Beschreibung:

427ci OHV V8 Engine
Single Holley 4-Barrel Carburetor
Approximately 550bhp (Rated at 430) at 6,400rpm
4-Speed M22 "Rock Crusher" Manual Transmission
4-Wheel Independent Suspension
4-Wheel Disc Brakes
* Prepared and raced in period by Don Yenko
* 1968 24 Hours of Daytona 4th in Class and Sebring 12 Hour GT Class lap record holder
* Driven by both Peter Revson and Pedro Rodriguez
* Meticulously documented
THE L88
In the 1960s, improvements in automotive development as a result of racing were becoming more commonplace. One of the more obvious instances of the technology transfer was in Chevrolet's engine development. The Mark IV big block V8 won on race tracks while at the same time powered much of Chevrolet's bread-and-butter products. The Mark IV's development was a direct result of Chevrolet's search for more performance than the W-Series could find within its unusual canted-deck, flat-bottom cylinder head design. At its first appearance at Daytona in 1963, the Mark IV set the fastest qualifying lap but didn't finish. By 1965, its potential saw the 396ci version powering both the Corvette and full-sized Chevrolet. The secret of the Mark IV was its heads; the heads angled the valves in two planes to create a semi-hemispherical combustion chamber with gently-curved runners and efficient valve location.
The ultimate development of the Mark IV big block was the L88 Corvette. In 1966, when Zora Arkus-Duntov wanted to beat the mighty, big block AC Cobras, he dropped an aluminum head 427ci engine into a Corvette. It was fitted with larger brakes and a revised suspension. It was entered in 1966 Daytona 24-Hour and Race by Penske Racing, and performed very well with the new engine.
Dick Gulstrand and Ben Moore won the GT Class (12th overall) at Daytona and placed 9th overall at the 12 Hours of Sebring later that year, all of which was a warm-up to the big event: the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. In the Le Mans Trials, a near-stock L88 managed 171.5-mph on the Mulsanne Straight and led the race for almost 12 hours before throwing a rod.
By 1967, each Corvette engine was individually built, assembled, blueprinted and tested off-line at the Tonawanda engine factory. Corvette marketers, wanting to hold down demand for the racing engine, shut off its dyno run at 5,300rpm when it showed only 430 brake horsepower. Its redline was 6,500rpm, whereas each carefully built L88 V-8 made something like 550hp.
THE MOTORCAR OFFERED
While successful on the track in '66 and '67, in 1968, with hopes of running the Daytona 24 Hour race and 12 Hours of Sebring, the FIA introduced a rule that 500-car production requirement be met for a new car to compete in that season's events. Unable to sell enough L88s within the August to November '67 timeline, it seemed that the new season would be awash until a pair of privateer decided to go it on their one. One was Hollywood legend James Garner whose American International Racing (A.I.R.) team got a trifecta of first three third-gen L88s, who of which ran at Daytona and only one of which finished in 29th. Meanwhile, a Chevy dealer from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania backed by a small oil company managed to enter three cars that would not only all finish the race (and ahead of the other 'Vettes), but, but come first in class too.
Car companies weren't the only ones looking to race on Sunday and sell on Monday. Sunray-DX, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based petroleum company realized the value of sponsoring motorsports and starting in 1965, the company's public relations supervisor, Ralph Morrison, set about creating campaign to promote their products through auto racing. In seeking a partner who had close ties to manufacturers and deft skill on the track, Morrison found the perfect mate in Don Yenko—the aforementioned Chevy dealer. Of course, Yenko was no ordinary car jockey. A successful racer who had proven his mettle with GM products on the track with his Corvair-based Stinger, Yenko enjoyed close ties GM corporate and Corvette chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov. In one a year a four months, with Sunray-DX's backing, Yenko built a team that found success at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Riverside and more.
Doing what he did best, Yenko created what has come to be known as a 'showroom' car. This Corvette started life as a Rally Red L71 427/435hp Convertible with Hardtop right from the dealership floor—and was turned into a track weapon. Fitted with an L88 motor and set up for racing, this and two other Sunray-DX Corvettes went south to the 24 Hours at Daytona. This car, wearing number 29, was driven by Don Yenko himself and legendary wheelman Peter Revson. After nearly 500 laps, this car finished the race 4th in class, with its sister cars coming in 1st (#30) and 5th (#31) in class.
Next stop was the Sebring 12 Hour race on the other side of Florida. This time, wearing number 2, Yenko would share driving responsibilities with another legendary driver, Mexican grad prix racer Pedro Rodriguez—the only Corvette Rodriguez would ever race On this occasion, suspension issues and a rear end failure stymied the race on lap 43—but not before setting what would be the lap record for the race in the GT Class.
The next stop on the calendar was slated to be the '68 24 Hours of LeMans. Unfortunately, political unrest in France postponed the event from June to September. What might have been remains an open questions—before the Sunray-DX team could head to France, the Sun Oil Company, better known as Sunoco, bought Sunray-DX. Given Sunoco's longstanding relationship with Penske Racing, there wasn't a need for a second team, ending the successful run of Yenko's 'showroom' cars.
While it was the end of Sunray-DX's involvement, Yenko would successfully race this Corvette as his personal racer throughout the Midwest and East Coast, winning the SCCA Midwest Division Title in '68. Sunoco then deaccessioned the car, selling it in 1969 to SCCA racer Robert Luebbe of Sherrill, New York. Original copies of correspondence between Luebbe and Sunoco accompany the car today.
The 'Vette would head to Michael Oleyar in 1972 and then to long term owner Frank Joyce in 1976. Raced by Joyce throughout the '70s and '80s, he sold it in 2002 to Marc Mehl and to the vendor six years later. In 2008, after years of racing success, the Corvette was restored to its Sebring color scheme by a marque specialist. Upon completion of the work, the car was bestowed with the NCRS American Heritage Award honoring the cars contribution to Corvette racing legacy, and blessing this as the car and chassis number that raced in period. As if that honor wasn't enough, it also was inducted into the Bloomington Gold Special Collection.
Offered today as a seminal piece of American endurance racing history, it is complete with a thick file of original paperwork detailing its history, its multiple awards, and copies of numerous fabulous photos from throughout its history. Eligible for numerous fabulous events both here and abroad, this Corvette yearns to burn rubber with a lucky new owner.