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Here's the story...
Being Chief of Engineering for the Corvette surely had its perks. In 1969, Zora Arkus-Duntov showed the press his latest "mule car", a completely optioned-out for road-racing ZL-1 Corvette. The public finally had a glimpse of what it was like being in the beast.
Duntov was the best friend that any Corvette owner ever had. First and formost, he was a sports car racer. His "vision" for the perfect Corvette was a lightweight car with a high-revving, high output engine. The big-block 427 was not his ideal. However, the all-aluminum 427 made more power than anything at GM, plus it weighed as much as a small-block!
To show off what the '69 Corvette was capable of at the high end of the performance spectrum, Zora and his team built a Corvette the way any racer would. Starting with a "stock" L88 optioned Corvette, he then added the optional ZL-1. Like racers, they removed anything that didn't look like a race car.
All non-essential parts were removed: bumpers, upholstery, radio, spare tire, headlights, and heater. Then the good stuff was added. Cast-iron exhaust manifolds, mufflers, and pipes were replaced with steel header side exhausts. Racing mag wheels were 15 inches in diameter by 10.5 inches wide with non-D.O.T. approved, racing tires. Using the roadster body with a fixed hardtop roof, the only body mods were huge fender flares, the optional ZL-2 domed hood, and a lip along the leading edge of the hood to keep it from blowing off at 180-plus mph! This car was never driven on a public road, as it was a "research vehicle" only.
Needless to say, Duntov's toy ran like no other Corvette ever had up to that time. With 3.70 gears and a close-ratio four-speed, and not shifting like a drag racer, Duntov could hammer the quarter-mile in 12.1 seconds at 116 mph. In tight corners and heavy braking the '69 ZL-1 would pull over 1g. The suspension was set up to understeer slightly, but a controlled drift was possible. Top speed was somewhere over 180 mph!
Costing over $10,000, Zora's ZL-1 was twice as much as a stock Corvette. The cool thing was that so much great stuff was available from your local Chevy dealer.
Be sure to check out the NEW Illustrated Corvette Series Portfolio.
This portfolio of Scott Teeters' "Vette Magazine" series, covers every production Corvette from 1953 to 1996. Also included are all of the major Corvette show cars, engineering prototypes, concept cars, and several Corvette racers.
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