The First 1967 Chevrolet Corvette L88 Just Sold For $2.31 Million — Was That A Lot?
The 1967 Chevrolet Corvette L88 was a thinly-veiled race car designed to stay under the radar, but one made a splash this weekend.
The L88 package included a high-output 427 cubic-inch V8, competition grade brakes, suspension and four-speed manual transmission.
It was designed to homologate the Corvette for the SCCA production class racing and just 20 were sold in 1967.
The engine was officially rated at 430 hp, but really put out more than 500 hp and was capable of even more with a little prep work.
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Chevrolet continued to offer the option through 1969 and a total of 216 were sold across the second and third generation Corvette body styles.
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The first and last L88s built were auctioned as a pair in January for a combined $2,585,000, with the 1967 car assumed to be the more valuable one. Now we know exactly how much the market thinks it is worth today.
The Tuxedo Black convertible was originally raced by Tony DeLorenzo and Jerry Thompson and is the only 1967 car originally painted the color. It’s no longer an all-original example, however, and received several modifications of the years. Its most recent racing success was winning the 1982 Canadian Western GT Championship, after which it was restored and went on to receive several awards at car shows.
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It crossed the block at the Mecum Auctions Monterey event on Saturday and ended up selling for $2,310,000. That is roughly the Hagerty valuation for a concours condition example of the model, but a far cry from the record price paid for an L88.
That currently stands at the $3,850,000 paid for a Rally Red 1967 car in 2014 when classic American muscle and sports car values were peaking, but the same car received a high bid of just $2,700,000 when it was put up for auction earlier this year and that was below its undisclosed reserve price.
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