AIR Corvette

Take a close look at the extra mounts on the transmission and bellhousing out to the frame.
 
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Nice looking car, but does it have a winning history? How much of it is original? I have the original axe Washington used to cut down the cherry tree...it just has a replacement handle and a new blade.
 
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68L71 said:
Nice looking car, but does it have a winning history? How much of it is original? I have the original axe Washington used to cut down the cherry tree...it just has a replacement handle and a new blade.
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no I don`t think so, the AIR cars did so well James Garner parked them and bought Lola T-70`s. SCCA racing is very different now then it was back then. now all the big (fast) cars race in the same class...GT-1, back then there was A/P (big block Corvette, Cobra) B/P (small block) and A/S (SB Camaro, Mustang etc) all running together so if you had the only car in your class you had a win, it`s still like that in vintage today where guys talk about wins because they won their class not the race overall. I would suspect that particular car has all original GM stuff it may not be original to that car but very few are, they got crashed, motors blew up and also consider in the late 70`s when GM came out with the big back window and the SCCA made the Greenwood style wide front end legal quite a few guys updated their cars...me included, I actually traded my 69 front end and rear clip (pic below) for a brand new Marson rivet gun and a Belden wire stripping tool and why not Corvette parts were everywhere and worth very little. I traded to a friend who stuck them up in the attic of his auto parts store that he sold which became a dry cleaners, I went back some years ago but the body work was long gone...probably to the garbage dump.

IMG_2648.jpg
 
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For the $3/4 million price I would expect a time capsule.
 
I don't know if it matters much but Jim Herlinger who owned and raced the AIR L-88 in the early 70's earned quite a few wins and track records with that car in SCCA A Production racing on the west coast (L-88 was repainted red with Coke sponsorship.) He was also the guy who restored it back to the AIR era and then let Dick Guldstrand drive it at the Corvette 50th bash during the 2002 Monterey Historics after spending quite a bit of money on it's restoration (before he ever had a chance to drive it.) Sadly Jim passed away this year.

Jim was a great guy and accomplished racer who was involved with many eras of racing. Jim also worked for Ford Motor Comapany in the 60's and left just before the LeMans project came along. Jim worked as a mechanical engineer on the Thunderbolt 427 Fairlanes and supported NASCAR teams during his tenure at Ford. Jim counted among his many friends the great car designer Bob Riley and distributed his Formula Vee cars on the west coast.

Here is a link with the L-88 in it's Coke livery:

http://www.sfrscca.org/content/view/9302/162/
 
racervette69 said:
Take a close look at the extra mounts on the transmission and bellhousing out to the frame.
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Saw that. Would have liked to see some more detail.

Notice the radiator. Its a Harrison aluminum radiator that was standard on the 68 327 cu inch/350 hp engines. It's too small to allow the L88 to be driven in stop and go street traffic. I can't see an engine fan? With a small radiator and no fan, I think it was contemplated that this car would be driven fast. Ya' think?

Notice the spreader bar. Plenty of room with the fan missing.

Heim jointed strut rods, but the differential attach bracket was not lowered a la Tom's bracket of today. One wonders if the strut rod to axle geometry didn't have these parts parallel.

Look at the oil pan. This is a Morosco oil pan. It's the same as the one that I have on by 70's BB engine.
I doubt that this oil pan is similar to the L88 oil pans as came from the factory.

(PS: my BB Keith Black aluminum block, Keith Black billet crank shaft, alum Brodix Heads with a SB Serpentine brackets with adapter plates and accessories and that Morosco oil pan looks really great, but the engine is missing con rods, pistons, camshaft, and valve lifter rods, etc. OK, Ok, small details, But..I'm slowly getting there.)
 
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68/70Vette said:
racervette69 said:
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Look at the oil pan. This is a Morosco oil pan. It's the same as the one that I have on by 70's BB engine.
I doubt that this oil pan is similar to the L88 oil pans as came from the factory.
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I sold Jim Herlinger some brake pads a few years ago and while on the phone he told me they pretty much perfected a swing arm oil pan pickup so the pan might be what you have (providing you have a trap door pan) but the pickup is a different animal.
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