Don Yenko Built and Raced This L-88, Went On To Make History

The all-too-famous Chevy engineer that nurtured the 'Vette, Zora Arkus-Duntov, was a loving father with a keen eye for his mechanical child upbringing. He knew that the little gorgeous-looking two-seater would have to make its name in the fiery forges of endurance raging if it was to have a long-lasting future.

So, he and his team concocted a heavy-duty variant of the 427 cubic-inch engine (the 7.0-liter ogre), which would later gain fame as the L-88. The powerplant's baptism of fire came in the furnaces of motoring Tartarus. Roger Penske's Sunoco racing team had the honor of field-testing the mighty V8 in the 1966 Daytona 24 Hour Continental.

The race concluded with several certainties about the performance-purposed engine: it broke the GT-class record, took first place in its class, and was 11th overall. It was quite an achievement for a debutant, but the L-88 was just getting warmed up. Eager for more competition-fused adrenaline, the newly developed thoroughbred took its place on the grid at the 12 hours of Sebring.

Having shaken off the emotions of the first-time appearance on the howling world of motorsport, one of Penske's L-88s placed itself at the front of the class pack and stayed there for the entire race. The general race results saw a Corvette in the ninth position – at the time, the best-ever Corvette Sebring score to date.

All that was in 1966, so the Corvettes responsible for launching the fearsome L-88 into the piston battlefield were of the C2 family. When the long-lasting C3 version came about, the grand V8 again saw the Daytona action.

However, a few changes occurred before and after that 1968 race. Driving one of the three C3 L-88 of the Sunray-DX team was a certain piston-overdosing gearhead by the name of Don. Don Yenko - who managed a second-place finish in that race in the GT class. Accompanying him on the podium were the other two team cars' drivers. Not much can be said after this stunning 1-2-3 finish, courtesy of a magnificent car with a formidable engine.

The history of that particular car that Don Yenko led to fame is a rather intriguing one. The vehicle wasn't a factory-tuned all-out racer, but a true-blue Yenko magic work of necessity. Because GM was having delivery issues with the L-88-powered racecar that the famous driver ordered, he turned some wrenches and made one himself.

In the purest Don Yenko approach, he stripped the L-71 427/435 out of a showroom vehicle, stuffed the L-88 in the engine bay, and that was it. Any further questions? The Daytona performance speaks for itself, the car, and its driver.

But it wasn't over; Sebring was just around the corner. Yenko teamed up for the 12-hour gallop with Pedro Rodriguez, slapped a "2" race number sticker on the Corvette, and floored it. While the V8 did its job with L-88 accuracy and energy, suspension and differential issues forced the cars (all three Sunray-DX team cars) to retire early. No 2. completed 43 laps before collapsing to mechanical failures.

It should have been on the starting grid in France, among the other participants at the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans edition. Car racing isn't always as smooth as fresh transmission oil, unfortunately. Due to political upsets in France, the race was postponed from June to September, leaving the L-88 out of Europe.

Don Yenko continued to race the car to SCCA Midwest Division events and won the title at the end of that season. But, like all good things, the Yenko-L-88 love story ended when the car was sold by Sunoco (the oil company behind Sunray-DX) to another SCCA racer.

Robert Luebbe, a Yank from New York, got possession of the now-famous no. 2, and the car faded away in relative anonymity. All in all, the track-destined Corvette had a long racing career that spanned decades. When the time for permanent retirement came, the car went into the possession of former racing driver Frank Joyce (who also campaigned the car during the '70s and '80s).

As in the case of most celebrity racer cars, this one, too, made its way into a collector's treasure trove, and it was there that it was restored to its Don Yenko-period state. To certify the quality of the renovation work, the vehicle was honored with the NCRS American Heritage Award representing the Corvette racing legacy.

During the historical accuracy validation stage, the car underwent scrutinous verification to confirm the validity of its racing past. Apart from the official judicators, the original team members attested to the car's authenticity. It retains the 427-cubes/7.0-liter L-88 V8 engine – factory-rated at 430 hp/436 ps, estimated at around 560 hp/568 ps – with its single Holley 850 CFM four-barrel carburetor.

The three pedals you can admire in the gallery point to a Muncie M-22 close-ratio four-speed manual transmission. Four-wheel hydraulic disc brakes tamed the roaring Corvette that sits on independent suspensions front and rear (A-arms and coil springs on the front, lateral struts, radius rods, and transverse leaf spring at the back).

A rare piece of American automotive racing legacy and history, this renowned L-88 Corvette is for sale – with a "call for price" tag. It would only make sense, as the extraordinary Chevy deserves a discerning new owner.