BJK67 ( Bruce Knierim's)1969 L88 Corvette

[Xplantdad]

Bruce,

Two friends that are members of the Supercar site asked me to forward information to you on this amazing car that they bought from the original owner in April of 2005. The car had been in Chicago from new until they bought the car. It received a Bloomington Gold and National Top Flight in the summer of 2006 and is on its way to the Vettefest for the Triple Crown award in November. Feel free to use this car in the members rides or as the monthly feature car

My membership name is TimG.



OUR L88………#194379S736298

WE PURCHASED THIS L88 FROM THE ORIGINAL OWNER ON APRIL 8, 2005. AT THE TIME, IT HAD ONLY 2,231 ACTUAL MILES AND STILL HAD ITS ORIGINAL MOTOR AND M-22--ROCK CRUSHER IN THE CAR.

AS OF MARCH 19, 2006, IT HAD BEEN SHOWN ON ONLY ONE OCCASION----------------- THE FIRST BLOOMINGTON SPECIAL COLLECTION in 1984.

IT WAS, HOWEVER, THE FEATURE CAR IN THE 1983-3 EDITION OF CORVETTE ‘THE SENSUOUS AMERICAN’. THIS L88 IS THE ONLY KNOWN L88 TO ORIGINALLY HAVE A RED EXTERIOR AND TAN INTERIOR (WITH ITS ORIGINAL LEATHER SEATS).

THE ORIGINAL OWNER, DENNIS AHRENS ORDERED IT FROM DICK WICKSTROM CHEVROLET, ROSELLE, IL. DENNIS RACED IT FROM THE TIME IT WAS NEW. HIS BEST TIME IN THE QUARTER MILE WAS 10.82 SECONDS. THANKS TO DENNIS FOR RETAINING THE ORIGINAL MOTOR, TRANSMISSION, AND EXTENSIVE PAPERWORK FOR 35+ YEARS ON SUCH A RARE & DESIRABLE CORVETTE. IT STILL SITS ON 3 OF ITS ORIGINAL TIRES. THE SPARE HAS NEVER BEEN MOUNTED.

IN 2005 AND EARLY 2006, IT WAS BODY OFF RESTORED TO THE HIGHEST LEVEL

THEN, IN MID 2006, IT RECEIVED A BLOOMINGTON GOLD, AND A NATIONAL TOP FLIGHT FROM NCRS. BOTH TIMES THE SCORE WAS IN THE HIGH 90’S.


BRUCE KNIERIM











Bruce,

Here's a photo of the L88 launching in 1970 with the original owner at the wheel. He held on to the car until 2005 putting less than 2,300 miles on the car. I believe he was turning in the low 11's high 10's with this set up.

Tim

[Xplantdad]

Tim will try and get some more pics of this L88 Corvette...but it was too cool not to feature right now!

[camarojoe]

That's one of the badassest (is that a word? ) vintage pics I've ever seen... I'm not a vette guy, but that is a great car!

[Bill Pritchard]

I never fail to be amazed by the cars that are brought to light on this site

Sure would have been neat to see it in its unrestored state though.

[Mr70]

Nice action shot too!
I was just at Wickstrom last week.
Very

[kwhizz]

Another piece of History saved..........Cool !!!

Ken

[MosportGreen66]

Wow... that is one hell of a vintage shot!
Strong, strong paper with history to back it up...
I am in awe.

[737Driver]

This is an amazing vehicle. I had the pleasure of judging it at the NCRS National Convention in San Antonio. I also examined it at the home of the original owner. It is the real deal, no doubt about it original engine the car was born with and a great history. This is one of the last L88s ever built. Awesome!

[TimG]

Bruce is out of town and hasn't seen the feature yet. Paul is the other owner and has some amazing cars in his collection including another '69 L88. Paul, chime in here.

[Paul D]

Here are a few more pics of the car when I found it at Mancuso's Ferrari dealership in the north Chicago area a few years ago.

By pure luck a friend and I were over there lusting over some Ferraris when the sales manager drove this unbelievable L88 right into the show room. The owner was a good customer and was selling the L88 through the dealer.

Naturally I went berserk and quit looking at the Ferarris. And..... the rest is history.

After it's race career, the owner had the exterior and chassis restored in the late 70's, and Bruce and I treated it to a more "state of the art" restoration after aquiring it last year. Naturally we left most of the interior original to preserve the patina of such rare low mileage car.