What a score! You're now steward's of a genuine piece of history...I appreciate how you said... "We are drag racers,not restorers". Very humble. It's one thing to treat an item as it was intended.It's another when it becomes an irreplacable piece of history(That's what clones are for).Enjoy your time with that L-88,I'm very envious...
Back in the 80s I worked at a Chevy Dealer in Westfield NJ. I befriended a customer (Jeff Smith) who was restoring a '69 L88/M40 Corvette. It was an amazing experience to see him resurrect the car. I was there when he fitted the body back onto the chassis and remember when it was done the car was virtually undriveable as a street car. The fact the original owner bought this to use as a family car is absolutely wild.
Kevin is actually a good friend of mine since the late 80's. Our paths crossed when he was an engineer at Ford and I worked for a supplier company. I know that car has been an obsession of his pretty much forever and it breaks my heart he was never able to return it to the state I know he wanted it to be in. Thankfully, it looks like he found the perfect caretaker to return it to its former glory. I'm sure you'll respect the history of the car and make Kevin proud.
I have been watching your videos almost from the beginning, and this one is by far my favorite one because of the history and knowledge of that gentleman that sold you this amazing Corvette I love watching pure stock drag racing, but when you have such a special car and previous owner has all that knowledge about the car to me. It is priceless. I would try to go for the Duntov award with this amazing car. Can’t wait to see upcoming videos of the restoration
This car was my father’s favorite thing he owned as far as I know. If he wouldn’t have gotten cancer I doubt he would have ever sold it. God I miss him.
Awesome video! Kevin is definitely a wealth of knowledge, I know you and your dad soaked up a lot of information that day. Thanks for documenting and sharing it with us.
Love these kind of stories can't wait to see the progress restoring my 69 convertible SS 396 4-speed Factory air Chevelle right now I've owned it since 1984
FANTASTIC! Thanks for sharing such a rare find and experience. Look forward to seeing the progress of the restoration and of course the finished product.
Beyond scoring the car, it’s pretty wild the amount coding / history that’s documented with it. Then the icing on the cake being the Chevrolet blue prints. This is a “holy grail” level find… Be careful if y’all “farm it out”. I can imagine someone harvesting it, and destroying the integrity of it. Thanks for sharing!
Wow! My first time watching your videos. Ken is an amazing guy with his knowledge and I really like his car that you just bought. Looking forward to seeing it restored. Thanks for sharing.
This was a rare barn find car - they actually found a barn under the car - it was built in the high Columbia forests and covered with coffee beans - it had a rare V-3 electric oil burning motor - very rare
That's a badass find and you got a lot of history on that one. Love the channel keep up the good work. You deserve every bit of information and tid bits you can get. Love the videos.
wow. amazing. Would have thought that all of these were already a known entity, but somehow something amazing will pop out every so often. definitely a stream-of-consciousness delivery from Kevin, but i guess there's a lot of memories, and a ton of paperwork, from over the last 50 years. what a find! If this was all in one piece, i'd have said to preserve it, but since its already all apart, yea a resto would be the way to go.
Love talking to people like that. I had a question about a 74 Pontiac formula 455 SD. That had the shaker hood. I'm into the Trans Am, by the way.. had a question about a part in the engine bay being correct... I got a 45min seminar on how that part come to being used on the car.
Kind of a shame when your dream car of 40 to 50 years has to go to the next care taker especially when he obviously loves it, hope you can get it done and take him for a ride before he goes. And back to green the Vette goes. Beautiful that he picked your family to take it back to its glory days.
Wow guys, I'm speechless! Well, almost.. Corvettes have been my dream car ever since I could say Corvette, and this one is a rare-as-hens-teeth diamond in the rough! I've always wanted a 68 Vette, cuz that's the year I popped out, and I already mentioned my love for the car. But this one would do nicely, please share more videos of the progress as you, or whoever you tap to do the build, massages it back to its former glory. And if you decide to sell it (which I wouldn't, if I were you), you have my email, I'd definitely be super interested in owning such a fantastic automobile, and she'd be in good hands! Although it's a pretty long line I'd be in, without a doubt... Nicely done y'all! I'm still wiping the drool off my chin after you panned the camera around your shop.. lucky asses!
I love the fact that you race the clone L88s and make them go as fast as they do. But this is an original. It could be a .5 to 1 Million dollar car. The documentation is incredible. Hopefully the original engine is not lost/broken. If you still have the original engine it would make the most sense to make it a perfect restoration. In that case don't race it. If the original engine is lost, and you can't find a near perfect date numbered replacement, then yeah why not race it, and let's see what it can do, with your racing knowledge. It would be very cool to see what a stock looking and all stock internals L88 could do. If you turn it into a 600 cube it's just not the same. It's a real one, it needs to stay 427.
Restore it, take it to the B-J auction and get somewhere NORTH of $500K. Cars like this are PURE GOLD!!! Who says you can't find anything truly rare anymore!!! Congrats!!!
Wow, that's an amazing bit of off the wall rare info from GM. What a lucky mistake that this guy made .... no tri power but not even knowing what a L88 is, yet he found a gem of a car! I don't know but I'd try to restore it to original condition if possible.
Mind saying where you got this car from? City, State? That sure resembles like S.E. Michigan, which is where I am from. You hit the lottery with that car and all that documentation, design prints and all. Wow
You have the right idea, restore it back to as it came from the factory, I have a 69' L89 A/T project myself according to factory records less than 50 built.
Still can't believe this!!!! There's nothing up here in Canada on the west coast even close to finding what you guys have done omg... I mean that car museum restored is worth what... a million plus and then some ?? . I've been for a ride in 5000 mile original 70 hemi Cuda here But geez.. love the channel.. you guys have done a major job in getting a f.a.s.t. car to work.. plus I'm sure it cost a lot of cash lol... I'm just hoping the Mopar guys can step up lol..but I love all cars and all brands.. I've grown up around all of them here in Victoria b.c... penningtons aka.. super family.. have fun snd keep it safe
You should speak to Kevin at corvette repair inc in valley stream ny he's the top corvette restorer in the country. And has worked some of the rarest vettes
The L88 does not appear to have the engine in it. Do you have the original numbers matching engine & transmission that came with the car originally from GM?
Love the bought it for his wife and baby. Sure he did...good ol hot rodders! Nice to see a guy who was there knew the people involved and has true facts not a reproduction build sheet with fake weathering. I didnt know you coiuld buy an L88 for the street they didnt have fan shrouds? TO think you could buy this at any dealer or engine at the parts counter....Id be living in a motorhome just so I Could stockpile these. lol
Sadly, we lost Kevin A. C. Lambert a few weeks ago. He was an automotive legend and such a colorful individual. I suspect, because he knew enough about the future, he passed this car down to you knowing it would be in good hands. RIP Ratbrain...
That 1970 Corvette press car with the 454 engine that he referred to that ran high 10's in 1970 also had slicks, 4:88 gear and open headers..The engine was essentially a LS7 .@@HorsepowerDepot
The L88 power glide I saw 35 yrs ago in Super Chevy magazine had 4:56 gears I have a couple of that mag kickin' around I think not sure that article is in either
1st of all glad u ended up with it 2nd its a shame he was more worried about the story than the car itself! I could tell by listening there was a tie to ford some how lol😂 👍👍👍👍
You mean let it rot in a garage? Mines sat for 3 yrs (not by choice) and its going to need so much work and $ to be roadworthy its not even funny. THey are made to be driven and used
My dad has an all original riverside gold 69’ L88 4 spd manual. 47k miles, bought it new when he worked at Penske. Beautiful car.
What a find this vette is and the knowledge you all received from the owner is worth as much as the car
Holy shit. Holy grail. Didn't know these sort of finds still existed.
What a score! You're now steward's of a genuine piece of history...I appreciate how you said... "We are drag racers,not restorers". Very humble. It's one thing to treat an item as it was intended.It's another when it becomes an irreplacable piece of history(That's what clones are for).Enjoy your time with that L-88,I'm very envious...
That’s really cool Jordan !
Back in the 80s I worked at a Chevy Dealer in Westfield NJ. I befriended a customer (Jeff Smith) who was restoring a '69 L88/M40 Corvette. It was an amazing experience to see him resurrect the car. I was there when he fitted the body back onto the chassis and remember when it was done the car was virtually undriveable as a street car. The fact the original owner bought this to use as a family car is absolutely wild.
Kevin is actually a good friend of mine since the late 80's. Our paths crossed when he was an engineer at Ford and I worked for a supplier company. I know that car has been an obsession of his pretty much forever and it breaks my heart he was never able to return it to the state I know he wanted it to be in. Thankfully, it looks like he found the perfect caretaker to return it to its former glory. I'm sure you'll respect the history of the car and make Kevin proud.
I have been watching your videos almost from the beginning, and this one is by far my favorite one because of the history and knowledge of that gentleman that sold you this amazing Corvette I love watching pure stock drag racing, but when you have such a special car and previous owner has all that knowledge about the car to me. It is priceless. I would try to go for the Duntov award with this amazing car. Can’t wait to see upcoming videos of the restoration
Absolutely agree!
This car was my father’s favorite thing he owned as far as I know. If he wouldn’t have gotten cancer I doubt he would have ever sold it. God I miss him.
All I can say is, WoW !!!!! Thank you for all the information Super Great Job !!!!
'Ol boy can taaaaalk! Good stuff :)
Awesome video! Kevin is definitely a wealth of knowledge, I know you and your dad soaked up a lot of information that day. Thanks for documenting and sharing it with us.
Thank you for being stewards of that fantastic piece of history. Can’t wait to see the finished car.
Video of the week so far. Awesome
Thank you!
You folks and the previous owner are plain awesome, keep it up and original
Excellent, you obviously know the right answer to this specific Chevrolet Corvette.. to properly get it renovated to new condition, cool ! 😎 🏎️ Thanks
What an opportunity to take care of the car that made history...well done, indeed.
What a gem. Big thanks for deciding to share this wealth of history with the rest of us!!!
Absolutely incredible, I cannot wait to see that in person
so cool the car surfaced and had the best caretaker all these years, WOW!
Wow Kevin is a book of knowledge. Nice you had him pointing details out on video. I know you guys will do this car proud!
Love these kind of stories can't wait to see the progress restoring my 69 convertible SS 396 4-speed Factory air Chevelle right now I've owned it since 1984
What a sensational video! It’s hard to believe these cars are still out there!
Nice car, and to have all that history is amazing. Any pics of the heart of the beast?
Awesome! Thx for sharing. So cool to hear all of that technical info. I'd love to see more.
What a great historical history on a soon to be a beautiful original L88 restoration. ❤ it. Go Hard 👍🏻😎🇺🇸🏁🤘🙏🏻👻
FANTASTIC! Thanks for sharing such a rare find and experience. Look forward to seeing the progress of the restoration and of course the finished product.
Beyond scoring the car, it’s pretty wild the amount coding / history that’s documented with it. Then the icing on the cake being the Chevrolet blue prints.
This is a “holy grail” level find…
Be careful if y’all “farm it out”. I can imagine someone harvesting it, and destroying the integrity of it.
Thanks for sharing!
If their goal is to bring it to NCRS standards I'm guessing they'll chose a well known reputable shop.
Very awesome, I love the history of vehicles like this.
What great records, memories and details!
Great video an history of the L88. So cool to just be a listener sometimes.
Hell of a find. Hopefully you guys will fly Kevin out when the car is up and running again. Would love to hear him talk more about the L88.
This is such a cold story that the car came!!!!
Thank You for sharing
The car found the right home.
Not a fan of NCRS guys, obviously the owner of the car wasn't either. 👍
Super cool, thanks for the video, please update us as you restore !
Wow! My first time watching your videos. Ken is an amazing guy with his knowledge and I really like his car that you just bought. Looking forward to seeing it restored. Thanks for sharing.
This was a rare barn find car - they actually found a barn under the car - it was built in the high Columbia forests and covered with coffee beans - it had a rare V-3 electric oil burning motor - very rare
Thanks for making this video.
INCREDIBLE... including the infoirmaiton....
I would love copies holy crap that is awesome.Especially the open chamber information.
What a find I'm sure it will be done right when yall finish with it
That's a badass find and you got a lot of history on that one. Love the channel keep up the good work. You deserve every bit of information and tid bits you can get. Love the videos.
wow. amazing. Would have thought that all of these were already a known entity, but somehow something amazing will pop out every so often. definitely a stream-of-consciousness delivery from Kevin, but i guess there's a lot of memories, and a ton of paperwork, from over the last 50 years. what a find! If this was all in one piece, i'd have said to preserve it, but since its already all apart, yea a resto would be the way to go.
Awesome episode : ) What a find.
Very cool! Thanks for sharing!!
That's ridiculously awesome
Wow and congratulations on such a cool find. Keep the vids coming on this beast.
Really amazing find!!
Love talking to people like that. I had a question about a 74 Pontiac formula 455 SD. That had the shaker hood. I'm into the Trans Am, by the way.. had a question about a part in the engine bay being correct... I got a 45min seminar on how that part come to being used on the car.
Talk about a ton of information! I could listen to that guy for a few hours. Nice grab!
Kind of a shame when your dream car of 40 to 50 years has to go to the next care taker especially when he obviously loves it, hope you can get it done and take him for a ride before he goes. And back to green the Vette goes. Beautiful that he picked your family to take it back to its glory days.
Super rare find. Can’t wait to see how it turns out
That's amazing. Congrats u guys.
Very happy for you wow 🎉❤💪😊
Wow guys, I'm speechless! Well, almost.. Corvettes have been my dream car ever since I could say Corvette, and this one is a rare-as-hens-teeth diamond in the rough! I've always wanted a 68 Vette, cuz that's the year I popped out, and I already mentioned my love for the car. But this one would do nicely, please share more videos of the progress as you, or whoever you tap to do the build, massages it back to its former glory. And if you decide to sell it (which I wouldn't, if I were you), you have my email, I'd definitely be super interested in owning such a fantastic automobile, and she'd be in good hands! Although it's a pretty long line I'd be in, without a doubt... Nicely done y'all! I'm still wiping the drool off my chin after you panned the camera around your shop.. lucky asses!
I love the fact that you race the clone L88s and make them go as fast as they do. But this is an original. It could be a .5 to 1 Million dollar car. The documentation is incredible. Hopefully the original engine is not lost/broken. If you still have the original engine it would make the most sense to make it a perfect restoration. In that case don't race it. If the original engine is lost, and you can't find a near perfect date numbered replacement, then yeah why not race it, and let's see what it can do, with your racing knowledge. It would be very cool to see what a stock looking and all stock internals L88 could do. If you turn it into a 600 cube it's just not the same. It's a real one, it needs to stay 427.
I live for this stuff
cant wait till HD starts the RESTO !
Restore it, take it to the B-J auction and get somewhere NORTH of $500K. Cars like this are PURE GOLD!!! Who says you can't find anything truly rare anymore!!! Congrats!!!
Or just keep it instead. I don't think these guys need the money lol.
Hey nice find,,,maybe restore it and run nhra stock eliminator?
Super Score !! 🎯
Wow, that's an amazing bit of off the wall rare info from GM. What a lucky mistake that this guy made .... no tri power but not even knowing what a L88 is, yet he found a gem of a car! I don't know but I'd try to restore it to original condition if possible.
Please don’t make it an non driven trailer queen. Cars like this were meant to be driven. And driven hard.
He definitely knows what he's talking about
I have family in North Tonawanda and Buffalo!
This car needs to do what it wss built for, race it.
The car deserves to be restored and used in pure stock racing if raced
Mind saying where you got this car from? City, State? That sure resembles like S.E. Michigan, which is where I am from. You hit the lottery with that car and all that documentation, design prints and all. Wow
really cool!
You have the right idea, restore it back to as it came from the factory, I have a 69' L89 A/T project myself according to factory records less than 50 built.
Love the L89s got any vids of it? Make sure and pile the miles on dont let it rot like most do
It's only slightly more complete than the L88 shown here @@gordocarbo
The paperwork is worth as much as the car. Paperwork = facts.
This car ain't worth shit. It has been torn apart and thrown aside. I don't believe a word the seller says
Still can't believe this!!!! There's nothing up here in Canada on the west coast even close to finding what you guys have done omg... I mean that car museum restored is worth what... a million plus and then some ?? . I've been for a ride in 5000 mile original 70 hemi Cuda here But geez.. love the channel.. you guys have done a major job in getting a f.a.s.t. car to work.. plus I'm sure it cost a lot of cash lol... I'm just hoping the Mopar guys can step up lol..but I love all cars and all brands.. I've grown up around all of them here in Victoria b.c... penningtons aka.. super family.. have fun snd keep it safe
What a find! Talk about a needle in a haystack!
You should speak to Kevin at corvette repair inc in valley stream ny he's the top corvette restorer in the country. And has worked some of the rarest vettes
awesome home run ❗❗
so does this have the 'original' engine/ trans/ rear? is it a closed chamber head #842?
kevin knows his stuff, very kool inside info, Once you get the L-88 restored, put Kevin behind the wheel and let him feel the powah podnuh, Kool video
Lots of information there
I could sit for hours and listen to that man talk
The L88 does not appear to have the engine in it. Do you have the original numbers matching engine & transmission that came with the car originally from GM?
Love the bought it for his wife and baby. Sure he did...good ol hot rodders!
Nice to see a guy who was there knew the people involved and has true facts not a reproduction build sheet with fake weathering.
I didnt know you coiuld buy an L88 for the street they didnt have fan shrouds?
TO think you could buy this at any dealer or engine at the parts counter....Id be living in a motorhome just so I Could stockpile these. lol
Sadly, we lost Kevin A. C. Lambert a few weeks ago. He was an automotive legend and such a colorful individual. I suspect, because he knew enough about the future, he passed this car down to you knowing it would be in good hands. RIP Ratbrain...
RIP, he was a one of a kind guy, worked with him for many years
Nic jam
Great history!! 🏁🏁
It's nice talking about your L-88 but we'd prefer to see it????
That car must have lived in Michigan all it's life...The dealer name Rinke is well known here in Michigan (also for the COPO Camaro assembly facility)
Yes it has! We know Rich Rinke well.
That 1970 Corvette press car with the 454 engine that he referred to that ran high 10's in 1970 also had slicks, 4:88 gear and open headers..The engine was essentially a LS7 .@@HorsepowerDepot
This guy should make L88 videos, because all that knowledge is gonna be lost.
Damn...why couldn't i have found it!!😢
It found us!
Wow !
Awesome
so does this have the 'original' engine/ trans/ rear? is it a closed chamber head #842?
Yes… but not going to spoil a future episode so shh don’t tell anyone!
Got it. Also interested in L88 cam differences in '67, '68, '69 including ZL1. 👌
Nice !
Which year came with the L88 and power glide with 4.56 rear ?
And have you ever seen the ZR1 OR ZR2 cars from 70-72
Thought you could only get a 4 spd or T400 with that engine?
Know about the ZR-1 what is the ZR2
@@gordocarbo
ZR2 was 454 powered-
LS6s
The L88 power glide I saw 35 yrs ago in Super Chevy magazine had 4:56 gears
I have a couple of that mag kickin' around I think not sure that article is in either
@@gordocarbo 67 had the glide as an option
@@timtaylor6147
Powerglide is small block or hydraulic lifter big blocks only. All solid lifter big blocks (L71/L89/L88) required a 4-speed.
Who on earth would order a 400 plus hp sports car with an automatic transmission 😢
Ever heard of drag racing?
1st of all glad u ended up with it 2nd its a shame he was more worried about the story than the car itself! I could tell by listening there was a tie to ford some how lol😂 👍👍👍👍
This corvette means the world to him.
@@HorsepowerDepot AAAAAAH I believe ur cars mean the world to u but not him or that car wouldnt be in that condition. Hope to see its progress 👍
Is that a yenko stripe?
Would you guys install a 6 link in my 69 vette. Restored by Tony's Corvette in MD.
Should be a CX high shift point th400
How does an 18 yr old afford an L88 corvette ?!
Was that you with the nasty sounding camaro at test n tune at mid michigan sunday?
Rinke Chevy, not far from me! Or at least it was.
Listening is like watching paint dry
I think it should be restored back to factory original.
Race the clones. Save the original !
You mean let it rot in a garage? Mines sat for 3 yrs (not by choice) and its going to need so much work and $ to be roadworthy its not even funny.
THey are made to be driven and used
I’d love to know what you paid.? Anybody have a guess? Higher than 6 digits.?
Hell no. That car can't be worth $75 thousand. It has been seriously neglected and torn apart. A rare automatic. So what
It has 1980 Vette rims on it. What happened to the original Rally rims ? Get some repos.
Have the original ones in a box.
If the aluminum heads are original why is not considered an L89??