- A serious contender
- A real handful to drive
- Considered very rare and desirable
The third-generation Corvette
1969 marked the second year of the all-new “Mako Shark II” styling on the Corvette, and this was the best year ever for sales at that point in time. A record 38,762 units rolled off the assembly line, representing a 35-percent increase over the past model year. This was an impressive showing for the car as in the previous model year, the debut of the all-new body shape; there were numerous problems with shoddy workmanship by both the media and actual Corvette owners. The new racy shape of the car looked fresh and modern, but there were some serious “teething” problems in the first year of quality control. The ’69 cars incorporated no real body changes from the ‘68s, which was the starting year of the third-generation Corvettes, however, there was a great effort to improve quality control.
These second-year models of the Corvette did have a few minor differences, and enhancements that were not noticeable at first glance. Included in the revisions were slightly revised door handles with the elimination of the round push button, black-painted grille bars that replaced chrome from the year prior, and the backup lights now incorporated into the taillight design. Also included in the subtle refinements was the return on the name “Stingray,” only now spelled one word.
Normally the weather in this part of the country calls for the top to be down however, as is usually warm temperatures and lots of sunshine.
Behind the Wheel
Inside the 1969 Corvette there were a few changes as well. Across the board, GM changed ignition key location on their passenger cars that year, including Corvette, and with that came theft deterrent locking steering. To add a little room for ingress and egress of the driver, the diameter of the steering wheel was reduced by an inch. And to also provide a bit more interior room, new door panels were designed that shaved off ½-inch per side, an effort to make the interior a little less cramped.
Complaints of too much body shuddering and overall shaking of the ’68 cars were addressed in the 1969 Corvette in the way of added bracing on top of the chassis, specifically new diagonal supports located in the area behind the rear of the seats, stiffening that part of the chassis and to the uprights forward of the rear axle.
The wheels on 1969 Corvettes were now 1-inch wider, and this emphasized the width of the F70 – 15 rubber, be it either in whitewall or red stripe variety.
The five available 427-cid engines
Under the hood, a new 350-cid small block replaced the 327 as the standard Corvette engine, and big block lovers had a field day, as there were no less than 5 different versions of the the 427-cid “Mark IV” engine available. The bread-and-butter big block was the 390-hp L36 version, which featured 10.25:1 compression ratio, a single 4-bbl.Quadrajet carburetor and hydraulic lifters. Next in the performance ladder was the L68, which was rated at 400-hp and came with the same overall equipment as the base version but had three Holley 2-bbl. carbs mounted on top.
The L71 427 was a more serious contender in a couple of different ways, firstly because it had higher compression (11:1) plus it came with a hotter camshaft (.520 lift as opposed to.461 lift on the L36 and L68) that was mechanical in design, providing more power potential. The L71 was rated at 435-hp and like the other lower-performance versions, had cast iron cylinder heads.
The next version up the food chain was a special version of the L71 that came with aluminum cylinder heads, coded the L89, it had all the same hardware as the L71 but with a little less weight. The next one was the famous L88 version, rated at 430-hp, it came with 12:1 pistons, a .539-inch lift more radical camshaft, mechanical, and a massive 850-cfm Holley 4-bbl. carburetor and because of the intended use of this engine, no air conditioning was available, in fact, no radio availability either and eliminating the need to shield the distributor and ignition wires. Only 116 souls checked the “L88” box in 1969 for use in their Corvette.
Well, those were the five commonly available 427-cid engines for the 1969 Corvette buyers, however, there were also 2, yes two, specially-built “ZL-1” Corvettes sold, which were fitted with all-aluminum engines, the block itself was cast in alloy, and that in itself shed about 100 pounds off the total weight of the car. Cost? For the two people that took advantage of the availability of this exotic race engine, it had a $4100.00 added tariff. It was an L88 essentially, it did have a more radical camshaft but with an aluminum block. The ZL-1 was never intended for the street, and because of that, a heater and defroster were not offered with the package.
This Riverside Gold Metallic-hued roadster is a factory L71 car that was factory fitted with the M-21 close ratio 4-speed gearbox and 4.11 Posi-traction rear gears. Originally, this car came out of the Buffalo, New York, Chevrolet Zone Office as a “Zone Courtesy Car,” which meant it was specially ordered by the sales zone office as a vehicle to be driven by factory executives, perhaps even to be loaned to notable celebrities. This car, as equipped with the 435-hp tri-power engine and drag-strip rear gears, and manual transmission, would have been a real handful to drive for anyone not familiar with high-performance automobiles!
Today the car is considered a very rare and desirable C3 Corvette. It has received a new paint job and some detailing, however, it is not a totally restored car, rather this roadster has survived over the years as a “numbers-matching” original car. The owner wanted to get it checked out by a third party after he purchased it so he had the car inspected by a well-known Corvette and muscle car expert, and in his finding, verified it was the “real deal” and not a forgery or imposter.
How fast would this big-block Corvette be on a drag strip today? For comparison’s sake, back in 1969 Car Life Magazine tested a very similar car (L71 with 4-speed and 4.11 gears) but in coupe form, and blasted down the 1320 feet of Orange County International Raceway in East Irvine, CA, to a run of 13.94 seconds at 105.63 miles per hour.
The overall lines of the third-generation Corvette are striking in appearance, and were originally based on a 1965 show car that toured the country as a “test” to gauge public opinion of a futuristic Corvette.
