68-69 427 4 speed cars with factory AC

[Gary H.]

Is there any way to really know how many 68-69 427 cars coupe or convertible were actually produced with 4 speed and factory AC?

I spent 2 years looking for a nice original 427 convertible with 4 speed and factory AC. Most 427 AC cars I encountered were ordered with auto transmission. Over a 2 year period of looking for a car, I dont think I saw more than 150 cars online and in person that had these options.

I have heard the number tossed around that only about 300 L68 400 horse AC cars with 4 speed were built in 68-69.

Anyone ever try to do research to figure out how many 390hp L36 and 400hp L68's were ordered with 4 speed?

Gary

[Joe L.]

Re: 68-69 427 4 speed cars with factory AC

Is there any way to really know how many 68-69 427 cars coupe or convertible were actually produced with 4 speed and factory AC?

I spent 2 years looking for a nice original 427 convertible with 4 speed and factory AC. Most 427 AC cars I encountered were ordered with auto transmission. Over a 2 year period of looking for a car, I dont think I saw more than 150 cars online and in person that had these options.

I have heard the number tossed around that only about 300 L68 400 horse AC cars with 4 speed were built in 68-69.

Anyone ever try to do research to figure out how many 390hp L36 and 400hp L68's were ordered with 4 speed?

Gary

Gary------


In the absence of any extant Chevrolet records there is no way to determine how many cars were built with any certain combination of options. This subject has come up time and time again and we're no closer to an answer now than when the subject was first raised.

I can tell you this, though: having lived through the period when these cars were new, including purchasing my own 1969 when it was new, I can tell you that options like air conditioning and automatic transmissions kind of "went together". In other words, the majority of folks that wanted an automatic transmission also wanted air conditioning. By the same token, folks that wanted a 4 speed usually didn't want air conditioning, especially if they were ordering a 427 engine. So, I'm not surprised, at all, by what you've found in the used marketplace today. Every 1969 Corvette on the road today was created under the wants and desires of the Corvette new car marketplace of 1968-69.

[Wayne M.]

Re: 68-69 427 4 speed cars with factory AC

Anyone ever try to do research to figure out how many 390hp L36 and 400hp L68's were ordered with 4 speed? ......

Short of another Noland Adams clone with access to GM ECL code quantities, the best is probably to look at his Vol 2 figures for 1967 and assume that buyer preferences had not changed in the next two production years.

Per Noland's '67 data: C60 w/manual trans; coupes [408 L36; 325 L68].
Convertibles [298 L36; 199 L68]
Total: 1230 big blocks with air and manual trans in 1967 (5.4% of production).

Apply the same math with the same caveats to the total 1968 and 1969 production figures and you will end up with as good a guess/calculation as is possible without actual GM figures.

[James G.]

Re: 68-69 427 4 speed cars with factory AC

An old California original owner of a 427/390 , 4 SPEED AIR coupe has his original car for sale in North Carolina where he moved in 1993. Nice car with paperwork, and never hit. Woody Hughes is his name and he was a member of Corvettes of So. Cal forever. Still is I think.

He's told me that he has only seen one other 4 speed air car since 69. All the others are automatics.

[Dale C.]

Re: 68-69 427 4 speed cars with factory AC

Took some looking but I found my C60, M20, red L36, white soft top, red hard top, and black vinyl interior in Lexington. It was delivered to Warrior Ala as a March 12 1968 build. It came with no pwr brakes nor pwr steering. That keeps the wife out of it. Kind of a weird combination of options. Maybe cause it is such an oddball, I may someday find someone who knows some history on the car. I think it's a very correct car.
Dale