Rare Wide Body! Believed Original Aluminum Head L89 & Muncie 4 Spd, Orig Colors!
1968 Chevrolet Corvette L89 Wide Body Description
The all-new Sting Ray (now two words in the early years) hit the market in 1968 and totally transformed America's sports car for decades to come. You can still see echoes of this 1968 Corvette in today's design, but this 1968 Corvette L89 Wide Body is in a league of its own that's not easy to mimic. With an ultra-rare Wide-Body factory set-up that hints at a road-racing pedigree, this numbers-matching 427 L71 L89 Corvette is the cream of the crop, and with only 52,075 believe actual miles, it may be the most desirable Corvette on the market today. Don't let that price tag scare you off, it's that high for a reason. This is the C3 Corvette that even the NCRS guys dream about.
The important stuff is all here: an ultra-rare matching numbers drivetrain, great colors on the killer Wide Body, and an NCRS-verified pedigree. Silverstone Silver was the second most popular color in 1968, and the way this finish looks over the beefy 427 hood, the beefy aggressive wide stance, and the pronounced ducktail spoiler is something to truly behold. With miles that low and a pedigree so special, this 'Vette obviously spent a good chunk of its life in storage, but it still looks great today. There are a few very minor swirls and light scratches in the finish, but with a professional buff-and-polish, it could easily be knocking on the "show-quality" door again. For now, we'll categorize it as very high-driver quality presentation, that way the experts that come crawling out of the woodwork will know what to expect. The bodywork doesn't need any attention, and that's what's great about fiberglass: it doesn't rust. So, the slick paint does most of the talking, and over the straight panels and tight gaps, the high-gloss finish simply glows in the sunlight. Chrome trim was part of the C3 package and the shiny bits like the bumpers, 427 badges and Corvette emblems are all in wonderful shape, and the factory side pipe exhaust is a perfect complement to the Wide Body set-up on this beauty. Bottom line, this is the ultimate chrome bumper Corvette.
The interior is just as dialed-in as well, starting with the beautiful, factory-optioned leather bucket seats that are every bit as comfortable as they look. And yes, those GM shoulder harness seatbelts are further proof of this Corvette's racing past. Crisp door panels and plush carpets give it that highly-polished showroom look and the woodgrained steering wheel adds just a touch of warmth to the otherwise all black driver's compartment. Desirable options include power windows and the original radio that's remarkably still in place, and it's also worth noting that the fiber-optic headlight monitors are fully functional. Clear gauges show crisp markings and bright needles, both ahead of the driver and in the center stack, and the middle console and dash pad show only slight wear, likely from someone holding on for dear life while the monster under the hood ate up the race track. T-tops give even the coupes an enjoyable open-air experience and with tight weather-stripping throughout, the car seals up well and doesn't rattle like many 'Vettes do.
This is the car's original L71 L89 427 cubic inch V8 (which is the verified numbers-matching L71 engine with the very rare L89 aluminum head factory option), and it's curious how Chevrolet offered a handful of different 427s, including the ultra-rare Tri-Power induction big block in this one. It's race ready (the story is that a total of 600 of these cars were built to compete in a road race) yet still street-friendly with great throttle response and bottomless reserves of torque, which is why you buy a 427 in the first place. The engine bay is perfectly dressed with a correct triangular air cleaner and chrome valve covers over a Chevy Orange engine block. It's believed to only have 52,075 miles on the clock, so it runs superbly, particularly with those tuned carbs and responsive distributor. The Muncie 4-speed manual gearbox is also an original, numbers-matching piece, and as long as you're looking around under there, please note that the side-pipe exhaust system is in great shape, and that the sparkling undercarriage is almost clean enough to eat off of. The tank sticker/factory buildsheet has been NCRS-verified and backs up the claims (although the 600 road-race Wide Body cars do not carry a lot of documentation), and this amazing specimen rolls on correct Rally wheels with Cooper Cobra G/T radials all around.
Documented with a factory buildsheet and all of the car's stamped numbers and codes (see pics), this is an investment-grade, insanely rare Corvette that would easily be the coup-de-gras of any collection. Call today!
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