When this car was up for auction at KSC, I was a lead with Roads and Grounds. One of the more interesting duties was setting up the lot where the auctions were held. This gave me the opportunity to check out some really interesting cars. The local news had made a big deal about the ZL1 which I had read about in some car magazine or other. The morning of the auction, I managed to be there when they brought it to the lot and parked it right out front. The GSA big wig who was in charge knew who I was so I was able to get up close. When he came over, I had to ask him if I could sit in it. To my surprise, he said sure. As I sat there, I noticed the keys were in the ignition. I still kick myself for not asking if I could start it. Later that day, I managed to be there when the ZL1 came up. The lady auctioneer started the bidding at $300,000. Crickets..... She kept lowering the "opening bid" until someone finally offered $50k. Of course it eventually crept up to $300k but it actually took a while. I was on the clock and really should have been elsewhere, but I stuck around till the end. Better than a Shuttle launch.
There is a third one(replica of sorts) that sold at Barrett Jackson in 2015 the man took a non- production block that sat in a former Apollo Astronaut’s shop being used as a base for a table top, finished maching the 427 ZL1 block assembled it found a corvette chassis that would match the casting code and put a classic stars and strips paint job on it. Believe in sold for 168,000.00. That engine had the most unique cackle I have ever heard. I can understand stand his motivation to clone one of the two originals. Listening to that ZL1 left me in awe 😊
My late Cousin owned it's little sister the 1969 Mako Corvette with a cast iron L88 427 with tri-carb manifold setup. It sounded great with its side pipes and was a real runner.
I was a member of Northen California Corvette Association. One of my fellow club members was a GM engineer @ St Louis in 68-69 era and he told the story of several "Lunch time runs" in that 69 ZL-1 Corvette....Lunch times were a great event for my friend Al...He ordered a 1970 LT-1 Coupe through the GM employee plan and wanted 4.56 gear set as he was into Autocrossing (called Slalom Racing back then)....Numerous delays because he wanted the AM/FM stereo....Was told he could have the 4.56's or the radio with 4.10's for less money....He wanted the 4.56's and didn't realize to get them he had to pay for the ZR-1 package....He went ahead and forsook the radio...Said he never realized what a rare beast he had purchased and regrets selling that ZR-1 these days.
That Corvette was originally sold at Hechler Chevrolet on Nine Mile Rd Highland Springs Va. It sat in the showroom for months unsold due to its price. The other ZL-1 was an orange convertible. There is rumor of a white coupe also but Chevrolet says only the 2 were produced.
69 is my favorite year! I doing state inspections back in the 90's and a customer came in with a 69 that he'd installed digital instruments cluster, speedo, oil pressure, tach all that stuff. Normally I would cringe at that, but these were really nice, red vetted with black inter. And the the leds in the gages was red aswell, really complimented the interior well.😎👍
I saw in a recent comment the 2nd ZL1 is coming up for auction. Here is the link to it. rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/az23/arizona/lots/r0084-1969-chevrolet-corvette-stingray-zl-1-convertible/1317662
I was able to speak with Roger and check out his ZL1, and also the orange ZL1 convertible when they were at Bloomington. Something I wanted to do for decades!
i would bet that there would be a couple of bidders who COULD fight it out for this car if it ever came to the gavel.....and that it likely would go over $5M
Gonna likely be the most valuable/rarest corvette for the rest of time. I've loved the 69 zl1 corvette since i was a boy, this one is beautiful, one day i would love to make a replica of zora duntovs white roadster 'mule' car that the press took pictures of back in 69,70. As for auction, i could easily see this corvette reaching over $20M. it's a one of a kind from a different time period.
LOL, it's NOT just a L88 with an aluminum block (had a larger cam with .600" lift), 540hp would be a weak ZL1, in the COPO Camaros (with headers) they were known to make 600hp+
The Copos had dyno'd at 585hp with street headers. Switch over to racing headers they gained another 30-40hp depending on which header you got.. then of course changing the manifold for 2 x 4 barrels added another 40-50 hp.. the ZL1 could make up to 685hp back in '69.. which back then was an insane amount of hp in a street car.
Mike, the convertible twin to this one recently sold at auction for over $3M. rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/az23/arizona/lots/r0084-1969-chevrolet-corvette-stingray-zl-1-convertible/1317662
I love this car, have seen it in magazines and on the internet many times over the years - cool color too. Apparently there is also a white ZL-1 out there, but I like this one.
I love the look of the 69 Vette Stingray. And then it has the ZL1 427 aluminum block and heads. What I didn't know was there were only 2 of them put into a Vette. There were 69 ZL1 Camaros built in 69. Wonder why....
The story goes that a Chevy dealer wanted to homologate the ZL1 Camaro to qualify for some racing series which required at least 100 of them to be built. He ordered 100 cars, but after the first 25 or so were delivered to him, he told them to stop because they were so expensive and nobody wanted to buy them. By that time they'd already built around 50 and had several more lined up for assembly, so they ended up making a total of 69. GM ended up shipping the remaining cars to other dealers around the country so they wouldn't all have to be sold by the dealer who originally ordered them. If not for that guy, there likely wouldn't have ever been any Camaros built with the ZL1 engines.
Live wire is correct in explaining why so many more Camaros got this engine. It was all about the Drag racing effort at the time. Weight reduction is HUGE and the guys who were racing in the near "stock" Drag racing wanted this motor that GM was building already for pure race road racing cars without limits. To get this into drag racing at least 50 cars needed to be built for the street. That is indeed why 69 Camaros in 1969 were built. This engine was NEVER requested for the Corvette by anyone in racing. How-ever, Chevrolet knew that their Halo car should at least have the option available anyway. So the ZL1 motor made it's way onto the list of options. Why so few sold vs many more Camaros? Again it comes back to PURPOSE BUILT Camaros vs no good reason to order a Corvette this way. GM internal rules, back in the day, on option pricing explains a lot. GM required that no option be sold at a loss. As result of this the ZL1 engine had an astronomically high price tag attached to it of just north of $4,000. A crazy high figure in a Camaro that in base trim cost a less than the motor itself. Even in a Corvette this was kinda NUTS.....a $6,000 car lept to over $10,000 if you ordered a ZL1 . Tough pill to swallow for a 100-150pds off the nose of the car. In full out racing efforts there is probably a discernable advantage in the ZL1 vs the more pedestrian priced L88 option but in a street car or at the drag strip in the hands of a less than all out effort mere mortal drivers won't find it. In that thought alone......you get an explanation of why only 3 Corvettes ever got this motor. It was just so expensive and unlike the Camaro drag race teams nobody was actually asking for it in the Corvette at the time.
Bill, I think Roger sold most of his collection but I'm pretty sure he still has the ZL1 and probably the L88's. Here is a link to their website. www.rogerscorvette.com/collection.htm
I saw one of these 1969 ZL1 Stingrays on display at a either a Barret Jackson or SEMA show in Las Vegas once. There was a 1971 LS6 454 Stingray next to it also. I remember Don Prudhomme being close by the display of these cars signing autographs next to one of his old car haulers and the Yellow Hot Wheels Funny car.
LS-6 by 71 was emasculated with emissions, Car Craft magazine BLEW UP their 71 LS-6 Vette and the L-88 was far faster as it had a 850 Holley "double pumper" and in my experiences the 427 is a far better running motor. Same for Can-Am motors when the aluminum 511 cu/in Reynolds ZL-1 was put into Bruce McClarens Can-Am car @ Riverside for testing Bruce prefered the "short stroke" 430 cu/in ZL-1 motor...Not a 427 though as it was a larger bore and sorter stroke than a 427 motor. Sometimes "Bigger isn't always better".
i googled this and found $3.2, 3.5, 3.8 million. I also remember the day this happened, and called my Friend to tell him. Steve has a 67 coupe l 88.1 owner 22000 miles so he would be interested in this.
@@phibber 3.85 million My bad. It's the only red-on-red 1967 L88. It's also an award winner with the highest amount of points you can get ...it's literally perfect.
I saw the other ZL-1 in the flesh when I was a kid back in the 70's at an autocross, the owner lives in my area. As far as I know it is still in the possession of the original owner.
There is a 1 of 1 Corvette, and considering Zorra Dintov was the brains and designer of the very first and only for decades mid engine drivable prototype, and being considered back then. That 1 just might be the most valuable Corvette ever, and still. Is an awesome car, even by today's standards and appealing design.
I was wondering about some intel on a particular Corvette, not too sure on the year, 69 thru 76, as they pretty much look the same to me. It had the T bar sunroof and the chrome luggage rack on the back. My question is, could you get it with the Gold metal flake on brown from the factor? My old man had a 69 Beaumont with Gold flake on Brown and was wondering if these colors were stock from the factory? The Vet use to park on the next block when I was in grade 3 in 1976, thought it was the coolest looking car I had ever seen, I am trying to remember as much detail as I can. rally hub caps, any intel would be great thanks.
Lore has it that one of these two Corvetts was shipped to Penske Chevrolet at 49th & Chestnut street in Philadelphia PA. By lore I mean that someone known by me purchased new a 1969 ZL1 Camaro from this Chevrolet Dealer. This car had a $4,200 engine option. And was running on 6 or 7 cylinders by the time he got it home. He described the car as having pea shooter exhaust pipes and dog dish hub caps. He stated it loaded up on the way home. This guy was a bracket/sportsman drag racer. I don’t think the car was ever campaigned in super stock which back then was an eliminator class. It’s an interesting story and I only saw pictures of the car. Dark green metallic with a black interior. It was prohibitively expensive and probably beyond Cadillac money. He stated the paperwork included catalogs and/or manuals from Chevrolet racing division in Warren Michigan and that from a warranty standpoint Chevrolet supported these cars.
Makes sense. David Judski told me the price of these cars were over $10K in 1969 making them more expensive than any Cadillac. And who would want it? Loud, hot, and virtually undriveable.
You need to talk a bit less. The ZL1 Vette was Much more than the L88. It had its own set of heads, intake, Cam and block. It's NOT simply an L88 with an aluminum block. The ZL1 in the VETTE was rated at 580 SAE gross HP. With 4:56.1 rear gears and slicks, the ZL1 ran 10.50s in the qtr at 132mph.
@@bobdavis3357 ZL1 was absolutely an L88 with an aluminum block. Initially, it also had a different cam, but other than the cam and block they were were the same. The heads were not different, nor was the intake and carb. The 2nd design L88, if I recall, also had the same cam. L88 actually made more power, due to the iron block sealing better. But the only differences initially were the aluminum block and cam, and then with the 2nd design L88 the only difference was the block. Both used the same 074 aluminum heads. And it was never rated at any 580hp, nor would it make that much even with headers. They'd do 540-550-ish with headers on a dyno, which was very strong. The motor in the Vette in this video dyno'd in the 540's, and that was with headers. Which is about exactly what it should make.
Aren't there three documented 1969 ZL-1 Vettes now? The yellow Judski car, the red automatic car originally owned by drag racer John Maher and the white car currently owned by Kevin Suydam (formerly of the Otis Chandler collection)?
Both the white/black coupe and the orange convertible are contenders for being the "other" ZL1... but neither have been confirmed because the owners refuse to have the cars inspected by experts, although the orange one does have a more convincing story. Just my opinion, but I think they're afraid of being told their car isn't the real deal. I've pointed out before (in other places) that this yellow car was a special build not ordered through a dealer, but commissioned by a Chevy executive, and therefore it may not be one of the two ZL1s on the official factory production list. If that's the case, it could be that both the white/black coupe AND the orange conv. are authentic ZL1 Corvettes...
A coworker had this exact car. I know he paid over 10 grand for it, but it needed a lot of work. He drove it one day a week and to the local drag races. At the time the engine was not set up for its maximum power. This coworker was a bit unusual as he didn't come talk to you, he stood next to a persons desk and rocked back and forth until you said something and then asked him what was up. Then he would talk to you about what was ever on his mind. One day he stood next my desk, rocking back and forth with a huge grin on his face. He just got the Corvette out of the shop, paying another 10 grand. He then found out what was missing in the engine and now it scared him to death to drive it. It went from about 300 horsepower that he had been driving to over 500 horsepower. He then had it painted in the original Daytona Orange he said was the original color, and then a short time sold it for an undiscolsed, grinning ear to ear amount.
I remember these cars, they had so much more power than the factory specs of 585hp. It was more like 850hp. Plus it only weighed 1400kg according to the official specs which was exaggerated too. When actually weighed, it came in at 1335kg. It could do the 1/4 mile in 11sec flat. Everyone goes on about the Shelby GT500 & I agree they are good looking, but the ZL1 was the true performance gun in the 60s. Nothing could match it's power to weight. Top speed too, it was claimed at 193mph but it was actually over 200mph.
True, but most people didn't knew they existed in order to buy one. Even then, who would want one when the gas milage was maybe 8mpg, NO AC, NO radio, and drove like a stage coach.
@@MuscleCarMadnessGarage This was the 60s era, why would all cars have A/C? They only had radio's. Drove like a "stage coach", what do you mean? It was pretty much a racing car converted to production, why do you think it drove like a stage coach? It only used that amount of fuel if you drove it hard.
@@brantleyfoster021 Many cars had AC back in those days. This engine bay didn't have room for the compressor. A stagecoach was a stiff, rough ride unlike a Cadillac, which was like riding on a cloud (smooth). It was a race car and thus drank fuel. If you didn't drive it hard, Jutski told me it wouldn't idle properly.
@@MuscleCarMadnessGarage Only half the cars being sold came with A/C back then. It wasn't uncommon not to have A/C. You can't drive it hard under all conditions.
@@chalemi Don't just tell someone they're wrong without explanation. There are two other cars that are claimed to be regular production ZL1s, but neither have enough (or have ever shown enough) documentation to prove it. My opinion is that those two cars actually are the two regular production ZL1s and this yellow one wasn't on that year end tally that showed "2 ZL1s" were built, because it was a special order from a GM executive, the head engineer at the Corvette assembly plant. I don't think this yellow one should be considered one of the two regular production ZL1s because it was built with a heater and radio, which were supposed to be mandatory deletions with the ZL1 package. Therefore, this yellow one should be considered a "1 of 1" special production car... potentially making it even more valuable.
They built two of those. Rare of course but there is the rarest of the rare. In 1977 Chevrolet built only ONE Corvette in just ONE color. EVER. Chartreuse. It might not be a fire-breather like those ZL-1s but it simply is a 1-of-1. Finding it is another matter. It's probably just as rare as the only 1983 in existence.....number 43.
from my past knowledge the high rpm big and small blocks only had the muncie m22 4 speed due to they could tolerate the torque and rpm of the engines. the autos at that time could not handle the power (i cant site any sources tho)
This one was purchased thru a Richmond Va. Chevy dealer and at some point the engine was pulled and put in owners drag boat. Later ZIP Corvette Parts got the Vette . That might be where the Feds found it.
Pretty sure it was the drag boat racer. As he went to jail/prison on drug charges. Early 80's I believe. My dad's drag boat motor was built by the same person who built the ZL 1.
It was a special order by the assembly plant manager/head engineer. He had it special built with all the bells and whistles and a bright, shiny color to attract attention, since he wanted the car displayed outside the plant.
@@aaronvector4750 Technically, the "customer" was a GM executive... so it sort of was GM that chose it! LOL The car was owned by GM for the first year or so, before it was sold to a dealer.
these cars had the same problems as any big cammed big carburated race car. they were calibrated to race at high rpm not lug around town. yes 8mpg of course to not be lean or weak at 6000rpm you could easily detune the engine down a bit to cruise with a cam swap and a jet change. the low production numbers along with nearly no demand kept the price far out of reach for the average buyer. just my opinion based on what ive learned about these low production special order cars. the big 3 made such cool awesome special order and production cars back in the days. we can only dream of the simplicity of these machines now days.
@@thud9797 there is one 83 left in existence…so that’s not rare? If I had the only 87 in existence that wouldn’t make it rare…the key word in what you said is WERE…now there is only 1 left in existence that makes it rare
There are actually two other "contenders" that both claim to be "the other ZL1".... One is an orange convertible with an automatic trans that was ordered from Yenko Chevrolet (yes, THAT Yenko) in PA. It's still owned by the original owner who claims to still have the original engine and paperwork to certify it, but for some reason he hasn't bothered to "prove" that it's a regular production ZL1 to either the NCRS or Bloomington. Therefore, a lot of people claim that it's an L88 car that he put a ZL1 engine into, even though there is official GM/Chevrolet documentation that lines up very well with this car, indicating that it was likely the first ZL1 built in Dec. '68. The other is a white coupe with a four speed owned by a collector in Seattle. That car has been through multiple owners, but the current one has traced the car back to its original owner, who "confirmed" through a phone call and a letter that he ordered the car from a dealer in Utah. All of the documentation on that car has been lost (window sticker, tank sticker/build sheet, and dealer/order documents) but the current owner still claims, that because the original owner (who works for the IRS) wrote his statement on his official IRS letterhead, that is good enough to authenticate it. He has had the car judged by Bloomington (I think), and he claims that they did authenticate it, but like the owner of the other car, he hasn't shown any proof to the public so people are skeptical of that car as well. My opinion is that both of these cars are authentic, both built with the ZL1 package at the factory and ordered with it from dealerships. I believe that these two, the orange one and the white one are the two that the GM documents show were built as REGULAR production ZL1 cars, and this yellow one, which is also a 100% authentic factory built ZL1, wasn't counted on that list of REGULAR production cars because it wasn't ordered from a dealer It was a special build commissioned by a Chevrolet executive, the head engineer at the assembly plant... which is why it was built with a radio and heater, two options that were supposed to be mandatorily deleted with the ZL1 package, and therefore it is NOT a "REGULAR PRODUCTION" car. That's why I think it wasn't tallied at the end of production along with the other two REGULAR production cars. If that's the case, the "2 of 2" production ZL1s are the white and orange ones, and this yellow one should be considered a "1 of 1" special ZL1 and therefore even more rare than the other two.
I wonder if the original owner was Sammy Davis Jr. He had an agreement with GM that he would get the first Corvette each year. I know he had a huge tax debt with the IRS and many of his cars were auctioned off. He died in 1990, so the timeline is the same.
Great car to high $$$ 300,000.00 purchase price GOVERNMENT AUCTION no sentimental reason for crazy numbers just greed. 5-7,000,000.00 no way!!! 2.5 MAX MAYBE?
There are actually two other "contenders" that both claim to be "the other ZL1".... One is an orange convertible with an automatic trans that was ordered from Yenko Chevrolet (yes, THAT Yenko) in PA. It's still owned by the original owner who claims to still have the original engine and paperwork to certify it, but for some reason he hasn't bothered to "prove" that it's a regular production ZL1 to either the NCRS or Bloomington. Therefore, a lot of people claim that it's an L88 car that he put a ZL1 engine into, even though there is official GM/Chevrolet documentation that lines up very well with this car, indicating that it was likely the first ZL1 built in Dec. '68. The other is a white coupe with a four speed owned by a collector in Seattle. That car has been through multiple owners, but the current one has traced the car back to its original owner, who "confirmed" through a phone call and a letter that he ordered the car from a dealer in Utah. All of the documentation on that car has been lost (window sticker, tank sticker/build sheet, and dealer/order documents) but the current owner still claims, that because the original owner (who works for the IRS) wrote his statement on his official IRS letterhead, that is good enough to authenticate it. He has had the car judged by Bloomington (I think), and he claims that they did authenticate it, but like the owner of the other car, he hasn't shown any proof to the public so people are skeptical of that car as well. My opinion is that both of these cars are authentic, both built with the ZL1 package at the factory and ordered with it from dealerships. I believe that these two, the orange one and the white one are the two that the GM documents show were built as REGULAR production ZL1 cars, and this yellow one, which is also a 100% authentic factory built ZL1, wasn't counted on that list of REGULAR production cars because it wasn't ordered from a dealer It was a special build commissioned by a Chevrolet executive, the head engineer at the assembly plant... which is why it was built with a radio and heater, two options that were supposed to be mandatorily deleted with the ZL1 package, and therefore it is NOT a "REGULAR PRODUCTION" car. That's why I think it wasn't tallied at the end of production along with the other two REGULAR production cars. If that's the case, the "2 of 2" production ZL1s are the white and orange ones, and this yellow one should be considered a "1 of 1" special ZL1 and therefore even more rare than the other two.
Also keep in mind that the motor had to have some serious and not normal repairs done to keep original motor and put back in this car. Some of those repairs hurt value, and questions of " how original " after those very unusual repairs that HAD to be made, especially to the block. Just sayin
RT. All I can report is what was told to me. According to Roger, the white car was not a real ZL1. In the end, these cars are not accessible to many people. Roger has owned it for decades buying it for 300K. I say it was fun to see it, record it and talk to his son about it. Other than that, It's more fun to drive a muscle car on the street than to look at a unicorn sitting in a showroom for over 30 years. Don't you agree?
@MuscleCarMadnessGarage I agree on the driving, and appreciate that you were going by what someone told you. This car was in a corvette magazine, and they talked with the original owner of this car. My magazines are packed up for moving, not sure which box it is in. I will try to let you know what magazine and was late 70's or early 80's publication. I brought up fact checking, because cars like this go for millions of dollars, and misinformation can greatly effect value/price. I agree on everything else you said though.
I am late to this one. but there I follow corvettes and I know of 4 ZL1 corvettes. the yellow one, a white one, an orange one and a blue one that is not documented. the White, yellow and bule cars all have the same black stripe that goes across the nose and down the tops of the fenders, the orange one does not. supposedly the orange one was the first off, the line and did not receive the stripes. I suspect there may be a few more out there. I suspect that there were 5 vetted altogether. this is GM we are talking about. ran buy bean counter for bean counters. is they built 69 Camaros and 4 corvettes. that adds up to just 73 engines. what bean counter orders 73 of anything. I suspect there may be 2 more corvettes out there. it is more like a bean counter to order the stuff to build 75 engines vs the stuff to build 73 engines. you get price savings at volume. it why GM saved .07 on a ignition lock spring rather than fix a design flaw. because that 7 cents springs saved the company 10s of millions of dollars when you amortize the cost over every car produce for about 15 years. for those reasons alone i think there may be 2 more unknow ZL1 corvettes out there.
That placard was made in the 90s, so that was a very true statement at the time... and the fact that it took Chevy over 40 years to make a faster Corvette shows that this car definitely deserved that title.
I still don’t 100% understand why, but after researching all the US muscle cars, discovering some incredibly rare beasts, seeing some in the flesh… I hear ZL1 Vette, Aluminium 427.., I have a half chubby… I’m thinking my body knows best!
The L88s used 3 different cams in the 3 years they were produced. I don't remember the exact specs of each, but the '67s were the "smallest", at around .560/.580... the early '68s were increased to around .560/.590 or .580/.590, and late production '68s and all '69s, I'm pretty sure were .580/.600 but they may have been .600/.600... either way, the '69 L88s and the ZL1s used the same cams. Also in '69 the head castings changed to use open chambers just like the L89 heads, and both the L88s and ZL1s used those open chamber heads. The '69 L88s and the ZL1s were essentially identical, the only difference being the blocks...
@@livewire2759 Back in the seventies I sold parts for Chevrolet and Motion performance. I purchased three L88 short blocks from Amityville Chevy all had the 1969 .560/.600 cam in it! I know this because I still have all three cams. We used rollers then. The other big block cams were the .560/.560 and the tri-power .540/.560… My 1971 LS6 had the .560/.600 cam and Aluminum heads… 8 pistons and a ZL-1 cam and you have your ultimate LS7…
@Thud979 every drag racer knows you lose 30% from crank to the tires. You put down the meth pipe and learn about racing. Let me guess you drive a Rustang and tell everyone it's making 500hp when it's only 330 hp. LMAO 🤣 I run a dyno I understand the laws of physics. Ask anyone dumb fuck.
@Dave Sober every drag racers knows the Horsepower is 30% difference from crank to actual dyno. My twin turbo steve Morris engine made 2400 hp on the engine dyno when we put it in the car on a tire dyno it made 1900 Horsepower which is 20% because it was a 2 speed transmission. Just go back to your little 300 hp Rustang. Don't have time for your nonsense. You definitely got an award today for the dumbest car guy on the internet. Congratulations dipshit
Your information is not correct, there were MORE than two cars produced because the 2 examples you are talking about are the yellow one you are looking at, the white one that is in another collection and neither of those two is the Blue with white stripe car that was driven by Duntov and in which he spoke about in an article for Hot Rod magazine…
@@MuscleCarMadnessGarage so it’s #3 rarest ? Guessing that there’s a 1 of 1 that isn’t a concept car . Great video . I was aware of the ZL -1 corvette but had no idea there was only 2 made 👍🏼
Well, you are right in that there was a prototype Shelby that I named 2nd Rarest car. It is a fascinating story. Here is the link. ua-cam.com/video/itK7TMEv9-A/v-deo.html. Then the Rarest Production Muscle Car ever built was the 1968 Z/28 Convertible. Since it came down a production line, the previous owner claimed it was a production car. But that is debatable. Here is that link. ua-cam.com/video/leilxEyW6SI/v-deo.html. There was however, a very rare car I could not find and that was a 1970 Hemi Road Runner Convertible.
I think it was the 1968 Z/28 Convertible and the 2nd was 1967 Shelby GT500EXP Convertible (I think). I'll put those link below. ua-cam.com/video/leilxEyW6SI/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/ZpgwxuhBZC4/v-deo.html
Here is the number for Roger's Corvette and the link to that ZL1 page. I'm sure they would appreciate you keeping them straight. www.rogerscorvette.com/inv/special/69ZL1/index.htm 407-628-8300. Also here is a Haggerty article about the 1 of 2 Corvette. www.hagerty.com/media/news/this-one-of-two-1969-zl1-is-the-holy-grail-of-corvettes-could-sell-for-3m/. Here is their number. 888-216-2903. They got it wrong too.
The first 2 either L-88 or ZL-1 engines disappeared between the engine room and the dyno room. This is according to publication from the 60's to mid 70's.
Ehh. Just an old Chevy. If you pay $5million for that you have more money than brains. For one million you could own a whole stable of hemis, 440 six pack rt coronets, a super bird, a few 428 cobra jet mustangs, even a Gnx Buick for $80k. That vette is worth 200,000 tops.
The only people who can determine the value of a unique car like this is the current owner and a potential buyer. The closest we can come to an estimation is to look at the '67 Corvette L88s, which recently have been selling between 2.5 million and 3.5 million dollars. Therefore, I'd say 4 million is a reasonable guess, however, if you walked in to Roger's Corvette Center with 5 million dollars cash, he probably still wouldn't sell the car. If he refused an offer like that, you could say that this car is actually priceless.
Wow, I actually have this car in my 1:18 scale die-cast collection. It is great to see the actual car. 👌
When this car was up for auction at KSC, I was a lead with Roads and Grounds. One of the more interesting duties was setting up the lot where the auctions were held. This gave me the opportunity to check out some really interesting cars. The local news had made a big deal about the ZL1 which I had read about in some car magazine or other. The morning of the auction, I managed to be there when they brought it to the lot and parked it right out front. The GSA big wig who was in charge knew who I was so I was able to get up close. When he came over, I had to ask him if I could sit in it. To my surprise, he said sure. As I sat there, I noticed the keys were in the ignition. I still kick myself for not asking if I could start it. Later that day, I managed to be there when the ZL1 came up. The lady auctioneer started the bidding at $300,000. Crickets..... She kept lowering the "opening bid" until someone finally offered $50k. Of course it eventually crept up to $300k but it actually took a while. I was on the clock and really should have been elsewhere, but I stuck around till the end. Better than a Shuttle launch.
So what did it sell for, you left us hanging...
It sold for $300,000. I believe the pre auction estimate was $700,000@@onazram1
@@markr9730 Hard to believe that's all..
thanks for responding
As I recall, the collector car market was down. A year or two earlier it would have brought much more.@@onazram1
And the stories fly.......Only 2 made, every owner known since new but 20 people on here saw car, knew an owner, or rode in one.
@@dudeski5333 The second one was a Gulf Research parade car sold to John Maher of Leechburg PA. Raced it with a replacement engine.
@@davesober2093....yes..the orange one I believe
There is a third one(replica of sorts) that sold at Barrett Jackson in 2015 the man took a non- production block that sat in a former Apollo Astronaut’s shop being used as a base for a table top, finished maching the 427 ZL1 block assembled it found a corvette chassis that would match the casting code and put a classic stars and strips paint job on it. Believe in sold for 168,000.00. That engine had the most unique cackle I have ever heard. I can understand stand his motivation to clone one of the two originals. Listening to that ZL1 left me in awe 😊
1969 was a great year at General Motors. Nice Vette is one heck of an understatement.
My late Cousin owned it's little sister the 1969 Mako Corvette with a cast iron L88 427 with tri-carb manifold setup. It sounded great with its side pipes and was a real runner.
I was a member of Northen California Corvette Association. One of my fellow club members was a GM engineer @ St Louis in 68-69 era and he told the story of several "Lunch time runs" in that 69 ZL-1 Corvette....Lunch times were a great event for my friend Al...He ordered a 1970 LT-1 Coupe through the GM employee plan and wanted 4.56 gear set as he was into Autocrossing (called Slalom Racing back then)....Numerous delays because he wanted the AM/FM stereo....Was told he could have the 4.56's or the radio with 4.10's for less money....He wanted the 4.56's and didn't realize to get them he had to pay for the ZR-1 package....He went ahead and forsook the radio...Said he never realized what a rare beast he had purchased and regrets selling that ZR-1 these days.
Great story! Appreciate it.
That Corvette was originally sold at Hechler Chevrolet on Nine Mile Rd Highland Springs Va. It sat in the showroom for months unsold due to its price. The other ZL-1 was an orange convertible. There is rumor of a white coupe also but Chevrolet says only the 2 were produced.
Hechler Chevrolet was the only Chevy dealer that sold a 69 ZL 1 Corvette & a 69 ZL 1 Camaro.
69 is my favorite year! I doing state inspections back in the 90's and a customer came in with a 69 that he'd installed digital instruments cluster, speedo, oil pressure, tach all that stuff. Normally I would cringe at that, but these were really nice, red vetted with black inter. And the the leds in the gages was red aswell, really complimented the interior well.😎👍
I saw in a recent comment the 2nd ZL1 is coming up for auction. Here is the link to it. rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/az23/arizona/lots/r0084-1969-chevrolet-corvette-stingray-zl-1-convertible/1317662
I was able to speak with Roger and check out his ZL1, and also the orange ZL1 convertible when they were at Bloomington. Something I wanted to do for decades!
I've known about this car for 41 years, quite famous, $5,000,000 is not unrealistic.
i would bet that there would be a couple of bidders who COULD fight it out for this car if it ever came to the gavel.....and that it likely would go over $5M
I remember Rodger's shop behind his Mom and Dad's motel on orange blossom trail in the 70's . Rodger and my father Bob Abraham had some dealings.
Gonna likely be the most valuable/rarest corvette for the rest of time.
I've loved the 69 zl1 corvette since i was a boy, this one is beautiful, one day i would love to make a replica of zora duntovs white roadster 'mule' car that the press took pictures of back in 69,70.
As for auction, i could easily see this corvette reaching over $20M. it's a one of a kind from a different time period.
A few years ago Roger told me an offer he had turned down. It was BIG $$$!
True, Roger told me the number was 4 million he passed on.
Wow! You bring the best cars! Thank you sir, keep them coming please!
I think a 69 427 Vette doesn't qualify as nothing. Can't think of a more iconic Vette
The only time that hood should be closed is when the car is in motion. That ZL1 deserves to be displayed.
HA! I agree Seth!!
LOL, it's NOT just a L88 with an aluminum block (had a larger cam with .600" lift), 540hp would be a weak ZL1, in the COPO Camaros (with headers) they were known to make 600hp+
The Copos had dyno'd at 585hp with street headers. Switch over to racing headers they gained another 30-40hp depending on which header you got.. then of course changing the manifold for 2 x 4 barrels added another 40-50 hp.. the ZL1 could make up to 685hp back in '69.. which back then was an insane amount of hp in a street car.
The Copo Camaros " even with 30 hp to 50 hp advantage " still got beat by L88 Vettes, they couldn't hook up like the Vette.
Wow what a beautiful beast that corvette is it will only go up in value
Mike, the convertible twin to this one recently sold at auction for over $3M.
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/az23/arizona/lots/r0084-1969-chevrolet-corvette-stingray-zl-1-convertible/1317662
I love this car, have seen it in magazines and on the internet many times over the years - cool color too. Apparently there is also a white ZL-1 out there, but I like this one.
The all aluminum 427 ZL1 ,, YEHA
I love the look of the 69 Vette Stingray. And then it has the ZL1 427 aluminum block and heads. What I didn't know was there were only 2 of them put into a Vette. There were 69 ZL1 Camaros built in 69. Wonder why....
The story goes that a Chevy dealer wanted to homologate the ZL1 Camaro to qualify for some racing series which required at least 100 of them to be built. He ordered 100 cars, but after the first 25 or so were delivered to him, he told them to stop because they were so expensive and nobody wanted to buy them. By that time they'd already built around 50 and had several more lined up for assembly, so they ended up making a total of 69. GM ended up shipping the remaining cars to other dealers around the country so they wouldn't all have to be sold by the dealer who originally ordered them. If not for that guy, there likely wouldn't have ever been any Camaros built with the ZL1 engines.
Live wire is correct in explaining why so many more Camaros got this engine. It was all about the Drag racing effort at the time. Weight reduction is HUGE and the guys who were racing in the near "stock" Drag racing wanted this motor that GM was building already for pure race road racing cars without limits. To get this into drag racing at least 50 cars needed to be built for the street. That is indeed why 69 Camaros in 1969 were built. This engine was NEVER requested for the Corvette by anyone in racing. How-ever, Chevrolet knew that their Halo car should at least have the option available anyway. So the ZL1 motor made it's way onto the list of options. Why so few sold vs many more Camaros? Again it comes back to PURPOSE BUILT Camaros vs no good reason to order a Corvette this way. GM internal rules, back in the day, on option pricing explains a lot. GM required that no option be sold at a loss. As result of this the ZL1 engine had an astronomically high price tag attached to it of just north of $4,000. A crazy high figure in a Camaro that in base trim cost a less than the motor itself. Even in a Corvette this was kinda NUTS.....a $6,000 car lept to over $10,000 if you ordered a ZL1 . Tough pill to swallow for a 100-150pds off the nose of the car. In full out racing efforts there is probably a discernable advantage in the ZL1 vs the more pedestrian priced L88 option but in a street car or at the drag strip in the hands of a less than all out effort mere mortal drivers won't find it. In that thought alone......you get an explanation of why only 3 Corvettes ever got this motor. It was just so expensive and unlike the Camaro drag race teams nobody was actually asking for it in the Corvette at the time.
In 1969 I seen a 427 ZL1 Nova new for sale built by Dick Harrell. In a Chevrolet showroom.
I always heard a GM executive had the two vettes built for his use, play with, kind-of a company use car.
My dad had 3 of these🤔
Wow !!!
ZL1 69 Vette.
63 Split Window Fuel injected.
67 427 Tri Power .
My Favorite 3.
Bill, I think Roger sold most of his collection but I'm pretty sure he still has the ZL1 and probably the L88's. Here is a link to their website.
www.rogerscorvette.com/collection.htm
I saw one of these 1969 ZL1 Stingrays on display at a either a Barret Jackson or SEMA show in Las Vegas once. There was a 1971 LS6 454 Stingray next to it also. I remember Don Prudhomme being close by the display of these cars signing autographs next to one of his old car haulers and the Yellow Hot Wheels Funny car.
LS-6 by 71 was emasculated with emissions, Car Craft magazine BLEW UP their 71 LS-6 Vette and the L-88 was far faster as it had a 850 Holley "double pumper" and in my experiences the 427 is a far better running motor. Same for Can-Am motors when the aluminum 511 cu/in Reynolds ZL-1 was put into Bruce McClarens Can-Am car @ Riverside for testing Bruce prefered the "short stroke" 430 cu/in ZL-1 motor...Not a 427 though as it was a larger bore and sorter stroke than a 427 motor. Sometimes "Bigger isn't always better".
I prefer the 3.85 million-dollar red 1967 L88 that has the record price.....that one is so sweet
i googled this and found $3.2, 3.5, 3.8 million. I also remember the day this happened, and called my Friend to tell him. Steve has a 67 coupe l 88.1 owner 22000 miles so he would be interested in this.
@@phibber 3.85 million
My bad.
It's the only red-on-red 1967 L88.
It's also an award winner with the highest amount of points you can get ...it's literally perfect.
Thank You, something I have wondered about for many years. Not that I could afford it. LOL
That cameraman is making me dizzy!
When I was a kid my neighbor across the street had one
My Dad had the other ZL1 69 in Dorr MI. He passed in 2005. It was sold in 2011 in Grand Rapids MI. Not sure who to.
Total Monster. Put modern drag slicks or even shaved tread sticky tires and a good driver and this car would run 10 second ¼ mile times all day long 😂
look at horse power depot - stingray people.
I saw the other ZL-1 in the flesh when I was a kid back in the 70's at an autocross, the owner lives in my area. As far as I know it is still in the possession of the original owner.
There is a 1 of 1 Corvette, and considering Zorra Dintov was the brains and designer of the very first and only for decades mid engine drivable prototype, and being considered back then. That 1 just might be the most valuable Corvette ever, and still. Is an awesome car, even by today's standards and appealing design.
Where is it?
I was wondering about some intel on a particular Corvette, not too sure on the year, 69 thru 76, as they pretty much look the same to me. It had the T bar sunroof and the chrome luggage rack on the back. My question is, could you get it with the Gold metal flake on brown from the factor? My old man had a 69 Beaumont with Gold flake on Brown and was wondering if these colors were stock from the factory? The Vet use to park on the next block when I was in grade 3 in 1976, thought it was the coolest looking car I had ever seen, I am trying to remember as much detail as I can. rally hub caps, any intel would be great thanks.
you can look up the GM paint codes for the various years of corvettes and narrow it down pretty close.
@@MrChevelle83 already have, thanks
Lore has it that one of these two
Corvetts was shipped to Penske Chevrolet at 49th & Chestnut street in Philadelphia PA. By lore I mean that someone known by me purchased new a 1969 ZL1 Camaro from this Chevrolet Dealer. This car had a $4,200 engine option. And was running on 6 or 7 cylinders by the time he got it home. He described the car as having pea shooter exhaust pipes and dog dish hub caps. He
stated it loaded up on the way home. This guy was a bracket/sportsman drag racer. I don’t think the car was ever campaigned in super stock which back then was an eliminator class. It’s an interesting story and I only saw pictures of the car. Dark green metallic with a black interior. It was prohibitively expensive and probably beyond Cadillac money. He stated the paperwork included catalogs and/or manuals from
Chevrolet racing division in Warren
Michigan and that from a warranty standpoint Chevrolet supported these cars.
Makes sense. David Judski told me the price of these cars were over $10K in 1969 making them more expensive than any Cadillac. And who would want it? Loud, hot, and virtually undriveable.
😊😊
This Corvette is best Corvette because RARE! RARE! RARE!
I've never been able to film a Grand Sport. I'd like to find one of those.
Sweet! I’m assuming it’s unrestored, (including paint) and the 300+ miles showing is original, (yes, I was zooming in on the Odometer;-)?
It was restored in the late 70's or early 80's, I remember reading a big story on it in a Corvette magazine in 1982.
You need to talk a bit less. The ZL1 Vette was Much more than the L88. It had its own set of heads, intake, Cam and block. It's NOT simply an L88 with an aluminum block.
The ZL1 in the VETTE was rated at 580 SAE gross HP. With 4:56.1 rear gears and slicks, the ZL1 ran 10.50s in the qtr at 132mph.
thanks for the update.
@@phibber it's a 54 year old fact, not an update.
It was not rated at 580. It was rated at 430.
@@davesober2093 ...the iron block L88 was rated at 430
@@bobdavis3357 ZL1 was absolutely an L88 with an aluminum block. Initially, it also had a different cam, but other than the cam and block they were were the same. The heads were not different, nor was the intake and carb.
The 2nd design L88, if I recall, also had the same cam.
L88 actually made more power, due to the iron block sealing better.
But the only differences initially were the aluminum block and cam, and then with the 2nd design L88 the only difference was the block. Both used the same 074 aluminum heads.
And it was never rated at any 580hp, nor would it make that much even with headers. They'd do 540-550-ish with headers on a dyno, which was very strong. The motor in the Vette in this video dyno'd in the 540's, and that was with headers. Which is about exactly what it should make.
I have a drag test of one of the ZL1 Vettes in a 1969 issue of Motor Trend.
Awesome,
The white one is heavily featured in the [American Muscle: Muscle Cars from the Otis Chandler collection] coffee table book from the 1990's.
I have a big suit case full of IOU's.🤣
Aren't there three documented 1969 ZL-1 Vettes now? The yellow Judski car, the red automatic car originally owned by drag racer John Maher and the white car currently owned by Kevin Suydam (formerly of the Otis Chandler collection)?
Both the white/black coupe and the orange convertible are contenders for being the "other" ZL1... but neither have been confirmed because the owners refuse to have the cars inspected by experts, although the orange one does have a more convincing story. Just my opinion, but I think they're afraid of being told their car isn't the real deal. I've pointed out before (in other places) that this yellow car was a special build not ordered through a dealer, but commissioned by a Chevy executive, and therefore it may not be one of the two ZL1s on the official factory production list. If that's the case, it could be that both the white/black coupe AND the orange conv. are authentic ZL1 Corvettes...
I just saw the other one go across the block at Mecum. Beautiful car.
A coworker had this exact car. I know he paid over 10 grand for it, but it needed a lot of work. He drove it one day a week and to the local drag races. At the time the engine was not set up for its maximum power. This coworker was a bit unusual as he didn't come talk to you, he stood next to a persons desk and rocked back and forth until you said something and then asked him what was up. Then he would talk to you about what was ever on his mind. One day he stood next my desk, rocking back and forth with a huge grin on his face. He just got the Corvette out of the shop, paying another 10 grand. He then found out what was missing in the engine and now it scared him to death to drive it. It went from about 300 horsepower that he had been driving to over 500 horsepower. He then had it painted in the original Daytona Orange he said was the original color, and then a short time sold it for an undiscolsed, grinning ear to ear amount.
That's a great story, Joe. Thanks for sharing.
I remember these cars, they had so much more power than the factory specs of 585hp.
It was more like 850hp.
Plus it only weighed 1400kg according to the official specs which was exaggerated too.
When actually weighed, it came in at 1335kg.
It could do the 1/4 mile in 11sec flat.
Everyone goes on about the Shelby GT500 & I agree they are good looking, but the ZL1 was the true performance gun in the 60s.
Nothing could match it's power to weight.
Top speed too, it was claimed at 193mph but it was actually over 200mph.
True, but most people didn't knew they existed in order to buy one. Even then, who would want one when the gas milage was maybe 8mpg, NO AC, NO radio, and drove like a stage coach.
@@MuscleCarMadnessGarage
This was the 60s era, why would all cars have A/C?
They only had radio's.
Drove like a "stage coach", what do you mean?
It was pretty much a racing car converted to production, why do you think it drove like a stage coach?
It only used that amount of fuel if you drove it hard.
@@brantleyfoster021 Many cars had AC back in those days. This engine bay didn't have room for the compressor. A stagecoach was a stiff, rough ride unlike a Cadillac, which was like riding on a cloud (smooth). It was a race car and thus drank fuel. If you didn't drive it hard, Jutski told me it wouldn't idle properly.
@@MuscleCarMadnessGarage
Only half the cars being sold came with A/C back then.
It wasn't uncommon not to have A/C.
You can't drive it hard under all conditions.
You are clueless.
Actually, it's one of three ZL1 Corvettes built. 2 with T-Tops and one ragtop.
Wrong
@@chalemi Don't just tell someone they're wrong without explanation. There are two other cars that are claimed to be regular production ZL1s, but neither have enough (or have ever shown enough) documentation to prove it. My opinion is that those two cars actually are the two regular production ZL1s and this yellow one wasn't on that year end tally that showed "2 ZL1s" were built, because it was a special order from a GM executive, the head engineer at the Corvette assembly plant. I don't think this yellow one should be considered one of the two regular production ZL1s because it was built with a heater and radio, which were supposed to be mandatory deletions with the ZL1 package. Therefore, this yellow one should be considered a "1 of 1" special production car... potentially making it even more valuable.
@@livewire2759 2
@@thud9797 true, don't know why 3 showed up, must have been a typo that I didn't proofread before sending. One yellow coupe, and one orange rag top
Awesome 😎👍
They built two of those. Rare of course but there is the rarest of the rare. In 1977 Chevrolet built only ONE Corvette in just ONE color. EVER. Chartreuse. It might not be a fire-breather like those ZL-1s but it simply is a 1-of-1. Finding it is another matter. It's probably just as rare as the only 1983 in existence.....number 43.
Just drive the damn thing. Ohhhhhhhhhh nooooooo sacrilege!!!
Outstanding!
I'll take it.
yes but does it have a alloy m22 muncie gearbox ! = or automatic !
Ronnie, I'm not sure but I think David said it had some sort of 4-Speed but I'm not sure.
from my past knowledge the high rpm big and small blocks only had the muncie m22 4 speed due to they could tolerate the torque and rpm of the engines. the autos at that time could not handle the power (i cant site any sources tho)
@@MrChevelle83 The 2nd ZL1 sold in January and it was raced a lot and it was the M40 option a automatic transmission.
@@ZR2plowboy I stand corrected, Thanks.
@@MuscleCarMadnessGarage - sure they put a top quality m22 rock crusher in it - alloy = DREAM.
My 1987 Yugo with the factory Hemi is rarer than this tub
Your pink Cadillac is even rarer. Especially with the vibrating seat.
This one was purchased thru a Richmond Va. Chevy dealer and at some point the engine was pulled and put in owners drag boat. Later ZIP Corvette Parts got the Vette . That might be where the Feds found it.
Pretty sure it was the drag boat racer. As he went to jail/prison on drug charges. Early 80's I believe. My dad's drag boat motor was built by the same person who built the ZL 1.
I wonder how GM came to the conclusion on Yellow for the color for one of these 2 built?
It was ordered that way.
GM didn't choose the colour, the customer did.
It was a special order by the assembly plant manager/head engineer. He had it special built with all the bells and whistles and a bright, shiny color to attract attention, since he wanted the car displayed outside the plant.
@@aaronvector4750 Technically, the "customer" was a GM executive... so it sort of was GM that chose it! LOL
The car was owned by GM for the first year or so, before it was sold to a dealer.
Too bad it’s yellow.
Makes my Z06 seem like a bargain.
We cant hear it or is it too rare valuable omg to do so?
Guarantee if this was mine Id put a fan shroud on it and sneak it out here and there .
these cars had the same problems as any big cammed big carburated race car. they were calibrated to race at high rpm not lug around town. yes 8mpg of course to not be lean or weak at 6000rpm you could easily detune the engine down a bit to cruise with a cam swap and a jet change. the low production numbers along with nearly no demand kept the price far out of reach for the average buyer. just my opinion based on what ive learned about these low production special order cars. the big 3 made such cool awesome special order and production cars back in the days. we can only dream of the simplicity of these machines now days.
Agreed. Who would want one in 1969? Fred Gibbs could not sell those 1969 ZL1 Camaros either.
The 1983 is pretty rare it’s only 1 of 1
I thought the same thing. That’s why it’s in a museum and not someone’s private collection.
@@thud9797 it’s 1 of 1…
@@thud9797 there is one 83 left in existence…so that’s not rare? If I had the only 87 in existence that wouldn’t make it rare…the key word in what you said is WERE…now there is only 1 left in existence that makes it rare
Sad only 2 Vettes with that engine. But how many Copo Camaro's.
Agree but the camaro is just that a camaro. Nothing special 😮
What about the 1983 C4 Corvette which was 1 of 1
If this is number 1 of 2 the rarest 1969 ZL1 corvettes ever built where is the 2nd one?
There are actually two other "contenders" that both claim to be "the other ZL1"....
One is an orange convertible with an automatic trans that was ordered from Yenko Chevrolet (yes, THAT Yenko) in PA. It's still owned by the original owner who claims to still have the original engine and paperwork to certify it, but for some reason he hasn't bothered to "prove" that it's a regular production ZL1 to either the NCRS or Bloomington. Therefore, a lot of people claim that it's an L88 car that he put a ZL1 engine into, even though there is official GM/Chevrolet documentation that lines up very well with this car, indicating that it was likely the first ZL1 built in Dec. '68.
The other is a white coupe with a four speed owned by a collector in Seattle. That car has been through multiple owners, but the current one has traced the car back to its original owner, who "confirmed" through a phone call and a letter that he ordered the car from a dealer in Utah. All of the documentation on that car has been lost (window sticker, tank sticker/build sheet, and dealer/order documents) but the current owner still claims, that because the original owner (who works for the IRS) wrote his statement on his official IRS letterhead, that is good enough to authenticate it. He has had the car judged by Bloomington (I think), and he claims that they did authenticate it, but like the owner of the other car, he hasn't shown any proof to the public so people are skeptical of that car as well.
My opinion is that both of these cars are authentic, both built with the ZL1 package at the factory and ordered with it from dealerships. I believe that these two, the orange one and the white one are the two that the GM documents show were built as REGULAR production ZL1 cars, and this yellow one, which is also a 100% authentic factory built ZL1, wasn't counted on that list of REGULAR production cars because it wasn't ordered from a dealer It was a special build commissioned by a Chevrolet executive, the head engineer at the assembly plant... which is why it was built with a radio and heater, two options that were supposed to be mandatorily deleted with the ZL1 package, and therefore it is NOT a "REGULAR PRODUCTION" car. That's why I think it wasn't tallied at the end of production along with the other two REGULAR production cars. If that's the case, the "2 of 2" production ZL1s are the white and orange ones, and this yellow one should be considered a "1 of 1" special ZL1 and therefore even more rare than the other two.
Nice but todays ZR1 will have it for breakfast
oh no it wont.....they arent even in the same restaurant
@ssnerd583 great comment and true.
Actually 3, one red, one white, one yellow
I wonder if the original owner was Sammy Davis Jr. He had an agreement with GM that he would get the first Corvette each year. I know he had a huge tax debt with the IRS and many of his cars were auctioned off. He died in 1990, so the timeline is the same.
If it was they would have papers saying that which in turn would up the value even more. Just saying.
Rarest was 1983 that sits in the museum
Yeah, but it's a cross fire injection, 200 hp POS... I'll take a 500+ hp stingray over that any day.
Is the other one orange by chance ?
I believe so. It was sold recently at auction for over 2 million dollars.
Great car to high $$$ 300,000.00 purchase price GOVERNMENT AUCTION no sentimental reason for crazy numbers just greed. 5-7,000,000.00 no way!!!
2.5 MAX MAYBE?
This is one of three not two.
This one, the white one and the orange convertible.
Does anyone have any info on the other ZL1? It's seems to hidden away more so than this one.
There are actually two other "contenders" that both claim to be "the other ZL1"....
One is an orange convertible with an automatic trans that was ordered from Yenko Chevrolet (yes, THAT Yenko) in PA. It's still owned by the original owner who claims to still have the original engine and paperwork to certify it, but for some reason he hasn't bothered to "prove" that it's a regular production ZL1 to either the NCRS or Bloomington. Therefore, a lot of people claim that it's an L88 car that he put a ZL1 engine into, even though there is official GM/Chevrolet documentation that lines up very well with this car, indicating that it was likely the first ZL1 built in Dec. '68.
The other is a white coupe with a four speed owned by a collector in Seattle. That car has been through multiple owners, but the current one has traced the car back to its original owner, who "confirmed" through a phone call and a letter that he ordered the car from a dealer in Utah. All of the documentation on that car has been lost (window sticker, tank sticker/build sheet, and dealer/order documents) but the current owner still claims, that because the original owner (who works for the IRS) wrote his statement on his official IRS letterhead, that is good enough to authenticate it. He has had the car judged by Bloomington (I think), and he claims that they did authenticate it, but like the owner of the other car, he hasn't shown any proof to the public so people are skeptical of that car as well.
My opinion is that both of these cars are authentic, both built with the ZL1 package at the factory and ordered with it from dealerships. I believe that these two, the orange one and the white one are the two that the GM documents show were built as REGULAR production ZL1 cars, and this yellow one, which is also a 100% authentic factory built ZL1, wasn't counted on that list of REGULAR production cars because it wasn't ordered from a dealer It was a special build commissioned by a Chevrolet executive, the head engineer at the assembly plant... which is why it was built with a radio and heater, two options that were supposed to be mandatorily deleted with the ZL1 package, and therefore it is NOT a "REGULAR PRODUCTION" car. That's why I think it wasn't tallied at the end of production along with the other two REGULAR production cars. If that's the case, the "2 of 2" production ZL1s are the white and orange ones, and this yellow one should be considered a "1 of 1" special ZL1 and therefore even more rare than the other two.
@@livewire2759 orange ZL-1 will be going for sale at Sotheby's auction in Phoenix this month, expected to be the most expensive corvette ever sold
@@thud9797 Yes, someone else already corrected me on that point... but the L88s and ZL1s still didn't have radios... except for this yellow one.
Also keep in mind that the motor had to have some serious and not normal repairs done to keep original motor and put back in this car. Some of those repairs hurt value, and questions of " how original " after those very unusual repairs that HAD to be made, especially to the block. Just sayin
RT. All I can report is what was told to me. According to Roger, the white car was not a real ZL1. In the end, these cars are not accessible to many people. Roger has owned it for decades buying it for 300K. I say it was fun to see it, record it and talk to his son about it. Other than that, It's more fun to drive a muscle car on the street than to look at a unicorn sitting in a showroom for over 30 years. Don't you agree?
@MuscleCarMadnessGarage I agree on the driving, and appreciate that you were going by what someone told you. This car was in a corvette magazine, and they talked with the original owner of this car. My magazines are packed up for moving, not sure which box it is in. I will try to let you know what magazine and was late 70's or early 80's publication. I brought up fact checking, because cars like this go for millions of dollars, and misinformation can greatly effect value/price. I agree on everything else you said though.
Gotta say No to the gloves. It ain't surgery.
I am late to this one. but there I follow corvettes and I know of 4 ZL1 corvettes. the yellow one, a white one, an orange one and a blue one that is not documented. the White, yellow and bule cars all have the same black stripe that goes across the nose and down the tops of the fenders, the orange one does not. supposedly the orange one was the first off, the line and did not receive the stripes. I suspect there may be a few more out there. I suspect that there were 5 vetted altogether. this is GM we are talking about. ran buy bean counter for bean counters. is they built 69 Camaros and 4 corvettes. that adds up to just 73 engines. what bean counter orders 73 of anything. I suspect there may be 2 more corvettes out there. it is more like a bean counter to order the stuff to build 75 engines vs the stuff to build 73 engines. you get price savings at volume. it why GM saved .07 on a ignition lock spring rather than fix a design flaw. because that 7 cents springs saved the company 10s of millions of dollars when you amortize the cost over every car produce for about 15 years. for those reasons alone i think there may be 2 more unknow ZL1 corvettes out there.
Shad, You could be right. There are a lot of conspiracy theories cornering the ZL1 that include this car. Did you hear where Roger purchased it from?
Iconic Corvette for sure, but is NOT the fastest Corvette ever made as the placard states, the C6 ZR1 & the C7 Z06 & ZR1 would be faster
Remember the video is old (2006), not a real Corvetts guy but was this before the the C6 and C7 were even in production?
That placard was made in the 90s, so that was a very true statement at the time... and the fact that it took Chevy over 40 years to make a faster Corvette shows that this car definitely deserved that title.
Like those vettes, by the 69 427 is the best of them all
Maybe 4-5 million.
No closed caption???
I just edited this video for you and added CC.
@@MuscleCarMadnessGarage Thank ya Sir, you rock!
I still don’t 100% understand why, but after researching all the US muscle cars, discovering some incredibly rare beasts, seeing some in the flesh… I hear ZL1 Vette, Aluminium 427.., I have a half chubby… I’m thinking my body knows best!
I had a 1973 Davrian MK 5 . THAT was one of the rarest cars ever
ZL-1 cam is .600/.600 bigger than the L-88 is .560/.600…
I believe you.
The L88s used 3 different cams in the 3 years they were produced. I don't remember the exact specs of each, but the '67s were the "smallest", at around .560/.580... the early '68s were increased to around .560/.590 or .580/.590, and late production '68s and all '69s, I'm pretty sure were .580/.600 but they may have been .600/.600... either way, the '69 L88s and the ZL1s used the same cams. Also in '69 the head castings changed to use open chambers just like the L89 heads, and both the L88s and ZL1s used those open chamber heads. The '69 L88s and the ZL1s were essentially identical, the only difference being the blocks...
@@livewire2759 Back in the seventies I sold parts for Chevrolet and Motion performance. I purchased three L88 short blocks from Amityville Chevy all had the 1969 .560/.600 cam in it! I know this because I still have all three cams. We used rollers then. The other big block cams were the .560/.560 and the tri-power .540/.560… My 1971 LS6 had the .560/.600 cam and Aluminum heads… 8 pistons and a ZL-1 cam and you have your ultimate LS7…
Believe the other one is blue outer NJ area
Maco shark?
Prototype... not a production model... wasn't built on the factory line, has no VIN, etc...
560 hp. Minus 30% through the transmission = 307 hp. to the wheels LMAO 🤣
@Thud979 every drag racer knows you lose 30% from crank to the tires. You put down the meth pipe and learn about racing. Let me guess you drive a Rustang and tell everyone it's making 500hp when it's only 330 hp. LMAO 🤣 I run a dyno I understand the laws of physics. Ask anyone dumb fuck.
Rated from the factory at 430.
@@davesober2093 LMAO 🤣
@@justdust7964 You aren't bright.
@Dave Sober every drag racers knows the Horsepower is 30% difference from crank to actual dyno. My twin turbo steve Morris engine made 2400 hp on the engine dyno when we put it in the car on a tire dyno it made 1900 Horsepower which is 20% because it was a 2 speed transmission. Just go back to your little 300 hp Rustang. Don't have time for your nonsense. You definitely got an award today for the dumbest car guy on the internet. Congratulations dipshit
Not the "RAREST CAR IN THE WORLD", but close.
Rarest Corvette, not car.
@@MuscleCarMadnessGarageThank you.
Your information is not correct, there were MORE than two cars produced because the 2 examples you are talking about are the yellow one you are looking at, the white one that is in another collection and neither of those two is the Blue with white stripe car that was driven by Duntov and in which he spoke about in an article for Hot Rod magazine…
Yes, there were test mules (they don't really count) and a red automatic bought by a drag racer named John Maher
How in the heck ??? Do you get 3rd rarest car from a 1 of 2 ?
Because there is a 1 and 2!
@@MuscleCarMadnessGarage so it’s #3 rarest ? Guessing that there’s a 1 of 1 that isn’t a concept car . Great video . I was aware of the ZL -1 corvette but had no idea there was only 2 made 👍🏼
Well, you are right in that there was a prototype Shelby that I named 2nd Rarest car. It is a fascinating story. Here is the link. ua-cam.com/video/itK7TMEv9-A/v-deo.html. Then the Rarest Production Muscle Car ever built was the 1968 Z/28 Convertible. Since it came down a production line, the previous owner claimed it was a production car. But that is debatable. Here is that link. ua-cam.com/video/leilxEyW6SI/v-deo.html. There was however, a very rare car I could not find and that was a 1970 Hemi Road Runner Convertible.
What about the even rarer 1977 Chartreuse? Only one was ordered with that colour.
What is number 1 and 2 rarest muscle car??
I think it was the 1968 Z/28 Convertible and the 2nd was 1967 Shelby GT500EXP Convertible (I think). I'll put those link below. ua-cam.com/video/leilxEyW6SI/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/ZpgwxuhBZC4/v-deo.html
Wont happen at 5mil.
Ho-hum. Today all-aluminum engines are quite commonplace. How far we've come!
Better looking than the one in your Walmart parking lot.
Lost me at aluminum block
Wasn't it an all aluminum engine like the L88?
Actually, it is 1 of 3, not 1 of 2. Please keep facts correct
Here is the number for Roger's Corvette and the link to that ZL1 page. I'm sure they would appreciate you keeping them straight. www.rogerscorvette.com/inv/special/69ZL1/index.htm 407-628-8300. Also here is a Haggerty article about the 1 of 2 Corvette. www.hagerty.com/media/news/this-one-of-two-1969-zl1-is-the-holy-grail-of-corvettes-could-sell-for-3m/. Here is their number. 888-216-2903. They got it wrong too.
@@MuscleCarMadnessGarage😅
Thanks for setting these people or things straight.
The first 2 either L-88 or ZL-1 engines disappeared between the engine room and the dyno room. This is according to publication from the 60's to mid 70's.
Corvette and GM stated 3 ZL-1's were produced , so you have your sources and I have mine including GM.
Bull shit on the price of that Vet😅
Camera man needs to take some downers!! Made me dizzy just watching it!
That was raw footage.
I'm not buying it.
Ugly stripe package.
my oh my that is one Ugly car
You have bad taste.
Ehh. Just an old Chevy. If you pay $5million for that you have more money than brains. For one million you could own a whole stable of hemis, 440 six pack rt coronets, a super bird, a few 428 cobra jet mustangs, even a Gnx Buick for $80k. That vette is worth 200,000 tops.
Wouldn't spend anything on a stable of Mopar trash!
The only people who can determine the value of a unique car like this is the current owner and a potential buyer. The closest we can come to an estimation is to look at the '67 Corvette L88s, which recently have been selling between 2.5 million and 3.5 million dollars. Therefore, I'd say 4 million is a reasonable guess, however, if you walked in to Roger's Corvette Center with 5 million dollars cash, he probably still wouldn't sell the car. If he refused an offer like that, you could say that this car is actually priceless.
Is it for sale? How much? Can I see it?
Doubtful. But I can show you where it is. www.rogerscorvette.com/inv/special/69ZL1/index.htm
I got a 427 NovaSs 69 1 of 17 in CANADA
Hard to find car.