The Mecum auction held this past week in St. Charles, Illinois saw an all-time price record set for a Corvette: $446,250 for a 1969 L88 coupe.  The L88 was a version of the Chevrolet 427 which came with aluminum heads and intake. 

Only 116 were built in 1969.  The L88 option cost $1,000 at the time, on a car with a base price of $4,781.  The L88 package was geared to performance and track use, so much so that power windows, power steering, and a radio were not available, and an M-22 Muncie “rock crusher” transmission was standard, along with heavy duty cooling and brakes.
   
This particular L88 Corvette has only 2,248 miles on its odometer, but much of that was accumulated ¼ mile at a time. 

The original purchaser of the car, who was the auction seller, ordered it with a 4.56 rear axle, and drag raced it extensively.  It’s best time in the quarter mile was 10.42 seconds.  The owner restored the car to factory specifications in 2006 and it won all of the prestigious Corvette awards: Bloomington Gold, NCRS Top Flight, and Gold Spinner, scoring 97, 98, and 99 out of 100 points.  Though restored, the car is essentially original, a complete matching numbers car extensively documented.
   
One of the larger Corvette auctions of the year, the fall Mecum auction featured more than 800 cars.