Our good friends over at Corvette Mike are no strangers to high-end Corvettes. They’ve been buying, selling, and consigning ZR1’s, L88’s, Tankers, Z06’s, and more for over 40 years now. Adding to that impressive resume is this ultra-rare 1967 L89 coupe that’s currently on its way back to Corvette Mike’s Anaheim, CA. facility.
RPO L89 added aluminum cylinder heads to the already potent L71 427/435hp engine. The lightweight cylinder heads took roughly 75lbs off the front of the car resulting in a lower center of gravity, better rear weight bias, and an improved overall power to weight ratio. Horsepower was listed at 435 which was the same as the more widely known 435hp L71 engine, though the L89’s aluminum heads had larger exhaust valves yielding more airflow. Estimated horsepower for L89’s is in the neighborhood of 500. In the end, just 16 L89 Corvettes were produced in St. Louis for the 1967 model year. That’s rarer than a seven-figure 1967 L88!
This award-winning Sting Ray was built on the last day of 1967 production, July 11, 1967, just 32 cars from the end of the C2 generation. Many consider this car to be the best 1967 L89 out there, Ask Mike and he’ll tell you “it’s best 1967 Corvette period”, given it’s top level restoration and the fact that it’s recent validation of its tank sticker by NCRS and it’s original engine power plant puts it in a league, well with The ex-Ries Stradivari violin from 1693, all alone!
It was initially delivered to Cochran and Celli Chevrolet on July 28th, 1967, and purchased by Donald Stankovsky of Berkeley, CA. Being a California car makes it 1 of 2 such L89’s with the K19 smog equipment. Of those, this is the only one known to exist today. From there, it found its way into the hands of several caretakers before being acquired by Chris Marcom’s Southwest Corvette Collection in Frederick, Oklahoma. In November of 1987 it was sent to the famous Naber Brothers in Houston, Texas for a comprehensive body-off restoration. Most recently, the car spent the last 29 years with well-known collector Larry Martin before Corvette Mike’s June 2023 acquisition. As you read this, this amazing C2 is en route back to Southern California for the first time since the mid 1970’s.
The Marina Blue C2 is decked out with all the most desirable options. In addition to that thumping, matching numbers L89, it features a black leather interior, F41 sport suspension, N14 side exhaust, K19 AIR (smog) pump, and power brakes.
Many consider this car to be the best 1967 L89 out there. Given its recent 98.4% NCRS Top Flight at the Texas Regional, it’s hard to argue with that statement. That stout score came almost 34 years after its last outing in 1989 at Cypress Gardens, Florida, demonstrating just how well this car was restored and carefully preserved since.
Documentation is critical with these unicorn Corvettes and this Sting Ray has a stack of it. Paperwork includes a NCRS-validated tank sticker, the original dealer invoice, and the original Protect-O-Plate.
If you’ve never seen one of these legendary Corvettes up close, then consider heading out to Las Vegas where you can peep this one at the Wynn Concours. The 1-day event runs this weekend on Saturday, November 11th at the 5-star Wynn Las Vegas resort. This L89 will be nestled in with other classics in categories such as American Classics, British, European, American Postwar Sports and Sports Racing, Hypercars, and more.
Join Corvette Mike at the Wynn Concours d’Elegance
Click here for more information on the Wynn Concours and keep an eye out on the Corvette Mike website for more on this iconic C2 Corvette.
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Wow!
In the early 90’s I was offered one that was green/tan. Did not like the color…belonged to a Chevrolet dealership owner…passed.
Extremely rare, very desirable immaculate Corvette.
Lovely car. My brother had a 67 L71 coupe, in Marlboro Maroon (not named for the cigarettes, named for the small race track in Upper Marlboro, MD). He bought it back in 1980 and sold it in 1986, about 2 years before the markets started to get crazy.
The old track outline can be seen from the Google Maps satellite image:
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8069242,-76.738546,318m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu
However… I find bragging about horsepower of the 60s to be a waste of time, really. They measured HP by SAE Gross – no air cleaner, no water pump (externally fed and cooler!), no alternator and open exhaust. Toss in the marketing crap, and we get a lot of bold faced lies. Explain the 66 427 Vette? 450 HP to 425 HP with no reported changes? Can you say the insurance companies were getting scared?
In 1972, the year that unleaded arrived and the associated drop in compression, we saw horse power numbers drop… but the real killer was that SAE changed the rating from Gross to Net. Air filters, water pump, alternator and a full exhaust were all required.
To put this all into perspective, my ex-gf had a 1971 Mustang Mach 1 with the base 302 2v carb (I know, it’s a Ford, but it’s an example). In 1971, it was rated at 210 HP… and was not a high compression motor… in 1972? 139 HP. It should be noted that Ford had a major controversy with the Mustang Cobra in 1999/2000 time frame over the HP rating. Had something to do with the exhaust being wrong and they had to fix a bunch under warrantee.
Brutal. Totally brutal. Her 1996 Miata put out more HP!
This means these ground pounding high compression monsters, no matter how bad they might sound, have been totally eclipsed by modern engine tech. Sure, my brothers 67 was awesome, and one of my favourite cars of all time, but when you compare the L71 to the LS7, all of a sudden, the LS7 out performs it a all turns… HP, torque, MPG, and overall performance dynamics – no doubt modern tires and suspension do help a ton, but the 24 MPG crushes the 10 MPG the L71 got!!!
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