The 1967 L-88 w/12 Miles Is For Sale...

[Patrick T.]

In Hemming's On Line Classified, the ad says "this one can be bought,no amount of money can buy another one like it, the 12 mile legend", Dave Burroughs.

Of course, almost everyone here is always on the lookout for a good "deal" on a nice midyear. What's this one worth? Better hurry, while it lasts. Patrick

[Everett]

That's a chuckle...

... wonder where the "bidding" will start - half a mil?

[Robert C.]

Re: L-88

This one didn't sell @750,000 last year. He has a ,rumored, $1million reserve.


Texas Chapter NCRS

[Everett]

Re: L-88

Let's think about this. What would one of the real Grand Sports sell for? They made 5 right? Is a '67 L88 really in the same league as a Grand Sport, even with only 12 miles? Who knows? Maybe? Maybe I am way off on the Grand Sport price too, maybe one would now sell for several million?

[Lee S.]

Re: L-88

Well, all one can say is...."caveat emptor!" STW, Mike

[Iron Duke NCRS #22045]

I was involed, but not responsible

This is the L-88 I helped the original owner disasseble in Seattle when the car was new in the spring of '67. I don't think Steve has kept up with it. I talked to him in '88, and he said he just wanted to forget the whole epsiode. The car was on the block at one of the Scottsdale auctions last January and was a no-sale at $320K.

Duke

[Michael R.]

Re: I was involed, but not responsible

Why did he disassemble it way back? STW, Mike

[Ken Karsen]

Re: I was involed, but not responsible

Steve, He wanted to change the oil!

Ken

[KK]

Where Is Varooooooooooooom

Dale, I think you could save a lot of space, cut your overhead, and finally focus on something worthwhile for once in your life if you buy this car. Off all those C1's and get a Real car!

Ken

[Iron Duke NCRS #22045]

Re: I was involed, but not responsible

Steve's ambition was to turn it into the "ultimate drag racing" car. We were ME students at the University of Washington when he bought the car. I bought the K-66 ignition and put it on my '63. Steve wanted a Joe Hunt mag. I graduated and left Seattle in June of '68 to work for Pontiac. Over the next couple of years Steve got married, then lost his job at Boeing during Seattle's severe recession, and then his wife divorced him. I think finances kept him from finishing the car. I got an update in the mid-seventies when Corvette News ran an article on the car. Steve sold it to Lincoln Auto Parts, a Seattle area Corvette salvage yard in pretty much the partially disassembled state I had last seen it. Lincoln as I recall sold it to a guy in Minnesota who put it back together. Then David Burroughs bought it. I think Burroughs brought the car back to original as built configuration and owned the car with a partner or two for some years. I sold the K-66 back to Burroughs in 1988. I think it was on the auction block at Bloomington last year. It was a no-sale, but sold after the auction I understand for an undisclosed amount. Don't know who the present owner is. It's unfortunate that this car seems destined to go from on speculator to the next, but once in a while it does appear in some shows. It is probably the most original L-88 in existance and I suspect it will stay that way as any mileage accumulation is likely to have a negative effect on its value.

Duke

[G B.]

Please help me out

Duke -

I hope you're in a position to clear up something that puzzles me about this car. Why does it have a replacement block?

The car was shown at Bloomington one year when I was there. It had a sign with it that sorta told the history, but it raised more questions than it answered. I already knew a little of the story. I had seen the old Vette Views article with a photo of Lincoln's forklift unloading it.

Anyway, this sign said something about a later owner trading the original block for a "new" block. What's up with that? The logic wasn't explained and there was no mention of the current whereabouts of the factory L-88 block. Can you clear this up for me? Did Lincoln's get the original block when they bought the body? If they did, then "who and why" the replacement block now?

[Jerry Clark]

Re: Please help me out

Jerry:

This may be so much speculation on someones part but I hear the original block showed casting flaws that the owner deemed unacceptable and it was swapped out. I believe it was the car I saw in Miami last fall when delivering a 71 LS6 to his collection for a friend of his. I e mailed Duke pictures at the time and I can't recall if we were able to attest to it being the same car.Sitting in the loft above it however was a L88 on a wooden engine stand and next to that on a similar stand was a brand new ZL1, sent that pic to Joe

jer

[Iron Duke NCRS #22045]

Re: Please help me out

Jerry B - I don't think I can add anything, except for more confusion. The original owner, Steve, did sell off some parts to raise funds for buying aftermarket performance parts. As I said, I bought the K-66 because Steve wanted a magneto, and I think he was going to run a different cam. I pretty much lost track of Steve and the L-88 by the '69/'70 time frame, and it's fate remained unknown to me until the article in Corvette News circa 1977. I don't think Steve would have sold the original block, but others have posed this question to me and all I could say, speculatively, is that Steve may have sold off parts just to raise funds, however, you post says a "later owner" sold the original block. I have no idea about that. Burroughs is the guy who should know the most about the car and its various parts, but I don't know if he is talking. BTW, I never understood why Steve wanted to sell the K-66. The old Vertex magnetos converted by Joe Hunt had breaker points. The K-66 was a much better ignition system for either the street or a race car.

Duke

[Michael R.]

Re: I was involed, but not responsible

Incredible!! This story tops the one with the LT1 with 1500 miles that was stolen and left in the desert for all those years....Must be interesting for you to have been part of. Did you take any photos? STW, Mike

[Dan 80]

Re: Please help me out

Jerry I asked about this many years ago. I was told discretely that the original owner in his preparation of the car for drag racing removed the engine and took it to a Speed Shop he dealt with to have work done. They promptly supplied him with an engine they had that was already to go in exchange with no wait required for his to be done. Original not seen since.