Weren't some of the engines swapped even before the cars were sold? Or is that urban myth? Of the 69, how many still actually have the original engine?
With the $7300+ list price they were near impossible to sell. It's known that some were acquired only for the ZL1 engine and sold with L72 engines. Several were stolen new and the engines taken. Our project, the #4 ZL1, was raced for the '70 NHRA season with the original engine. The dealer swapped out the ZL1 for a 402 and sold it off the used car lot April '71.
Some of the cars have been reunited with their original ZL1 engines; most recently #65. Best current estimate is 18 have the original engine; 'engine' is defined here as the original VIN-stamped block. There are 5 other engines known to exist that are not with the car for whatever reason. 8 other production ZL1 engines exist but the cars they belong to have been scrapped or just aren't known. A few restored cars have production engines from one of the other cars.
