1967 Corvette L88 Sells for World’s Record Price at
Barrett-Jackson
By Rick Tavel © 01-18-2014
26:00:00
$3,850,000
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New World's Record Holder 1967 L88 On Block at Barrett-Jackson (Photo: Barrett-Jackson) |
All Corvette enthusiast eyes were on Barrett-Jackson’s
auction extravaganza in Scottsdale Saturday afternoon in expectation of some
record setting prices. If you have been
following my updates on this week’s Barrett-Jackson® auction
extravaganza on Corvette Blogger, you know that their 2014 event has gotten off to a strong start
with attendance up 30% through Thursday and sales exceeding last year by over
8%. Saturday is traditionally when the
best of the best collector cars cross the block and in the late afternoon
within a little over one hour six Corvette lot numbers sold for a combined
total of $8.63M including bidder
fees. These included some of the best
known and important Corvettes. But the
real star of the afternoon was a 1967 second generation L88 coupe we called the
“crown jewel” of Corvettes in an article back in November, one of only twenty
Corvette L88 coupes built that year. Within
a few minutes of the famous “Rebel” racecar selling for $2.86M (including
buyer’s premium)the 1967 L88 red/red award-winning coupe set a new world’s record
for a Corvette sold at auction when it hammered for $3.5M ($3.85M including
buyer’s fees). The bidding quickly rose
to $2M then surpassed the former record price of $3.2M set by another 1967 L88
last September by almost 10%. When the reserve was lifted the car sold setting
a new world’s record Corvette auction record.
The Corvette collector market has been exceptionally strong
throughout 2013 and last September during Mecum’s Dallas event a world’s record
price was set for a Corvette at auction, selling for a hammer price of $3.2M
($3.52 with fees). That car was also a
1967 L88 Corvette from the Buddy Herin collection. It was a Marlboro Maroon convertible. The new world’s record Corvette is a Red on
Red coupe and the only L88 coupe of record to receive the highly coveted Duntov
Mark of Excellence Award. The new record
holder is equipped with the C48 Heater Defrost Delete, F41 Special Front and
Rear Suspension, G81 Positraction Rear Axle, J50 Vacuum Power Brakes, J56
Special Heavy Duty Brakes, K66 Transistor Ignition, L88 427 ci, 430 hp (factory
rating) Engine, and the M22 Heavy Duty, Close Ratio, 4 Speed Transmission. In addition it also has the RPO A85, shoulder
belts and another important feature which sets this L88 apart is the special
order rear end ratio of 4.56:1, the drag racing rear end of choice, while most
other 1967 L88’s came with the 4:11 rear end more suitable to road racing. The car was restored by the renowned Nabers
Brothers of Houston, is fully documented and was represented at the request of
the owner by Roy Sinor, well-known, recently-retired National Corvette
Restorers Society national judging chairman and one of the experts
Barrett-Jackson uses for Corvette consultations.
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Former World's Record Holder 1967 L88 Convertible (Photo:Mecum) |
Obviously the 1967 Corvette L88 is one of the rarest and
most sought after of all Corvettes and has become not only the zenith of
Corvettes but it has been called the American equivalent of the Ferrari 250
GTO, the world’s greatest collector car. Roy Sinor says it the best 1967 L88 in the
world so the record price was no surprise to him. And based on the bidding and new record more
than a few other collectors agreed with him.
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