Here’s an interesting story. I was talking to a pretzel vendor where I work about Vettes. He said his father has one that he used to race when he was younger, but is pretty beat up now. I ask him the normal questions: what year, coup/vert, engine…etc. Well he wasn’t sure, but remembered it was a big block and 4 speed coup. After a few more days of asking, he gives me his fathers phone number. I gave him a call. He tells me the car is a 1968 427 4 speed little to no option car that he is parting out. I went and checked it out today. (Stupid me forgot my camera). Not much left on it. No hood. No engine or trans. No seats, door panels or steering wheel.
It still had the full dash with a 6500 red line? This struck me as odd being he said it had a 4-barrel holley carb. Didn’t the 3x2 carbed cars only come with a 6500 redline? Here is another odd item. No radio antenna and a radio delete plate.

My main questions is: Could this car have been a L-88?

He said it had a big hood on it and needed race gas. Being a 1968 it had no engine data plate as in later years. If I go back, is there any way to tell what this car originally was?

I was able to pick up the small gauge cluster for a “good” price. I didn’t have time to get the large gauges out.

 

Holy schnit! I'm normally pretty skeptical about this stuff, but you really should check the brakes and see if it also had the J56 option. You might just have a L88 in front of you. The fact that nobody is making a big deal about it makes it feel legit to me...

How much you want for that center console (complete as pictured)?

 

Oh, the L88 was officially rated at 430hp, not 435.

 

I like the pretzel vendor part, nice touch!

sure coulda been an L-88... why not?


the 435 hp tripower cars also had 6500 redline and some I believe were ordered radio delete. But only the L-88 bigblock had a single 4bl Holley.

 

sounds like an L88 to me...

 

Tell him you'd like to buy the fuel tank. Remove the fuel tank, maybe the build sheet is there. Yes look for the L88 brakes. Also I think some (all?) of the L88's didn't have heater cores.

 

67's had the heater delete.
68 and 69 had the heater for the defrost function which was required by law.
6500 redline means either L88, L71 or L89. HD brakes (J56 with the dual retainer pins)were available on all of them. Black book says 80 L88s (J56 required) and 81 J56s.
It is still a valuable car he is parting out.
Lots of the tripowers had the triples replaced with single holleys to make it easier to tune.
The radio delete plate is probably worth more than the rest of the guages.
I would like to investigate further as well. See if you can get the tank.