Story by Cam Hutchins & George Pappas/Photos by Cam Hutchins

With the proliferation of modern daily driver 500hp+ hot cars such as the Z06, ZR1, Ford GT, GT500 and the Viper, to mention a few, 500 horse power has lost some of the awe that it garnered 40 years ago. The name L88 has always held an almost mythical allure to anyone familiar with the hot cars of the 60’s. The car was under-advertised and as can be seen in the following article, secrecy was part of the plan. Chevrolet thought they produced the only truly “American” sports car and the AC Cobra produced by Shelby was causing them no end of grief. While races at the drag strip were being waged by all the American manufacturers, road racing was the pinnacle of sports car competition. The new Trans Am series featuring somewhat stock appearing Detroit cars was gaining popularity for the road racing tracks that had been overrun by smallish European cars. Following is part of the L88 legend and a bit about one of the 3 cars imported into Canada.

The first L88 equipped car was a ’66 and was actually delivered as a COPO (Central Office Production Order). It went to Roger Penske who hired Dick Guldstrand to prepare it for racing. The car had a 36 gallon gas tank, prototype 2.73 G-81 posi-traction rear end and although it had no radio or heater it did have a teakwood steering wheel and telescopic column. Picking the car up from the St Louis plant in mid-January, the car idled at a wild 1500rpm and Guldstrand wrapped himself in a blanket for the cold drive to Penske’s shop. The first attempt at Daytona proved the L88 was up to the challenge and at practice it had some of the quickest laps ever recorded on that track. An incident during the race called for a spectator’s Corvette to be stripped of its radiator and put onto the L88 for the duration. Also, because the headlights had been damaged in the incident and lights were required for the night portion of the 24 hour enduro, two flashlights were taped to the fenders. Not providing much illumination Guldstrand simply stuck very close to the tail lights of a competitor ahead; luckily it was one of the speediest cars in the race. In the end the L88 finished 11^th overall and 1^st in its class and the radiator was returned to the spectator’s car. How’s that for ingenuity! Racing next at Sebring the L88 achieved 9th overall and 1st in class again. Following the Sebring race Chevrolet reinstated its ban on factory-supported racing but behind the scenes the L88 program continued.

Although the RPO-L88 was only intended for the track its required availability to the general public meant some showed up on the street as well. This worried GM greatly; the L88 contained all their race-engineered technologies, wrapped in a fiberglass shell. Safety considerations and the resulting legal ramifications could not be ignored. This was not the weapon to put in the control of the overly-brash car buff or spoiled rich kid. Therefore company policy was to make it as difficult as possible for anyone other than an actual racer to get ahold of the L-88. A high sticker price, under-rated power numbers and other tricks could not be counted on to dissuade the unqualified from getting their hands on this race car. Requests were simply ignored, substitutions suggested, order sheets “lost”. A “yes” rarely meant “yes”; more than likely it was a stall tactic. Many hopeful customers, in utter frustration, abandoned the order altogether. The tactic worked, for the most part; extremely low production numbers (20 in ’67, 80 in ’68 and 116 in ’69) resulted, to the delight of collectors today and the disappointment of the many that were victim of these necessary tactics.

Nothing about the RPO-L88 made it a desirable street car; it did not operate effectively at low speeds. A fan shroud was found to be a hindrance to air flow at high speed and its unavailability meant anything other than track use only added to its overheating tendencies. This and other “creature comforts” were discarded, deemed unnecessary in a race-only vehicle. The car did not come with any badges or special trim to indicate its special significance; the only visible signs being its bulging functional hood and the lack of an antenna. The L88 package did not include a heater/defrost (1967 only), A/C, radio, power steering and power windows. What was included was Chevy’s full array of heavy-duty race components:

 -F-41 heavy-duty suspension

-G-81 posi-traction axle

-J-50 power brakes

-J-56 racing brake system