The storied past of a unique L88 Sting Ray.
The Chevrolet Corvette has been America’s favorite racing vehicle since its conception in 1953. Having been designed as a low-slung, sleek, light weight, high powered V8 crossbreed between the European sports cars of the time with the hot nasty speed and raw power of the muscle car era. These muscle/sports cars went beyond the typical classification of “pony car” and have now become an American icon as cars like the Z06 and ZR1 quickly dominated both the streets and tracks of the high-performance loving nation. This trend is shown particularly well with cars such as the 1969 Corvette L88 racing car.
Sporting a massive 427 ci V8 engine which was originally rated at 430 horsepower but produces around 560 wild ponies. This undertaking of power made the ‘Vette a widely unexpected dominator of the winding tracks and high speeds found on racing tracks worldwide. Without a doubt it would have come as a surprise when the car released its full power with the tire burning, roaring, engine singing the sweet tune of raw power. This incredible 7-liter had a horsepower to liter ratio of around 80 horsepower per liter which makes it far ahead of most other performance cars of its time.
Being such a light car with so much power one might assume that the drivers had a lot to handle when it came to cornering, and you'd be right. Sporting the typical Corvette independent suspension all around and upgraded performance brakes, the L88 could talk quite the punch with grace and speed. This was also assisted by the four-speed manual transmission which allows for an even faster car. This translated to a high 11-second quarter-mile time and even better lap times around the road and oval tracks that American racing is known for.
