Hi,
Question to ask C2 Corvette aficionados.
Read some stories about the reduction in horse power ratings on the L72&36 engines early 1966 Corvette production, but it's not clear why.
Anyone know the real reason for lowering the L72 engine from 450HP@6400RPM to 425HP@5600RPM.
Having owned a 1966 427 since Dec. of 1969 I've seen alot of articles on the horsepower change. The 396 of 1965 was 425 horse so it only followed that when they up the cubes to 427 they showed the horsepower as 450.
At that time the school boy street racers were every where (me included). The insurance companies were playing catch up and of course over re-acted. My insurance actually went down because I went from a 1967 GTO (considered to be the choice of boy racers) to a Corvette considered to be a more adult car. But the insurance companies were having a field day with the manufacturers if you can't insure it, you can't get financing, and if you can't get financing (as a young man) your probably not buying a new car. Around the same time (1966) GM put out many edic's. One that no car was to have better then a 10:1 weight to horsepower ratio. The other was that only sports cars could have multiple carburation. I think they kind of slipped the Corvette under the mat lowering the stickers to 425. If you show the weight as a little over 3200 pounds your still under the 10:1 but it looks like an effort. Plus again some insurance companies like mine USAA considered the Corvette to be a more adult responsibly owned car. (yea right) Any way the second edic is why all of GM's cars that had multiple carb's in 1966 lossed them in 1967, GTO, Riviera grand sport,etc. Then the Corvette that hadn't had multiple carbs since the dual quad 283 gained trips in 1967.
