Tag: 1969 zl-1 corvette

Duntov Files, Part 5 E-Book: Car Life July 1969 Wildest Corvette Test Yet, Big-Blocks

Published on by Scott

 

 

Dateline: 3-19-21 – You can download the PDF E-Booklet HERE – I have a good-sized collection of Corvette books, sales brochures, magazines, and saved Corvette articles. I also have a set of fourteen reprinted Corvette road tests by Road & Track that run from June 1954-to-June 1969. I am scanning these old articles and making e-booklets out of them, free of charge. It is the easiest, simplest way of sharing this timeless Corvette information. You can access the collection by going to… http://www.corvettereport.com/corvette-e-booklettes/

There will be many more to come.

Back in the days of the Old Republic, there were no “Corvette-only” magazines, except for “Corvette News”, but you have to buy a Corvette to get those. The best we could get was occasional road tests and feature stories highlighting the latest custom Corvettes, some Corvette race cars, Corvette Styling Department, and Engineering Department cars. When it came to showing off Chevrolet’s latest, greatest “go-fast” hardware, Zora Arkus-Duntov was always the ring-leader; a genuine PT Barnum, with a thick Russian accent. Zora loved the attention and the magazine and racer guys loved him, too.

“Car Life” magazine went out of publication by the end of the 1960s. The July 1969 issue screamed “CORVETTE!” with the cover story, “Wildest CORVETTE Test Yet – Every Body Style, Every Engine, Every Transmission, Every Rear Ratio, Every Major Accessory”. The cover story was a 16-page; mother-load of 1969 Corvette information covering everything from the ZQ3 350/300 small-block to the mighty ZL-1 all-aluminum 427 that powered Zora’s latest mule Corvette for suspension, drive-train, and brakes “testing”.

I was in the 9th grade then and this was an absolute feast for me! Enjoy a heap’n, help’n! – Scott

You can download the PDF E-Booklet HERE.

Check out the entire E-Booklet Collection, HERE.

George Haddad’s Factory-Style 1969 427 ZL-1 Corvette

Published on by Scott

George Haddad’s Stunning 1969 ZL-1 427 Corvette – With some personal touches!

Dateline: 7.6.17 (VIDEOS AT THE BOTTOM!)  (This story was first published in the January 2016 issue of Vette Vues Magazine).

To understand the importance and uniqueness of George Haddad’s 1969 ZL-1 Corvette, we have to get into the “Vette Vues Time Machine” and go back to late 1968. The December 1968 issue of Hot Rod Magazine hit the newsstands like a thunder clap, with an obviously all-aluminum big-block 427 Corvette engine wearing bright yellow tube headers. It looked like Chevrolet finally had an ace trump card. The 427 ZL-1 was the ultimate “pie-in-the-sky” Corvette setup – big-block horsepower and torque – with the weight of an iron small-block! Duntov was a happy man because his dream of an all-aluminum engine for the Corvette went all the way back to the 1957 Q-Corvette concept that not only called for a fuel-injected all-aluminum small-block engine, but a trans-axle! (Sounds like a C5, doesn’t it?)

Duntov and his team tried casting SBC engines in aluminum, but there was a serious “strength of materials” issue that was never successfully worked out. The SBC was simply not strong enough when made in aluminum. A small batch of all-aluminum 377 engines were developed for the Grand Sport project that were powerful and light, but just wouldn’t hold together in competition. The prospect of an engine lighter than a regular SBC was deliciously tantalizing. So when the replacement for the 348/409/427 W-series (truck) engine, (the Mark IV) was being designed, an aluminum version was an obvious next step because the Mark IV was inherently a more stout structure.
The story of the production ZL-1 Corvettes is a long and complex one that we won’t try unraveling here, except to say that a batch of seven cars were built in early September 1969. The cars that “rolled off the St. Louis assembly line” were full-out RPO-L88 cars. The RPO-ZL-1 aluminum block was an option that was only available on an L88 engine. In other words, the ZL-1 was identical to the L88, except it had an aluminum block – making it 100-pounds lighter than the L88 Corvette, something that only racers would even notice. Continue reading “

George Haddad’s Factory-Style 1969 427 ZL-1 Corvette” →

Roger Judski Buys One of Two Official 1969 ZL-1 Corvettes

Published on by Scott


Roger Judski’s SUPER RARE 1969 ZL-1 Corvette

 

Dateline: 10.11.14 – Twenty-three years ago today, October 11, 1991, at of all places, The Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Roger Judski, owner of Judski’s Corvette Center in Maitland, Florida became the owner of what is arguably the rarest of all high performance Corvettes, a 1969 ZL-1 Corvette. When this car was announced to the world in the fall of 1968 as an option on the ’69 Corvette, it became an instant legend for numerous reasons. Judski paid what was then considered a stunningly HUGE amount of money for the ZL-1, $300,000! Roger had been trying to buy the ZL-1 for 12 years. Continue reading “Roger Judski Buys One of Two Official 1969 ZL-1 Corvettes” →

Illustrated Corvette Series No. 175 – Greenwood Stars & Strips Goes On The Block!

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 10.30.11
Here’s the latest installment from the Illustrated Corvette Series VETTE Magazine Column

(Check out the Greenwood video at the bottom of this post!)

It was early last July that Kevin Mackay of Corvette Repair sent me a link to the RM Auctions online version of their Monterey Auction Catalog. Kevin and I have had many conversations about early Corvette race cars, so he knows that I’m a big fan. Any time a Greenwood Corvette goes on the block it’s big news, so I posted a story about the auction right away. For the next 6 weeks or so, the car magazine and Corvette blogs were on fire in anticipation of the auction. RM Auctions broadcasts their auctions online, so I stayed up and watched the coverage and sale of the Greenwood ZL-1. I have to admit, it was a lot of fun. Here’s the post of the auction coverage.

Since the car has so much historical importance, I decided to cover the car in my VETTE Magazine monthly column, “The Illustrated Corvette Series.” The January 2012 issue of VETTE just came out, so I’m sharing the story and art with you below. Enjoy! – Scott

Illustrated Corvette Series No. 175: #49 Greenwood ‘69 427 ZL-1 Racer
“Stars and Stripes On The Block!”

Expectations were high when it was announced that the No. 49 Greenwood BF Goodrich “Stars and Stripes” Corvette was going on the block at the 2011 RM Auction Monterey event. Some estimated that the car would sell for $750,000 to $950,000. In ‘09 the Gulf One ‘63 Z06 Corvette racer went for an astonishing $1.113 Million! So there was quite a buzz in the Corvette community.

John and Burt Greenwood knew all about Duntov’s “racer kits” and like many others, took maximum advantage of the special hardware. The Greenwood boys had another advantage. Sr. Greenwood had been a WW II fighter pilot and worked at the GM Tech Center. Their Dad would sometimes take young John and Burt to work on Saturdays, to let the lads see the experimentals and prototypes. It was better than an invitation to Elvis’ house! Continue reading “Illustrated Corvette Series No. 175 – Greenwood Stars & Strips Goes On The Block!” →