1966 L79 Chevelle?

[442w30]

My friend, who is involved in the Chevy world, was approached by someone who claims to own a '66 El Camino with the L79. Owner (from FL, I believe) claims he was told by some Chevy Division dude that they made 60 of 'em. Of course, there's no documentation at all.

This reminds me of the '67 big cars where the L72 was not available. Just doesn't make sense, but I think there's records of about 12 L72 engines being built? What is the general consensus at this point of the L72s? I figure they were COPOs or they were just spare engines for the parts department.

Anyway, my reason for talking about the L72 is that it would have been the top dog for the big cars. The L79 was far from the top dog, especially considering they made over 3000 L78 SS396 cars, so its existence is a little more suspect. In addition, if they indeed built a few cars with this engine, why is an El Camino popping up? Wouldn't the chances of finding a Chevelle L79 hardtop make more sense?

Thought I'd ask you guys since there's a great Chevy knowledge base here.

[MYSTERYCHEVELLE]

DOUBT IT

[Paul D]

Being an old L72 big car guy, I've followed them closely since the late 70's. I do remember seeing a Hemmings ad in the mid to late 80's selling an L72 '67 Impala with documentation. It was described as a COPO. For what it's worth......