Red Beautiful Corvette C3 Hides a Numbers-Matching 427 Engine Under the Hood

After a successful second generation, Chevrolet finally decided to introduce the third generation of its sports cars the Corvette. The design was signed by Larry Shinoda under Bill Mitchell's supervision. The same vehicle allowed Duntov to create a concept car with a mid-engine setup. But unfortunately, the brilliant engineer and racer never got a chance to see his dream turn into reality with the C8.

The model that you see here is a red 1969 Corvette L71. It was purchased in Pennsylvania, and over time its color faded away. Thus, it received fresh paint with the same code as the original under previous ownership. It is also worth noticing that the Silver-finished 15" Rally wheels came with the car when it was new. Nowadays, these were refurbished and shod red-lettering Firestone tires. Also, worth noticing the side exhaust pipes, which are a match made in Heaven for this car.

Inside, the black leather upholstery matches both the dashboard color and the floor mats. It was refreshed under previous ownership to factory specs. Basically, the total mileage is unknown despite the 31k miles shown on the odometer. Sitting behind the wheel, the driver could easily read the big dials in the instrument cluster and the five smaller ones that sit above the original AM/FM Radio on the center stack.

Under the hood, this L71 hides, obviously, a 427 engine fed by three two-barrel Holley carburetors. In total, it developed a massive 435 hp and enough torque to move a house with inhabitants inside. All that oomph from the numbers-matching V8 powerplant was sent to the rear via a Positraction axle.

The 1969L88 seller states that when he bought the vehicle, it was fine but not as good as it is right now. So he refreshed the oil and the spark plugs. Strangely, though, on the first day when it was published on the Bring a Trailer website, this car attracted four bidders that raised the stakes above $55,000. But there was only one L71 that sold for more than $100k, and that was with a manual transmission. The car you see here features the mighty THM400 tranny, that's built to last even torturous treatments.