Today we have an all-Bow Tie brand showdown between a 1969 Chevy Corvette 427 L88 and 1969 Chevy Camaro 427 ZL1, throwing it down the 1320 for a heads-up drag racing video.
Once again coming to us from the Cars And Zebras YouTube channel, this video brings all the usual Cars And Zebras shenanigans, including a little C&Z humor, plus some walkaround footage and specs. The video, however, is relatively short for a C&Z production, clocking in at just over four minutes in length. If all you’re interested is the racing, skip ahead to just before the three-minute-mark.
With that covered, let’s go over what both these models are bringing the party, starting with the 1969 Chevy Corvette. Under the hood is the rare 427 L88 V8 engine, rocking a compression ratio of 12:1. Output from the factory was rated at 430 horsepower at 5,200 rpm and 460 pound-feet of torque at 4,000 rpm, but, unsurprisingly, the actual output was more in the vicinity of 550 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque, making this Vette quite the go-getter on the racetrack.
Putting that power to the rear wheels is a three-speed automatic transmission, while this particular model has been upgraded with 4.56 gears. Weight with driver is set at 3,454 pounds.
In the other lane is a 1969 Chevy Camaro ZL1, which means the Camaro is also packing a 427, with an engine design similar to that of the L88. However, the ZL1’s V8 stands out for its aluminum block, which helps the powerplant to cut weight significantly. Like the Corvette, the ZL1 was also rated at 430 horsepower from the factory, but output was more likely around 500 ponies. A three-speed automatic is once again on deck for the cog swaps, with 4.10 gears and a curb weight of 3,300 pounds without the driver.
Sounds like a fun matchup, but it’s important to remember that both models are optimized for Factory Stock racing, which means they are definitely a good deal quicker than when they first rolled off the assembly line. Hit play to see which Chevy comes out in front:
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Thank you
Expensive race right there!!
Beautiful. Favorite color combo Camaro.
Good match up of two exceedingly rare cars.
Despite unrelenting resistance from GM management, in the late 1960s, Chevrolet Product Promotions Manager Vince Piggins regularly teamed with a small cadre of faithful dealers to produce insanely powerful limited-production muscle cars. The instrument of this insurrection was the Central Office Production Order program (COPO). Designed to facilitate fleet orders for commercial fleet vehicles such as taxis and police cars, the COPO system provided Piggins and his dealers the means to circumvent the corporate racing ban (and its limits on displacement and horsepower-to-weight ratios) and supply factory-built racers and speed equipment to their customers. Arguably the most sensational of these forbidden fruits was the 1969 ZL1 Camaro, a simple yet devastating combination of heavy-duty suspension, brakes and driveline and Chevrolet’s all-aluminum 427 CI big-block engine developed by racers Bruce McLaren and Jim Hall for the Can Am racing series. The ZL1 was the brainchild of Fred Gibb, owner of Fred Gibb Chevrolet in La Harpe, Illinois, and a leader in Piggins’ network of Chevrolet performance dealers. Gibb first attracted national attention when Herb Fox, a Gibb Chevrolet salesman, bought a 1967 Z28 through the dealer and began racing it in NHRA D/Gas. Fox ended the 1967 season with a perfect 35-0 record, and Gibb was hooked. Fox soon thereafter met Chevrolet tuner and drag racer Dick Harrell, and immediately introduced him to Gibb, facilitating one of drag racing’s most famous partnerships and directly leading to the creation of the COPO 9560 ZL1 Camaros. ZL1 Camaros dominated NHRA and AHRA Super Stock and Pro Stock racing, beginning with the Gibb-Harrell-Fox Super Stock Eliminator win at the 1969 NHRA Winternationals. Produced under COPO order number 9560, all 69 ZL1 Camaros produced were equipped at the factory as big-block-specification cars with F41 heavy-duty suspension, power front disc brakes, ZL2 cowl-induction hood, a choice of heavy-duty 4-speed manual or Hydra-Matic 3-speed automatic transmissions and Chevrolet’s extra-strength 12-bolt Positraction rear end with 4.10:1 gears. Gibb ordered the first 50 ZL1 Camaros, however all but a handful Except 13 cars were returned to the factory or other dealers for distribution. Based on the architecture of the all-conquering Corvette L88 racing engine, the ZL1 engine made extensive use of aluminum in the block, heads, intake and ancillary pieces, employing steel only for the forged crank, connecting rods, pushrods and camshaft. The result was the most exotic American production engine ever built to that time. The ZL1 weighed little more than a cast iron Chevy small-block engine while generating approximately 550 HP, a figure that far exceeded its preposterous factory rating of 430 horses…
As Far as the ZL1 Option in a 1969 Corvette. Only 2 were built on the St Louis
Assembly line verses 116 L88 Corvettes. One being a Canary Yellow and the other
Can Am White.The MSRP Engine Option was $4,718.35 (Base Price $4781.00 Coupe/$4438.00 Convertible.You were also Mandated to have F41 Suspension- G81 Positraction- J56 Heavy Duty Brakes- K66 Transistor Ignition- M22 Muncie HD
Transmission (Rockcrusher) with MA6 Dual Disc HD Clutch. You could also order the M40 Turbo 400 Tranny. All of this to save just over a 100lbs verses an L88 optioned Vette.Not worth the Expense Difference back in the Day IMHO