Appears to be a custom to me. All the bodywork is aftermarket, not GM issue. VIN and engine # would prolly confirm. There were only 2 ZL-1s ever offered to the public....this is neither of them. The engines were available over the counter tho, and they were also installed in Camaros. The ZL-1 badge can be bought from just about any Corvette vendor, so that in itself is of no consequence. Is the engine ALL aluminuminum?

That being said, it looks like a nice enough car, regardless.

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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

Nice looking car. From the small interior shot, the headrest seats and the side gills, I'd say there is a '69 in there somewhere. The later fiberglass nose, flares and the L88 hood with no wiper door certainly points towards some aftermarket custom work on the front end. I agree with Adam's comments, the ZL1 badge looks a bit vintage in that shot but they have been available aftermarket for a long time. The key to its real identification will be the engine stamp pad and vin derivatives.

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John Sigmund

The engine in it now is a 454 with a 427 crank. The guy I bought it from said it had all of the ZL1 options and the deletes matched the ZLI spec. He was 80% sure it was the missing red one that comes up in a lot of different searches. It was red looking through the black and verified by the door plate. You may wonder why he would sell if he thought it could be a rare one. He has lots of rare ones and is tired of messing with so many. Of course, he is worth millions. The engine is fresh and he had everything underneath reworked or replaced except the transmission which appears to be fine. The birth date is 10/18/69 so that wouldn't rule it out either. Seems goofy to me that someone would install a barely noticeable decal. Thanks for the input.        

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Does it have a heater?  Since the L-88s didn't, I doubt the ZL-1s did.

Bottom line is you have a nice big block '69 roadster. 


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1973 L-82 4 spd

It is NOT one of the two original ZL-1s. Both are accounted for. The "other" car that has been the subject of some controversy over the years was not red anyway...it was Monaco Orange....and it had an automatic trans.
What you have is a decent, big block car with some custom additions. Unless the car was represented to you as being one of the two original ZL-1s, and you paid accordingly, I would just enjoy it for what it is. If, however, you bought the car as being an original ZL-1, I would contact a lawyer...someone lied to you.  

The original owner of the second, orange ZL-1 was a member here for years, until he sold the car. I've had several conversations(emails & such) over the years with him about the car.



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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

Thanks for the input. It does have a heater but I read that the heater delete was only for 67's. I bought this "cheap" from a car guy millionaire thinning out a collection of 30 some mostly cherry vehicle's. He said that when he began restoring it he found it had all of the L88 options and the deletes. He also said the ZL1 decal looked original and in his opinion something about this car was special. His plan was to verify what is was originally and restore it back to that condition. That seemed reasonable to me so I came here hoping an expert could point me in the right direction. Could it be one of the 116 L88's?               

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It may very well be an L-88, or been one originally. Need the engine stamp numbers to confirm/deny that. The L-88 had aluminuminum heads, but an iron block, where the ZL-1 was all alum.
Of course, the engine could have been swapped at any time in the past. And you are correct...the L-88 cars did have heaters, but no radio, power steering, A/C, ect. By law all the cars from '68 up had to have functional defrosters, so they had to have a heater system.....but not much else. The L-88 car had no fan shroud, either.
It might take some time to determine exactly what you have, but....that's part of the fun of the hobby...doing the research, and digging for clues to solve the mystery!


I just remembered....the NCRS National Convention is goin on right now in San Antonio at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center....perhaps you can take the car there and have some folks look it over and give you some ideas about it. They'll be there until Thursday. You might need to pay to get into the Judging field(as a spectator/guest), but you'll be able to ask around and see if anyone would be willing to take a look at the car.


|UPDATED|7/10/2017 7:21:30 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|


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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

Thanks for the info, I plan on attending today and see what I can learn about this vehicle.

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Well attending the NCRS convention was no help. Most said without ownership records I was crap out of luck!

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Does the engine block stamping correlate to the VIN?

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1973 L-82 4 spd

The engine is not original.

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