rated the L88 engine at a paltry 430 HP, it could in fact be tuned to produce approximately 560 HP at its 6,500 RPM redline and 470 lb-ft of torque at 5,200 RPM. In addition to the mighty Mark IV engine, the L88 option could only be had with a lightweight flywheel and heavy-duty clutch, a required M22 “Rock Crusher” 4-speed manual transmission, J50 special heavy-duty power brakes with J56 heavy-duty calipers, F41 suspension, the bullet-proof G81 Positraction rear end, special cross-flow radiator and radio/heater delete; it gave the Corvette almost boundless potential in competition. The L88 instantly established its racing dominance with the Tuxedo Black 1967 convertible offered here, the very first regular-production L88 Corvette built. It was delivered to Hanley Dawson Chevrolet in Detroit, which also supplied the young DeLorenzo with most of the equipment and financial backing necessary to mount a full campaign in SCCA A Production racing. Delivered into the Hanley shops directly from the transporter, the car was immediately prepped to A Production specs and then entered into its first event at Wilmot Hills, Wisconsin, which it won going away. At the next event at Elkhart Lake, the car’s 155 MPH top speed was such a shock to Anthony DeLorenzo Sr., who was watching from the pit straight, that it was two years before he would attend another of his son’s races. That successful first season qualified the car for the SCCA Runoffs at Daytona Beach, where Tony qualified third among a snarling trio of 427 Cobras driven by pole-winner Ed Lowther, Jack Hurt and Dick Smith. Some of Tony’s strongest competitors were eliminated in an early multicar wreck, which he avoided in driving to a second-place finish behind Dick Smith’s Cobra. Tony’s performance at the Daytona Runoffs drew considerable attention, especially after it was reported in the pages of Chevrolet’s quarterly “Corvette News.” Teamed with Chevrolet engineer and accomplished Yenko Stinger Corvair racer Jerry Thompson, who won the 1967 SCCA National D Production Championship, they raced the car successfully through the 1968 season under sponsorship from Hanley-Dawson Chevrolet and then Owens-Corning. After the 1968 season, DeLorenzo sold the L88 to Doug Hooper, who raced the car for several years in B Production. It was subsequently campaigned by a race team in Canada throughout the 1970s with a winning record that culminated in the 1982 Canadian Road Race Championship. During its racing career, the DeLorenzo 1967 L88 received multiple body modifications that were typical for many extensively campaigned Corvette race cars of the period. In approximately 1982, the car was purchased by Wayne Walker of Zip Products in Virginia and he had it expertly restored by Corvette specialists Ken and Gary Naber of Houston, Texas. The quality of the work earned Bloomington Gold certification and multiple NCRS Top Flight awards in 1984, a National NCRS Top Flight award, NCRS Performance Verification, the NCRS Duntov Mark of Excellence award and an invitation to the Bloomington Gold Special Collection in 1985. Walker featured this car on both the front cover and back cover of Zip Product’s mail-order catalog. Steve Hendrickson of Minnesota purchased the L88 in 1986. During Hendrickson’s ownership, Franklin Mint produced a special L88 die-cast model of this car and it was invited to the Bloomington Gold Special Collection in 1988 and 1992. The car later became part of the Larry Bowman collection in 2000. In 2003, the car made a special appearance at the Monterey Historic Automobile Races, where it was reunited with its first owner for one last race, an event that delighted Tony DeLorenzo Jr. and an appreciative audience. Bowman sold the L88 in 2010, and soon after, it was part of the Showcase Display at the Corvette and Muscle Car Nationals, where it earned the Triple Diamond award. More recently the L88 earned the NCRS American Heritage award in 2013 during the ownership of Chuck Ungurean. The first of 20 L88s produced in 1967, this car boasts a very impressive racing career that has made it one of the most historically significant L88s in existence. Restored to concours- quality standards by the Naber Brothers and documented with the original title, Protect-O-Plate with Al Grenning affirmation and a Letter of Testimony from Tony DeLorenzo Jr., this L88 certainly qualifies as the centerpiece of any collection, a premier example of the most powerful and dominant production Corvette racer of its era.
