1968 Chevrolet Corvette L88 RED/NART Le Mans

1968 Chevrolet Corvette L88 RED/NART Le Mans
Estimate $1,400,000 - $2,000,000
RM | Sotheby's - MONTEREY 2015
Built by Toye English’s RED team as the successor to the legendary “Rebel”
Completed the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans, finished in NART livery!
Finished 1st in class and 3rd overall at the 1973 24 Hours of Daytona
Beautifully and authentically restored by Kevin Mackay
Displayed in the Bloomington Gold Special Collection
Exhaustive file of documentation and history, including original correspondence
Certified by the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association
560 bhp, 427 cu. in. OHV L88 V-8 engine, four-speed M22 “Rock-Crusher” manual transmission, four-wheel independent suspension, and front and rear power-assisted J56 disc brakes with twin-pin calipers. Wheelbase: 98 in.
RED & NART
Having dominated the southern Florida racing scene for three years with his factory-built, lightweight, L88-powered 1968 Corvette, Orland “Or” Costanzo sold the car to his team manager, Toye English, midway through the 1971 season. English continued campaigning the car under his new, independent operation, Race Engineering & Development (RED), with a striking “Stars & Bars” livery, a jab at competitor John Greenwood’s “Stars & Stripes” Corvettes, giving it the lasting nickname of “The Rebel.”

Aided by back-door assistance from Zora Arkus-Duntov and Chevrolet Engineering, The Rebel continued racking up the wins in 1972. In addition to its performance at Daytona, The Rebel had a remarkable turn at the 12 Hours of Sebring, qualifying an unimpressive 13th but almost immediately taking the lead and never relinquishing it: Heinz led the GT class for the entire 12 hours and finished 1st in the GT class and 4th overall.

For all its racing victories, though, there was one thing The Rebel could not do: compete at Le Mans. It did not qualify; rules stated that any GT-class entrants had to use a majority of factory parts or original-style equipment. As a result, RED’s application was denied, only to have team sponsor Goodyear finagle their way into Luigi Chinetti’s NART reserve slot, on the condition that RED’s Corvette be finished in Ferrari livery. English’s team accepted, and the race was on to build a new Corvette specifically to run at Le Mans.

THE #4 CORVETTE

The team reviewed the Le Mans rulebook carefully, discovering that GT entries had to have a complete interior. English bought a wrecked 1968 small block Corvette convertible from an insurance auction in Miami for a paltry $600. Any damaged parts were discarded, including the frame, which was replaced with a new frame purchased for $159 from Ferman Chevrolet, the workplace of The Rebel’s original owner, Or Costanzo. FIA-spec fender flares were installed on the repaired, seam-welded body before a host of fresh GM driveline components were installed, all of which came through the back door at the factory. A freshly blueprinted L88 provided the power. According to team PR man Walt Thurn, the engine was detuned with a milder cam, lower-compression pistons, and a reduced 5,800-rpm redline, to emphasize durability over power for the GT class.

A red, white, and blue NART paint scheme was applied, complete with Ferrari’s Prancing Horse logo on the door. It took eight weeks and RED was ready for Le Mans with their new #4 car (#57 was already claimed).

Once in France, courtesy of a lift from sponsor TWA, the team found out that Ferrari had withdrawn its prototypes from the race, and the Corvette’s reserve slot had just become a guaranteed entry.

LE MANS, 1973

After passing the tech inspection, the Corvette took to the circuit for practice. Its drivers, Dave Heinz and Bob Johnson, quickly learned the nuances of the famed loop, but near the end of practice, Johnson skidded on a plastic banner that had blown onto the track and crashed at 100 mph. He was unhurt, but the Corvette sustained some heavy damage to its front end. Ever resourceful, the team stripped off the damaged fiberglass, pop-riveted aluminum sheet metal in place, disassembled a shipping crate for wooden support struts, and covered the whole assembly with duct tape. When questioned by incredulous race officials about the improvised front end’s ability to sustain the stresses of an endurance race, one team member responded by jumping up and down on the new nose. It held and RED was back in the race.

There was another challenge to be dealt with too: sponsor TWA had heard of the accident and withdrew its sponsorship just before the race. The plucky privateer crew managed to secure a BP sponsorship at the last minute, slapping BP decals over the TWA globes already on the car’s flanks.
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