his garage on a trailer. I wasn't even legal to put dealer plate on it and drive to his garage.
For '68 and '69 the L-88 was legalized by adding PCV and AIR to meet then-current emisson requirements. Also, the heater delete option, which was a mandatory option for the '67 version, was deleted from the option list due to a new FMVSS requirement that all cars must be equipped with windshield defrosters. All '68-'69 L-88s were certified by GM to meet all applicable safety and emissions regulations in the markets where they were sold.
As far as whether a similar option will ever be available in the future, the answer is a definite NO! Given the vastly increased regulatory environment (safety and emissions) of today, there is no way that GM would ever offer a similar "racing specific" option to the general public due to the civil and criminal penalties that can be levied if a non-complying vehicle ever gets into the public domain. That's why all pre-production and pilot line cars carry an "X" in the VIN field, and they are destoyed after all engineering/manufacturing testing and evaluation are completed. If one ever got into the public domain and was somehow licensed, GM could be in BIG trouble for allowing a non-complying vehicle to enter the public domain.
That doesn't mean you can't buy a real Corvette race car. You could buy a C5R from Pratt and Miller, but they weren't sold directly by GM through Chevrolet dealers and did not carry a Corvette VIN. They were custom built race cars, and I think P&M only sold one to a European-based private racing team. The rest were all built for GM Racing, but they are probably now for sale, now that the C6R is operational.
I haven't heard if you can buy a C6R.
You can also build your own Corvette race car if you want to run in a semi-professional series like the World Challenge. Each approved car has specfic build requirements, so there is no need for the factory to "homologate" racing parts as was the case in the sixties.
It is a very different world today for both street cars and race cars
John - you forgot about PCV. Also, in '66 and '67 all cars sold in CA had tailpipe standards, but federal tailpipe emission standards didn't begin until 1968 for the other 49 states. Regardless, the '67 L-88 was illegal for street use anywhere in the US because it did not have a PCV system.
I always wondered if the '68 and '69 L-88s met CA standards or just 49-state. If they didn't meet the specific CA standard back in those years, they would not have been available for sale in California.
Mike,Drew,John and Duke, thanks very much for the information. It's a shame that things have changes so much over the years in regard to this matter. I was just curious about current engine choices and the 1967 L-88 in general.
Bob
Yep, the 67 L88 was probably the last American car ever produced with a functioning road draft tube. Things sure changed after that but in late 1966, the federal people were just starting to get serious about regulations. That was just about the same time the L88 was coming into reality. There was some chatter within GM about emissions on this option but it wasn't really an issue. I have copies (somewhere) of some of the internals that were floating around GM and it shows that no one considered it to be a serious problem because of the low production volume anticipated. By mid summer of 67, that all changed though. A sudden new found respect for the emission people nearly killed the L88 option for 1968. If I can find the paperwork, I'll post it. (if it's even here) It's interesting reading.
I'd be real interested in seeing that documentation, and I've always wondered if anyone managed to register a '67 L-88 when new. Back then there was not a lot of compliance enforcement, and there was no emission system inspection/testing so, even though the '67 L-88 was illegal due to lack of a PCV system, I don't think that would have prevented anyone from submitting the paperwork and getting a licnese plate.
The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act that was passed by Congress in 1966, with many laws/regulations that went into effect on 1/1/68 marked the entrance of the federal government into automotive regulation in a big way. I think NHTSA and EPA were also established about that time.
I know Cliff Gottlob's white 67 L88 was a plant delivery and he DROVE that car almost all the way home. (he didn't make it) I don't think there were any restrictions on L88 license/registration in 67, or 68-69 for that matter. I drag raced (on the street) a new black 68 L88 that was fully licensed.
It's amazing what GM could get away with when pressed.
I drove the Gottlob 67 L88 on the street years later but license and registration were not a major issue. The open exhaust and lack of insurance would have been far worse, if caught.
Even though the '67 L-88 was illegal for street use due to its lack of PCV, which made it non-compliant with federal regulations, a state DMV would probably not have given second thought to issuing a license for any new Chevrolet purchased from a Chevy dealer.
I wonder if Chevrolet issued any communications to dealers regarding the legal status of the '67 L-88 option?
There's no question about the '68 and '69 L-88s. GM certified them as being compliant with all FMVSS and EPA regs - don't know if they were certified for CA emissions.
There was no such federal certification required in 1967, other than CA emissions, and maybe they just "overlooked" that, too. Being as how CA is nearly 30 percent of the US car market, I would imagine that some were sold there, but who knows if they were registered.
The new one I crossed paths with was destined for racing, so the owner never intended to register it and pay the high license fees that existed in Washington state at that time.
Duke, I own a 69 L88 coupe that was purchsed new at Courtesy Chevrolet in San Diego. At least we know they were available for sale in CA in 1969. Hope this helps.
I really never gave much thought to the emission problem and L88 when they were new, especially 67. Probably because there had never been much of a problem with any emission laws at that time. I suppose the subject was much more intense in California though. I know that dealers in Chicago zone were still disregarding these laws in 1969 and allowing some of the service personal to remove smog equipment. Amazing how that changed by 1970 for the 71 models. Seemed like that's when the whole auto industry changed over night. Every other tech bulletin that came across my desk was about emissions or some new safety standard. The muscle era died quite suddenly in late 1970.
I've never seen even one shread of paperwork on the L88 as far as emissions, although that doesn't mean there wasn't some. I wonder now, though, if Calif dealers did get info on these L88 cars? Quite possible.
I just now remembered the mans name that bought the 12 mile car new. Pretty common name so it was difficult to find him, at first.
I have some great pic's, somewhere, of that car being loaded on a fork lift truck as it was leaving the owners house. The entire rear suspension and differential was out of the car.
I don't think that the L-88 or the ZL-1 ever appeared on a Corvette order form. I know it didn't appear for 1967 and for 1969; I assume that 1968 was the same. In order to order it you had to (1) know about the availability and (2) have the dealership add the option to the hand-written-in "other options" section of the order form. I believe that this system was used to ensure that there would be no "indescriminate" ordering of this option by dealerships or customers. I also believe that that was the reason for the 430 hp rating for both the L-88 and ZL-1. In doing so, they kept folks wanting to order the "best of everything" (and, knowing about the availability of the option) from ordering it just because it was advertised as the most powerful engine. By having it rated at 430 hp, it was below the far more streetable 435 hp of the L-71. So, most folks wanting the "best of everything" and the "most powerful engine available" would think that the L-71 was the most powerful. Those were EXACTLY the folks that GM probably wanted to discourage from ordering the L-88 or ZL-1. Folks who really knew about the options and were interested in them for racing purposes were the only ones they wanted to "attract".
Also, the L-88 and ZL-1 options were not included in the "pocket guide" which salesman of the day used to tell the customers what options were available (and, their price). I'm sure that there was other information supplied to the dealerships which did indicate the availability of the options, but it wasn't general knowledge among salespeople. If you were to ASK a salesman about it, they would likely check their "pocket guide" and, finding it not there, tell you that it was not available. Generally, the "pocket guides" were regarded as the definitive information as to whether an option was available. About 99.9% of the time, this was the way it was, too. This was a RARE exception. If you pressed the matter further, then they might go check with "higher ups" at the dealership. In some of the performance-oriented dealers, there may have been performance "specialist" type salespeople that would know, though.
The L-88/ZL-1 engines which equipped those few Corvettes and Camaros during 1968-69 were all originally equipped with PCV system AND the air injection reactor exhaust emissions control system. They were NOT deleted from these engines as some believe.
As others have commented, that there would be any "secret" engine options available today is virtually out-of-the-question. Vehicle certification standards are such that it would be totally impractical to do such a thing. In fact, that's also one of the reasons that so many experimental, pre-production, prototype and pilot line cars are either scrapped or tightly held by the manufacturers. Selling such a car after its purpose is completed is a violation of federal law and no manufacturer is going to take that kind of risk. If the car is not assembly-line certified to meet all regulatory requirements, it can't be sold. So, if it's not going to be retained, the chances are it will be scrapped to ensure no violations of the law EVER occur.
Again, thanks. Joe and Steve, plus everyone else who contributed I appreciate the information. I guess times have changed more than I thought. I was hoping
that some engine options would appear, but after reading the posts, it seems like an impossibility. Back in 1970, I vaguely remember going to the dealers and seeing the high performance cars, many wich were about to be leftovers. Boy was there a lot to pick from. I also use to travel to Motion Performance in Long Island with my brother to see the cars, what a time. We were all not happy with the road tests on the 1971 models with the loss of compression and everyone thought they were junk. And after 1971, well, things just got worse.
Thanks again everyoue.
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