This Rare and Unrestored 1969 Corvette Could Fetch $1 Million at Auction

The middle of the last century was a golden age in automotive design and improved performance, as evidenced by the artistry and innovation that many new cars of the period were presenting. Italy, Germany, and Britain, for example, had such models as the Ferrari 250 GT, Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, and Jaguar XK120, respectively. Carrying this mantle for stateside models was the Chevrolet Corvette, premiered at the 1953 General Motors Motorama exhibition in New York City. Now, an exceedingly rare example from its third generation, a 1969 Corvette L88 Convertible that’s considered unrestored, is on the online auction block through SBX Cars.

Despite its introduction in the early 1950s, what was dubbed “America’s Sports Car” would not find real traction in the market until engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov took the wheel when it came to unleashing the Corvette’s true character. Bob Bubnis, curator of the National Corvette Museum, mentions in an online piece on the museum’s site that Arkus-Duntov wrote a three-page plea to Chevrolet’s engineering heads, Ed Cole and Maurice Olley. It carried the heading, “Thoughts Pertaining to Youth, Hot Rodders and Chevrolet.” The result of the treatise was his being hired by the brand.

One of Arkus-Duntov’s benchmark achievements with the Corvette was the L88 version, which the National Corvette Museum calls in a post; “a no-compromise option built for one purpose: racing.” Per SBX Cars, only 116 examples of the L88 were built in 1969, the variant’s last year of production. Of that already limited number, only 16 were convertibles.

The example on offer through SBX Cars was completed on April 9, 1969, and bears VIN No. 194679721263. The auction house mentions that, with $2,310 in options, the car featured a total sticker price of $6,839.70 when new. Its time-capsule status is showcased by the fact that it carries its original power-train configuration comprising its factory-installed 430 hp, 427 ci L88 big-block V-8 mated to a Muncie M22 four-speed manual gearbox. And with its power brakes, beefy F41 suspension, and Positraction at the back, its motorsport intent was innate. This is further emphasized by the lack of air conditioning, power steering, and radio for lightweighting purposes.

Riding on 15-inch wheels sporting Firestone redline tires, the vehicle accentuates its definitive body styling with a Le Mans Blue paint scheme complemented by a convertible black fabric roof. Matching the latter is the interior, dressed in black vinyl. As for the instrumentation, the speedometer and tachometer max out at 160 mph and 7,000 rpm, respectively.

Though the car has never gone through a restoration, the fact that it has been impeccably cared for is evidenced by the numerous awards its garnered from the National Corvette Restorers Society (NCRS), among other accolades.

Expectations from SBX Cars is that this example could sell for “upwards of $1 million,” at least according to the online auction house’s managing director, Steve Gregg. As a frame of reference, a 1969 Chevrolet Corvette L88 Coupe sold through Gooding & Company for $726,000 in 2013, while another sold earlier that same year—through the same auction house—for $825,000. Yet a quick internet search—corroborated by multiple websites—reveals that those figures pale when compared to the 1967 Corvette L88 offered through Barrett-Jackson in 2014. That example fetched $3.85 million.

“This is the kind of car that defines collectible Corvettes—unrestored, fully documented, and recognized with an NCRS Top Flight Award and inducted into the Bloomington Gold Hall of Fame,” states Gregg regarding the 1969 ‘Vette currently available online. “It’s truly an investment-grade, blue-chip collector car, a holy grail for Corvette collectors. Opportunities to acquire something this original and historically significant simply don’t come around often.” They also don’t stay around long. In this case, bidding ends in four days.

Click here for more photos of this 1969 Chevrolet Corvette L88 Convertible.