Every so often, a message pops into our inbox that gets our curiosity running full throttle. This week, a Barn Finds reader sent us one of those notes—the kind that makes you stop what you’re doing and start digging through old Corvette history. They’re searching for a very unusual 1969 Corvette ZL1 Coupe, and they’re hoping the Barn Finds community might be able to help connect the dots.
On the surface, the car was a white, saddle-interior ’69 Corvette coupe. Nice combo, but nothing too wild. But look a little closer and things get interesting fast. According to the owner:
- It was running a ZL1 aluminum 427
- Had ZL1/L88-style fender flares
- Wore the correct L88 components and hardware
- Even had ZL1 labeling inside the car
For those who know their Corvettes, that’s enough to make your eyebrows hit the ceiling. Only two ZL1 Corvettes were built from the factory in 1969, so any car that had a real ZL1 engine dropped in early in its life becomes instantly fascinating.
The earliest known chapter of this car’s story starts in Atlanta, Georgia, where it was owned by a gentleman named Mr. Hunnicutt. The timeline is fuzzy, but it’s believed he purchased it in the early ’80s—or maybe even earlier. One thing’s for sure: a white ’69 with big flares and an aluminum big-block would’ve been hard to miss around town. There’s no information before his ownership, but a decade is a long time for there to be no records or accounts of the car and its original owner. Somebody in Atlanta had to have seen or heard this thing. It wouldn’t have exactly snuck around unnoticed.
In 1987, the Corvette changed hands and ended up in New Jersey, tucked away in a warehouse. One surviving photo (included above) shows the car squeezed between other vehicles, still wearing its flares and blue plate. And then… the trail goes cold. That’s the last known sighting of the car. No records. No stories. Nothing.
Cars like this usually lived hard lives among racers, engine builders, speed shops, and the kind of folks who cared more about performance than future collectability. Because of that, their paper trails often evaporate. But the stories don’t have to. This is one of those cars that deserves to have its history preserved—whatever that history turns out to be.
The current owner is trying to put together:
- Ownership history
- Old paperwork
- Photos
- Verbal stories
- Shop memories
- Anything tied to the car’s time in Georgia or New Jersey
They’re especially looking for anyone who:
- Knew Mr. Hunnicutt in Atlanta
- Saw the car at local shows or shops
- Worked on big-block Corvettes in the area
- Recognizes the New Jersey warehouse where it ended up
- Has even the smallest detail that could help fill in the gaps
- Even if you only vaguely remember a loud white ’69 with flares, we want to hear from you.
If this Corvette rings any bells—if you saw it, raced against it, worked on it, or just remember the name Hunnicutt from the Atlanta car scene—drop a comment below or send us a message. As always, the Barn Finds community has brought lost cars back from the shadows before. Maybe we can do it again.
You are correct that cars like these don’t go unnoticed and they were often were driven hard. (Many years ago I had a friend who bought a Corvette on a Thursday and totaled it three days later – much to the disgust of its former owner.) But there are so many classic cars that sit idle in garages, barns and elsewhere so maybe it’s still out there.
I know a little about this car, but I assume you have the original owner info. My knowledge starts with a mention of this car in the book “American Muscle” by Randy Leffingwell. I live close to the original dealer that sold the car in Magna, Utah. I was talking to a salesman who was working at the dealership in 1992 and he asked around and discovered a few details that weren’t in the book. The car was originally shipped to a dealer in Provo, Utah and they traded the ZL1 for 2 Corvettes to Gus Poulos Chevrolet.
Mont, This is a different car. The one you are speaking of is a white coupe with a black stripe and black interior. It is an early vin 67xx that was in the Otis Chandler collection years ago.
This car is a late 69 built car and has saddle leather interior and has fender flares.
There were 2 RPO ZL1 cars built in 1969 by the GM records we have, some say more were built. The yellow ZL1 owned by Roger in Florida is one of the verified original ZL1’s. The white coupe that was in Utah and the orange convertible have a lot of questions surrounding their authenticity as factory built ZL1’s. Most experts believe that both cars were factory built L88’s raced with ZL1 engines as they are both early build cars before the open chambered L88/ZL1 heads were available.
Here is the yellow ZL1 coupe
The orthodox wisdom is there are two “real” ZL1s (a Daytona Yellow coupe and a Monaco Orange roadster). It’s unclear how many originally were assembled (most sources cite between four and six) by Chevrolet for engineering and other purposes but the consensus is only two survived being scrapped or re-purposed. The yellow one appears never to have been changed from its original configuration while the orange car appeared in competition powered by both a ZL1 and L88 engine. That’s why the Corvette community’s “moderate” faction say there are two ZL1s while the hard-liners in the originality police insist only the yellow coupe is authentic. The yellow coupe was the one in Roger Judski’s now closed Corvette Centre in Florida and he belonged to the moderate faction.
ACB the yellow car is a bulletproof ZL1. The orange convertible no so much. The car has questionable paperwork including two different dealer invoices presented to the car with different pricing and engine stamp numbers on them. It does not have the original motor, although it was represented as such a few years ago. In my opinion based on the research I have done, I believe it was a factory built L88 raced with a ZL1 engine. That is also the belief of all the judges I have spoken to regarding the car. It’s a cool car with racing history but for a lot of reasons it has not been accepted by the Corvette community as one of the factory built ZL1’s.
There were 2 ZL1 69 Corvettes factory built and 69 ZL1 Camaros factory built. There are a number of documented original engine ZL1 Camaro’s that have survived. Other than the hood no modifications were factory made to the L88/ZL1 cars… no fender flares. A tank sticker (corvette) and a broadcast sheet (Camaro) would document the options including the ZL1 engine. Both of these were placed on the top of the gas tank on the assembly line. Good day all.
Peteb the RPO ZL1 option for the 69 Corvette was an aluminum cylinder case option added to the mandatory L88 engine option. It also received the RPO ZL1 hood stripe as documented in the 69 AIM. Of course the L88 option brought with it a number of differences from the other big block engine options including J56 heavy duty brakes, M22 transmission, different radiator, radio block off plate etc. The yellow coupe is the only 69 ZL1 Corvette that has verified paperwork at this time. Here is the tank sticker for the car.
I belong to the originality police and agree with you. Others must be more accommodating of the murky history because at auction in January 2023, the orange convertible realized US$3.14 million. Given that, it’s anyone’s guess what the pedigreed yellow car would attract.
ACB, I know Roger and he will never sell the car. It will get passed to family. That said, I know that people have tried to buy the car over the years and the number would be north of $10 million IMHO.
Considering all of the questions surrounding the orange car, I was surprised that the car sold for over $3million. Like the white coupe with the black stripe, the orange car is too early to have been a factory built ZL1 car. George, who ordered the yellow car told me that it was the first production ZL1 built. As a production engineer he would know. Again, the open chambered heads used on the late 69 L88 cars and the ZL1’s didn’t hit production until May of 1969, so George’s statement aligns with the GM engineering data.
I also spoke with a number of employees that are still alive and they told me the the other ZL1 was an M22 coupe and that they never built and shipped an orange convertible ZL1 in 1969.
The yellow car was ordered new by George Heberling, the resident production engineer. I have spoken to him many times about his car and the ordering/build process at the plant. He left the plant to work at another plant and the car sat in the back of the St. Louis plant. Eventually it was sold to Henchler Chevrolet in Va in Nov of 1969. Here is the internal paperwork.
Here is the internal GM car shipper