1968 Chevrolet Corvette SunRay DX L88 Race car

• Prepared for Racing by Don Yenko
• Raced by Yenko, Revson, Rodriguez at Daytona and Sebring
• 4th in Class Daytona 1968
• Don Yenko’s personal car
• Winner of the American Heritage Award from NCRS

The mythical L88 power plants beginnings are routed in Motorsports. Director of General Motors performance devision Zora Arkus-Duntov, wanted to give Corvette owners the ability to take a car off the showroom floor and have the ability to go and win races. When properly optioned with the L88 package and prepared, these cars were formidable on circuits in both the US and Europe. From 1967-1969 only 216 L88’s were built. Although many of these were never used for their intended purpose on circuits, thus making it quite rare to find an example with period history.

Don Yenko at the behest of the Sunray DX oil company ordered a new L88 Corvette which he was to prepare for the 1968 24 hours of Daytona. When his order could not be filled in time, Yenko took a Rally Red 435/427 convertible from his dealership and converted it into a fully fledged race car. This transformation included installing a factory-fresh L88 engine, rollbar, fuel cell, and other racing equipment, thus creating the legend of the “showroom” car.

The 1968 24 hours of Daytona marked the debut of the iconic Mako-shark-inspired body styles foray into racing. After a promising start where the duo of Yenko and Revson saw the #29 Corvette climb as high as 8th overall during the race the car then experienced mechanical problems. Only the raw talent and willpower of Yenko and Revson were able to bring the car home 25th overall and 4th in the GT class.

After the promising start at Daytona, the team arrived at the 12 hours of Sebring with a bright outlook. Yenko was teamed up with another world-renowned driver Pedro Rodriguez, and set a new GT lap record as car #2. Unfortunately, the notoriously rough track was too much for the car, and it had to be retired.

The car was one of two Sunray DX L88 Corvettes entered and accepted for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1968. Due to strikes the cars were not able to make it to the mandatory practice in April. This nullified their acceptance to run the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Sunray DX company was purchased by Sunoco before they were able to prepare for racing the next season so the team was disbanded and the car was then given back to Don Yenko.

Yenko then used this car as his personal car. His most notable accomplishment was winning the Midwest SCCA A-Production driving title. In 2007, this Corvette won the coveted American Heritage Award, signifying its legacy at the NCRS National Convention in Boston. This racer has a complete chain of ownership, including the window sticker and an extensive trail of paperwork.

We are proud to offer this automobile for sale in Miami Beach at our pop-up location.