An excerpt from Corvette - America's Star-Spangled Sports Car by Karl Ludvigsen. In Chapter 34: 1967 and L88 Origins, Ludvigsen discusses the roots of what many consider to be the ultimate Corvette: the 1967 L88 Stingray with its powerful, track-ready V8 engine. For more information on this Corvette history book, visit http://www.bentleypublishers.com/product.htm?code=gcss
An excerpt from Corvette - America's Star-Spangled Sports Car by Karl Ludvigsen. In Chapter 34: 1967 and L88 Origins, Ludvigsen discusses the roots of what many consider to be the ultimate Corvette: the 1967 L88 Stingray with its powerful, track-ready V8 engine. For more information on this Corvette history book, visit http://www.bentleypublishers.com/product.htm?code=gcss
An excerpt from Corvette - America's Star-Spangled Sports Car by Karl Ludvigsen. In Chapter 34: 1967 and L88 Origins, Ludvigsen discusses the roots of what many consider to be the ultimate Corvette: the 1967 L88 Stingray with its powerful, track-ready V8 engine. For more information on this Corvette history book, visit http://www.bentleypublishers.com/product.htm?code=gcss
That is, it was not supposed to appear in the guise in which it actually came to market. An entirely new body had been set for introduction that year but was postponed for a twelve-month period. In both styling and specications the 67 was an interim model, as reected also by the 17.2-percent drop in production for its model year to 22,940 cars from the record set by the 1966 model. External factors played a part in this shift in demand. The Sting Ray was no longer a sensational novelty. As well, the market was awash with afford- able sporty cars that offered big engines and thrusting performance. The founder of the Ponycar category in 1964, Fords Mustang, was soon joined by Mercurys Cougar. Late in 1967 American Motors would crash the party with its Javelin. Plymouth, which had been active from 1964 with its Barracuda, upgraded its entry in 1967. Dodge came aboard later with its Challenger. Most crucial for the Corvette was its new in-house competition. Chevrolet offered not only its Camaro but also its Corvair, which would mature in 1965 with a rear suspension like the Sting Rays and 180 turbo- charged horsepower. Indeed, some in Design Staffs Studio X, like engineer Tony Lapine, saw in the Corvair the nucleus of a sports car that could and should replace the Corvette. Then there was thrusting Pontiac, next up the corporations ladder from Chevrolet. Pontiac, in fact, craved to challenge the Corvettes role as GMs only sports car. We desperately wanted a two-passenger sports car, admitted Bill Collins, who headed Pontiacs hyperactive Advanced Engineering Department. Design Staff assigned the XP-833 designation and to- gether a really neat car was designed, engineered and two driveable prototypes built. In those days the GM divisions were unique kingdoms of their own, Collins explained, and we had the freedom to do interesting things as long as it wasnt interfering with production and we didnt spend a lot of money on it. First presented as a con- cept in 1964, when Pete Estes was Pontiacs general manager and John DeLorean its chief engineer, the XP-833 would have been on the market in 1967. It 1967 AND L88 ORIGINS 34 1967: C2 swan song Rivalry from others including Pontiacs lighter, smaller XP-833 AMCs AMX Ventilated steel Rally wheels appear Triple Holley carburetors for Mark IV Aluminum-head L88 engine in spring 1967 L88 entry at Le Mans in 1967 469 was to have Pontiacs single-overhead-cam six as the base powerplant with an optional V-8. The cars proposition was a lighter, simpler, less expensive sports car than the Corvettevirtually a reversion to the original Project Opel. Its front and rear suspension were freely adapted from the A-body Tempest intermediates that Pontiac was producing, although dedicated front wishbones were designed to suit the XP-833. We thought up a dozen different ways to put a sports car into production, said Collins, like building it in Canada. His vision, he said, was a neat sports car at a reasonable pricethe kind of car you could drive around Fort Lauderdale on a summer day with your arm out the window. The two XP-833s were built on a 90-inch wheel- base, a full foot shorter than the original C1. Styled with a chrome integral bumper that mirrored Pontiacs trademark split grille, they were roadsters with conventional slim-pillared windscreens. An opening rear deck covered the retracted roof and allowed lug- gage access, one-upping the Corvette. Styling by Ned Nickels in his special studio was clean and edgy in Pontiacs idiom of the time with nary a fake grille or vent. The body was GRP attached to a steel subframe. With xed seats and adjustable pedals, the XP-833 interior was less commodious than the Corvettes but adequate by sports-car standards. The six-cylinder Red-line tires complemented the look of a 1967 Sting Ray coupe with the big Mark IV engine, which was offered in four different versions. 470 CHAPTER 34 prototype was a hardtop, silver with a red interior, while the V-8 roadster was white with black trim. When powered by the six the prototype two-seater weighed only 2,200 pounds, one-quarter less than the comparable 1953 Corvette. Though it would doubtless have accrued some pounds in production form, this showed good work by Pontiacs engineers. Although GMs powerful Engineering Policy Group rejected the XP-833 when Estes and DeLorean present- ed it as a concept in 1964, the charismatic DeLorean told his engineers to go ahead and build the proto- types. Even their undoubted appeal, at the second time of asking, was not enough to sway the 14 th oor, as the aerie of the corporations top executives was known. Bunkie Knudsen certainly mounted a stout de- fense of his Corvette as GMs one and only sports car and his sporty Corvair as a worthy stablemate. 1 1 The projects cancellation did not bring destruction of the prototypes. Bill Collins was able to buy the V-8 roadster in the 1970s. As Pontiacs assistant chief engineer he often visited Design Staff, where a Pontiac concept car called the Banshee had been created. I found two sets of chrome-plated Banshee nameplates, Collins recalled. As the leader on the XP-833 project I felt the right to name them Banshee. Thus this name, now associated with these cars, came well after their creation and abandonment. Completed in 1964, two XP-833 prototypes represented serious potential competition for the Corvette from sister GM division Pontiac. Though designed as a simpler vehicle to compete at a lower price point than the Corvette, Pontiacs XP-833 had a handsome cockpit with real sports-car looks. While one Pontiac XP-833 prototypelater dubbed the Bansheehad a V-8 the other was powered by the divisions pioneering overhead-cam six. 471 1967 AND L88 ORI GI NS Thus the Corvette dodged this internal bullet. A direct external challenge originated withof all placesAmerican Motors, where Richard A. Dick Teague was an exceptionally resourceful chief stylist and sports-car enthusiast. Introduced early in 1968, AMCs AMX was the end result of a concept-car project that began in October of 1965. As Dick Teague de- scribed it, The AMX was designed for automobile enthusiasts, for people who really love carsnot to satisfy statisticians. Work on it was headed by Charles Chuck Mashigans advanced styling studio. From a series of AMX-badged concept cars a two- seater coupe emerged that was rst realized in steel by Vignale to AMCs designs. Told to use as much of the AMC Javelin Ponycar as possible, said Teague, we took twelve inches out of the wheelbase and moved the bumper, gas tank, deck lid and back light all for- ward to come up with a sleek two-passenger sports car. The resulting 97-inch wheelbase was an inch shorter than the Corvettes and its weight reasonable at 3,350 pounds. Not underpowered with its choice of V-8s of 290 and 390 cubic inches, the AMX hit the market with a spectacular record-setting spree by Craig Breedlove and his wife Lee. At a Texas test track they rolled up 106 American and international speed records. With a price tag only three-quarters that of a Sting Ray, the AMX was a cheeky new entrant with impressive per- formance and sporty handling. AMX sales peaked at 8,293 in 1969, however, with a total of 19,134 made through the 1970 model year. To Dick Teagues great frustration it was dropped because its donor vehicle, the Javelin, was being rejigged. If fresh styling were needed to help the 1967 Corvette cope with its challengers, its supporters would be disappointed. Exterior changes in Chevrolets sports car for 1967 were subtle in the extreme. A cen- tral reversing lamp above the rear license plate was one hallmark. Another was a new front-fender vent design of ve louvers. For the rst time the optional hardtop could be ordered with a black vinyl covering. One of the features of the 67 Sting Ray that had been specially planned for use with a new body was place- ment of the hand-brake lever on the center console, between redesigned seats. New ventilated steel Rally wheels with six-inch rims and chrome rimbellishers were standard equip- ment, giving a purposeful look. The now-mainly-deco- rative status of the optional cast-aluminum wheels was acknowledged by making them bolt-on parts, eliminat- ing the weight and cost of knock-off hubs. This also In 1968 AMC intro- duced its production AMX, which remained available through 1970 with a total of more than 19,000 produced. As part of a series of concept-car exercises American Motors built this appealing two- seater AMX, designed as a Javelin derivative. 472 CHAPTER 34 responded to heightened safety concerns, the knock- off spinners ears being considered a hazard. The role of the Mark IV grew in 1967, signaled by a new and aggressive-looking pseudo-scoop hood panel that covered all the 427-cubic-inch engines. The lower three engine choices remained unchanged, with the important addition of a Powerglide transmission as an option with the 390-bhp Mark IV V-8. At the top of the ladder were two more engines. Both were topped by a triangular air cleaner covering a new manifold tted with three Holley two-barrel carburetors. These were interconnected by a system that sensed vacuum in the venturi of the center car- buretornot in the manifold, as with other multicarb arrangementsto open the throttles of the two end carburetors gradually as the engines demand for ad- ditional air and fuel increased. This new system, reported Car and Driver, results in an astoundingly tractable engine and uncannily smooth engine response. As soon as its rolling, say at 500 rpm, you can push the throttle to the oor and the car just picks up with a turbine-like swelling surge of power that never misses a beat all the way up to its top speed of over 140 mph. And you get the same responseinstantlyin any gear any time you open the tap. On the whole, the Corvettes three deuces are as smooth and responsive as fuel injection. The lesser of the two 3 x 2-barrel engines was the L68, which carried a hydraulic-lifter camshaft and was rated at 400 bhp at 5,400; 460 lb-ft at 3,600 rpm. This too could be ordered with the Powerglide transmission. Only the close-ratio four-speed was tted behind the L71, the mechanical-lifter version, which was conserva- tively rated at 435 bhp at 5,800 rpm, a $437.10 option. Popular Hot Rodding took its test carequipped with a Positraction differential and close-ratio Muncie trans- missionstraight to the drag strip. We made no engine adjustments other than removal of the top of the air cleaner, said PHR. The best starting-line technique was to drive off at around 2,000 rpm and nail it to the wood. The rst 100 feet was a wild ride, something like driving in syrup, but after the tires nally caught hold the Vette really showed its oats. The best time registered out of 14 runs and a combination of drivers was 13.91 seconds ET and 106.25 mph. The L71s time to 60 mph of 4.7 seconds in the Car and Driver test logbook was not beaten until 1975, by a Porsche Turbo. As to stopping ability, Popular Hot Rodding con- tinued, the Corvette is second to none. On each of the runs made at the strip a full stop was made at the end of the quarter-mile. Using four-wheel disc brakes is like throwing out an anchoryou stop right now. We felt that an American car had been built which put the fun back into driving. The ride is stiff, but if it were mushy the Corvette wouldnt be a sports car. To the buyer of the L71 another new $368.65 op- tion could be added: aluminum cylinder heads. Cast by the Winters foundry, these chopped an important 75 pounds from the front end and offered larger ex- haust valves with heads measuring 1.84 inches. This was the production debut of the aluminum heads for the Mark engine that had rst been tried at Sebring during practice in 1966 on the Penske-owned Grand Sport roadster. Aluminum heads were building blocks in the con- struction of a Corvette engine that became legendary, the L88 option announced in the spring of 1967. There Delivering an unofficial 560 horsepower, the L88 engine introduced in 1967 was designed for racing. L88-equipped Corvettes were stripped of heater, defroster and radio to save weight. They featured a unique cowl-induction hood among other racing options. 473 1967 AND L88 ORI GI NS was no hedging on the output of this engine; Chevy said nothing at all about it. But a reliably reported power gure for the L88 was 560 bhp at 6,400 rpm on fuel of 103 research octane. 2 And with unrestricted exhaust, said Zora Duntov, 640. I pick 430, I dont know why. Is just a number. It was as pure a racing engine as Chevrolet had yet offered for the Corvette. The L88 V-8 could only be ordered with all the oth- er racing options plus the K66 transistor ignition sys- tem, the G80 Positraction differential and option C48: a credit of $97.85 for deletion of the otherwise standard heater and defroster, to cut down on weight and dis- courage the cars use on the street, said Corvette News. Although the engine alone was priced at $947.90, with all the concomitant extras the package came to some $1,500. In 1967 20 buyers chose the L88. L88 design features included a 12.5:1 compression ratio, an aluminum intake manifold modied to form 2 In 1992 Corvette Fever reported on a dynamometer test of a rebuilt L88. It produced 502 lb-ft of torque at 4,400 rpm. Horsepower at 5,200 rpm was 489 and at 6,200 rpm 514. These are likely to be net gures, inclusive of accessories, unlike the gross SAE gures used at the time by Chevrolet and others. a plenum chamber under the single Holley 850 CFM carburetor, heavy-duty bottom end with a Tufftrided crankshaft and shot-peened connecting rods with extra-strong 0.716-inch bolts. Pistons were forged by TRW of high-silicon-alloy aluminum. Hardened pushrods and heat-treated rocker arms lifted inlet valves by 0.559 inch and exhausts by 0.580 inch with an overlap of 136 degrees before they were closed by triple springs. The L88s small-diameter ywheel carried a high-capacity clutch, driving Muncies rock crusher M22 transmission. Other adjuncts to the L88 were an aluminum cross-ow radiator and an engine-air intake from the grille at the base of the windshield, an area of high air pressurethe same inlet location used by Mickey Thompson at Daytona for the spectacular de- but of the Mark II engine in 1963. This was a modi- cation of the standard Mark IV hood to provide an air- box and a built-in lter that mated with the carburetor entry when the hood was shut. No shroud surrounded the fan, controlled by a silicone clutch. Even with this new engine the hefty Corvette was still no match for the Cobras in the short sprint events on twisty tracks that typied most SCCA competition. But it helped. Corvettes were still doing very well in B Production with a National Championship in 1964 for Frank Dominianni of Valley Stream, Long Island. Frank retrotted his 1962 Corvette with a 283-cubic-inch V-8 With its L88 package the 1967 Sting Ray finally posed a threat to the Cobras in the SCCAs A Production Championships. These great rivals are shown at Road America in a modern-day duel. This restored L88 is shown at its racing zenith on page 478. 474 CHAPTER 34 With engine ally Denny Davis, Zora Arkus-Duntov took pleasure in the potential of the L88 version of the Mark IV with aluminum heads and a more robust bottom end. to move down a class. Enjoying both an engine dyno and chassis dyno in his workshop, Dominianni made it his business to know the Ramjet fuel injection inside-out. Frank Dominiannis rst racing Corvette was a 57 that established a tradition of red racers bearing the number 69. One of the masters of the daunting Bridgehampton circuit, where he drove on the edge of destruction, Dominianni was described as the classic overachiever who prevailed with a combination of resourcefulness, a keen understanding of applied engineering, optimism and a never-quit attitude. Frank and others corralled for the Corvette the SCCAs New York and Divisional awards in duplicate in 1965, triplicate in 66 and quintuplicate in 1967. Against the Cobras the SCCAs A Production Divisional Championships, the Corvettes were horses 475 1967 AND L88 ORI GI NS of another color. Shut out in 1964, the Corvette picked up only a single Divisional award in 1965. With the advent of the Mark engine, however, the outlook brightened. Two A Production Divisional cups were collected in 1966 and three in 67. Built in late January of 1967, the rst L88 to be built reached Detroits Hanley Dawson Chevrolet to the order of Tony DeLorenzo, Jr., enthusiast son of Anthony G. DeLorenzo, GMs vice president in charge of public relations. A convertible, it was race-prepared for Tonys A Production campaign in the Midwest. This was successful enough to take him to the SCCA Runoffs at Daytona Beach, where he was beaten only by a Cobra 427. Carrying on with an L88 into 1968, Tony DeLorenzo played an important role in keeping motor racing close to the hierarchy of General Motors. 3 Of the four production L88 Sting Rays that came to Sebring in 1967 one, driven by Don Yenko and Dave Morgan, placed tenth overall and rst among the GTs even though it spent the last 40 minutes of the race wedged in a sand bank after complete brake failure. Morgan drove the coupe, sponsored by oil company Sunray DX, to the SCCA Midwest A Production title. Carrying on into 1968, the coupe placed tenth overall and rst in class at Daytona in the hands of Morgan and Jerry Grant. 3 This ex-DeLorenzo Corvette sold for $1,325,000 at auction on August 14, 2010. In 1967 4,209 buyers of a total of 22,940 Corvettes ticked the box for the gorgeous RPO N14 Side Mount exhaust system, a dream amenity for real enthusiasts. With headlamps deployed a Mark IV- equipped 1967 convert- ible showed off the substantial hood bulge and scoop that marked the big V-8 underneath. 476 CHAPTER 34 Dana Chevrolets entry of an L88-equipped Corvette at Le Mans in 1967 marked a serious incursion by an American GT car in this classic event. In 1967 an L88 coupe was entered at Le Mans by a California dealer, Dana Chevrolet, whose Peyton Cramer nominated Dick Guldstrand to set up a Dana racing operation to rival that of Carroll Shelby. Cramer added Le Mans to Danas other activities, gaining sponsorship of $10,000 for the Le Mans effort from Sunray DX and Mitch Daroffs Botany Clothing. At the French classics technical inspection, however, a rst hurdle was the need to remove all traces of sponsorship from the cars livery. With Shell the over- all race sponsor, Sunray DX had to step back while Botany was named as the entrant. More serious was the need to restore the coupes bumpers to present the car in accord with its homolo- gation. Their weight, together with a full 36-gallon tank, had the L88 resting on its rear bump stops. Finding a Peugeot truck spring in a junkyard, they fashioned a stiffer rear transverse leaf that did the job. Power was not a problem; Traco had in fact detuned two L88 engines to 490500 bhp in the interest of reliability on the ofcial Le Mans gasoline. Chevrolets observer was Gib Hufstader, vacationing in Frances Sarthe region. During qualifying the red, white and blue coupe cut 10 seconds from the previous Grand Touring record. Taking the rst stint, Bob Bondurant put the Corvette well in the category lead in spite of its being by 300 pounds the heaviest car in the race at 3,265 pounds wet. It was clocked at 171.5 mph on the Mulsanne Straight, 20 miles per hour faster than any Corvette had ever gone there and 22 mph quicker than the Ferrari that nally won the GT class. 4 4 Claims are published that the Sunray DX Corvette set an FIA track record with a speed of 180-plus mph on the Mulsanne Straight. The FIA did not take account of times set on the straight at Le Mans. The speed timed was as stated; the car may well have reached a higher terminal velocity past the timing trap. 477 1967 AND L88 ORI GI NS After eleven and a half hours of racing Dick Guldstrand was at the wheel when he heard a mas- sive bang. Lifting the hood, he saw parts outside the engine that should not be there. A wrist-pin failure cost them a certain victory. According to one report, Tracos recommendation that they be replaced by higher-duty aftermarket parts was rejected by Chevrolet, which wanted to highlight the capabilities of its factory-standard engine. Record top speeds for Corvettes were set at Bonneville as well as at Le Mans during these years. The cars fell into a class known as A Grand Touring, which was assaulted every August during the week of speed on salt known as the Bonneville Nationals. In 1964 Bob Hirsch set the record at 155.132 mph driving a car belonging to Chicagoan Bill Scace. This was topped in 1965 by Michigander Barry Bock with his new 396 Sting Ray coupe. Bock averaged 169.654 Dick Guldstrand, left, and Bob Bondurant were the drivers of the Dana Le Mans entry in 1967, which easily led the GT category until its engine went after 11 hours. 478 CHAPTER 34 mph across the salt lake in his rst exposure to any kind of automotive competition. Bitten by the Bonneville bug, Bock came back the next year with his engine enlarged to 427 cubic inches and fed by Hilborn fuel injection. He overcame many tuning problems with the help of salt-lake veterans to set a ne new record of 180.138 mph. Not to be out- done, however, the Scace/Hirsch Corvette speedsters regained a solid hold on the A Grand Touring record in 1967 with a two-way average of 192.879 mph. For a basically stock-bodied Sting Ray that was really pushing the wind. So great and so lasting was the impact of the original Sting Ray body style that it is surprising to reect that it survived only ve years. That made it the shortest-lived body design in the cars history, if we accept that its predecessors were all variations on the theme of 1953. But it left an unforgettable legacy. When the History Channel asked viewers about their Dream Machine in 1998 the Corvette Sting Ray was their choice as the Greatest Sports Car of All Time. It decisively defeated the AC Cobra as well as Fords Mustang and GT40. With a total ve-year production of 117,964 the C2 Sting Rays hardly qualify as rarities. However those that have survived without abuse or modication have gained increasing recognition for what they are: genuine classic sports cars, the best America could build and, as such, commanding global admiration and respect. One of twenty L88 Corvettes built in 1967, this racer logged over 150 wins for its owner-driver Cliff Gottlob. Theyre pictured after finishing second in class and 11th overall in the 1970 Daytona 24 Hours, Dave Dooley co- driving. Underscoring its display of endurance, Gottlobs L88 was driven 1,626 miles from Kansas to Daytona, raced 24 hours, then driven back home to Kansas. 479 PRODUCTI ON CORVETTES PROFI LED: 1966 1967 1966: Units built27,720 1967: Units built22,940 '66 '67 ILLUSTRATIONS BY KEN RUSH 19681969 see page 533 established 1950 Automotive Reference Bentley Publishers, 1734 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-1804 USA Tel: 617-547-4170 Toll Free: 800-423-4595 Fax: 617-876-9235 http://www.bentleypublishers.com/contact-us Corvette Americas Star-Spangled Sports Car The Complete History 1953-1982 by Karl Ludvigsen Price: $149.95 Bentley Stock No: GCSS Publication Date: 2014-07-04 ISBN: 978-0-8376-1659-9 Hardcover, 9 in. x 10 1/2in. Case quantity: 1 784 pages 989 photos, illustrations and diagrams The Complete History 1953-1982 CorvetteAmericas Star-Spangled Sports Car: The Complete History, 1953-1982 takes the reader behind the scenes during the early decades of Corvette design, engineering, brand development and racing competition. Award-winning automotive historian Karl Ludvigsen weaves together a technical examination of each model year with the compelling stories of the GM staffers and privateer racers whothrough equal parts talent, passion and sheer force of willkept the Corvette program thriving against heavy odds. Ludvigsens up close and personal telling of the Corvette story captures the human drama and erce rivalries that fueled the American car industrys golden ageand resulted in some impressive Detroit muscle. When it was published in 1973, Star-Spangled Sports Car broke new ground as the rst book devoted entirely to a single car model. It has since been credited with helping to kick-start the exciting Corvette hobby. Four decades after its original publication Classic and Sports Car declared, Karl Ludvigsens Corvette history remains the bible.
Now the award-winning author has fully revised, reorganized and expanded his Corvette bible, devoting 784 pages and 989 photos and illustrations to the complete history of the C1, C2 and C3 generation cars. As fast-paced and exciting as the cars it describes, this is a book for anyone who ever drove a Corvetteor wanted to. BentleyPublishers .com bentley_gcss_new.product.announcement.pdf The author and Zora consult during test drive of CERV II in 1970. Chapter 36: Racing Four by Four Tony Lapine airbrushes a rendering of the XP-755 in 1961. Chapter 19: Mitchells Motors A v a ila b le
J u ly 4 , 2 0 1 4 My early education and inspiration related to Corvette history came from my original 1973 copy of Star Spangled Sports Car. After 40 years of use, wrinkles, torn dust cover, and dirt stained pages, it has served as the number one source to help tell the stories of the cars and people inducted into the Great Hall
. David Burroughs Founder, Bloomington Gold Karl Ludvigsen with Corvette creators Zora Arkus-Duntov and Bill Mitchell.