Incredibly Rare 1967 Corvette L89 Scores Duntov Mark of Excellence Award

This 1967 Corvette L89 is one of 16 built, as well as one of two produced with this particular combination of options. 

In the Corvette world, there are quite a few rare, celebrated models that are worth considerable amounts of money, many of which were built specifically for racing purposes. Mike Vietro – or Corvette Mike, as most know him – owns quite a few of those rare machines, and has been buying and selling them for over 40 years now. One of those special models is this 1967 Corvette L89, a car that Vietro obtained back in 2023 after spending decades trying to track it down. Now, that hard work and diligence has paid off in a big way.

This Marina Blue 1967 Corvette L89 – one of just 16 produced with the L89 option – has since been out on the show circuit, racking up awards everywhere it goes. That tour started at the NCRS Lone Star Regional Meet in Frisco, Texas, where the stellar C2 earned a score of 98.4, followed by the NCRS Performance Verification Judging at the NCRS Las Vegas Regional earlier this year, where it earned a yellow ribbon – quite notable given the fact that just 1,685 Corvettes have ever received the Performance Verification Award in total.

Most recently, Vietro took his 1967 Corvette L89 to the 2024 NCRS National Convention in Hampton, Virginia, and it walked away with a stellar score of 99.08, not to mention, the Duntov Mark of Excellence, making for a stellar showing. The special C2 has since appeared at The Quail Motorsports Gathering during Monterey Car Week, with MotorTrend adding it to its list of “The Most Mindblowing Classic Cars We Saw at Monterey Car Week.”

Originally ordered by Don Stankovsky in Berkeley, California from Cochran & Celli Chevrolet in Oakland, this 1967 Corvette L89 is powered by the engine of the same name, which added aluminum heads to the L71 427/435 V8 – a change that helped shave a whopping 75 pounds of weight off the nose of the car. GM officially rated both the L71 and L89 at 435 horsepower, but it wasn’t long before essentially everyone realized that the upgraded mill was really making somewhere around 500 horsepower.

This 1967 Corvette L89 was built on the last day of production and is one of just two with both the L89 and K19 smog equipment options, along with the F41 suspension, M21 close-ratio four-speed manual transmission, N14 side mount exhaust system, K66 transistor ignition, and J50 Power Brakes, which added $805.75 to the sticker price. The car was restored some years ago, and has a mere 38,000 miles on the odometer. It also happens to be listed at CorvetteMike.com, but with a “not for sale” sign – meaning that Vietro isn’t apparently ready to move on just yet – and who can blame him?

Photos: Corvette Mike

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Brett Foote

Brett Foote has been covering the automotive industry for over five years and is a longtime contributor to Internet Brands’ Auto Group sites, including Chevrolet Forum, Rennlist, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, among other popular sites.

He has been an automotive enthusiast since the day he came into this world and rode home from the hospital in a first-gen Mustang, and he's been wrenching on them nearly as long.

In addition to his expertise writing about cars, trucks, motorcycles, and every other type of automobile, Brett had spent several years running parts for local auto dealerships.

You can follow along with his builds and various automotive shenanigans on Instagram: @bfoote.