1969 CORVETTE L71 427 / 435 HP, Original Tank Sticker, 4 year NCRS Restoration

Description for Chevrolet Corvette 1969

The very first time I saw a C3 I was just 11 years old & right then I said, some day I'm going to own one of them"!And just 8 years later the "very first car" that I ever bought was a 1975 C3 Corvette. A few years later, arried & with our first son on the way, sold this carto become a down paymenton ourvery first home.I vowed that one day I wouldown a C3 again. Roll ahead 20 years & my search finally began. I decided thata '69 C3chrome bumper, igh horsepower, as the one I wanted & the search was on. After a few months of searching & with a chance meeting one of the very best Corvette restorer's in North America, found a '69 L-71 "Basket Case" sitting in a Corvette collector's collection in Tulsa, klahoma.The Collectorhad unfortunately recently passed away and his widow was selling off allthe cars in his collection.

I had originally listed this car for sale on eBay in early October & out of courtesy, made the original owner Robert & his younger brother Bill, he 4th owner of the car &an individual I had made contact with when I acquired the car in 2002, ware that I was selling the car on eBay.

The car had several bids during the firstweek thru the eBay listing, ut it didn't hit my Reserve Price. So I relisted the car & again immediately got a few bids. I received a phone call from the Original Owner Robert on thesecondday of this listing & heasked / beggedme to remove the car from my eBay listing, s he wanted to buy the car. This of course was 42 years after he had sold it to the second owner in 1973. So we agreed on a sale price & I removed it from my eBay listing. As I was sure that the car would be purchased by Robert / Bill, never asked for a deposit & for the past 2 1/2 months I have been dealing with bothRobert & Billregarding the purchase. I have finally run out of patience waiting for payment, o I am re-listing the car for sale again. In this listingI have lowered my Reserve Price to the reduced price I was going to sell it to the original owner (who is now 72), s I thought it was fitting that the car should go back to him & had compromised on the selling price.

So their loss is your gain & below is the info from my original listing back in October.

The original owner Robert of this '69 L-71 427 / 435 HP automaticlived in Spokane, ashington.

He had a '65 Corvette with 396 4 speed, ut lost his right arm in an industrial accident @ work, o he ordered a '69 L-71 thru a local Spokane dealer with an automatic transmissio, o he didn't have to shift gears!!

Hewas so anxious to get the car that he flew to the factory in St. Louis to take delivery, icked up the car & drove it home. Apparently his first race wasoutrunning a 428 Cobra Jet, ot yet 30 miles out of St. Louis!!

Shortly after getting it home he removed thestock wheels & put a set of custom rims on the car. There is a picture I acquired from Bill showing the car with these rims in '69.

Robertkept the car for 4 years & then sold it in '73 toFred, lsofrom Spokane &Freddrovethe carthru the mountains on his honeymoon!

Fredsold the cartwo years later to a ladyin Spokane in the spring of '75,but shefound the carhad too much power for her, o inlate '75 she put the car up for sale.

Fortunately the original owner's younger brother Bill saw the car was for sale & bought the car from her inSeptember '75, ithBill becoming the 4th owner.

Heput a Baldwin Motion paint job on the car that fall & in mid '76 while driving the car helost control &went off the road & hit a sign post, oing some minor right front body & frame damage.

Hehad a friend who owned a '69 350 HP convertible, ohetook the engine, ransmission & rear endout ofthe L-71 & put it into the convertible.

His plan was to eventually fix the front end of the L-71 coupe & then replace the drive train that had been moved to the convertible.

Before he couldstart work onthe coupe, he convertible backfired & caught on fire & thenthere wasno car to drive, o both cars were parked!!

Time went by & in 1990Bill decided it was time to get the L-71 back on the road, o he disassembled theL-71 & started sending parts to be re-chromed & anodized, ut quickly ran out of money & stopped! In '92 he decided to sell the "cars", s the engine, ransmission & rear endout ofthe L-71 were still in the convertible!

A car collector, ans, n Tulsa, klahomahad a '69 L-71 4 speed Corvette coupe & wanted a '69 L-71 automatic coupe to add to his collection.

A good friend of his in Tulsa, oy, asthe National Judging Chairman for NCRS&Hans askedRoyto findanL-71 automatic for him!

Roy found the numbers matchingL-71, ravelled to Spokane & bought both cars from Bill.He shipped both cars back to Tulsa.

From '92 until 2000 Hans acquired many NOS parts for the L-71, uch that when I acquired & Imported the two cars into Canada, here was also six crates of parts!

So why did Hanssell the cars; well he didn't!!

Unfortunately in 2000 hepassed away, o his wife sold off his car collection & askedRoy, Corvette expert & gentleman who had originally found & acquired the cars for Hans,tosell his Corvette collection.

In fact, f you watched the January 2014Barrett Jackson Scottsdale Auction,Roy,who had bought a few Corvettes from Han's collection, old two of the highest dollar Corvettes@ the BJ auction& both of these were from Han's Corvette collection!!