There are a lot of significant Corvettes out there. The first fuelie, the first big block, the first car of any Corvette generation or model year, etc. Many of these cars get locked away in a museum and seldom, if ever, see use on the road. When we stumbled across this video of EX-87, “the Duntov Mule”, which now resides in the Lingenfelter Collection we had to pass it along. Click past the jump to take a fresh look at the first V8 equipped Corvette.
The nearly 12 minute long video hosted by Big Muscle’s Mike Musto is shot on location at the Lingenfelter Collection near Detroit. An interview with Ken Lingenfelter, head honcho at Lingenfelter Performance Engineering (LPE) is mixed in with clips of EX-87 out and about at a local metro park, a great history lesson on why it’s called the “Duntov Mule” and therefore so important to us Corvette geeks, and some gratuitous modern LPE performance in a later model Corvette. We’re especially fond of the wonderful sounds that both EX-87 and the LPE C4 emit from the tailpipes. Fast forward to the 3:20 mark for said aural satisfaction from the C1.
The story of EX-87 is pretty well known. As the Corvette sales and performance languished during early production, Zora Duntov gave it a much needed injection of testosterone. That all began with the white car seen in the video. He had it fitted with a prototype V8 that featured the first use of the infamous Duntov cam. Next up was a trip to Daytona for a record setting speed run using EX-87’s motor in a different Corvette. Lingenfelter’s Mike Copeland fills us in more of the details including the fact that the motor and car were separated for 47 years before being reunited.
The video wraps up with Musto enjoying some seat time in a LPE-modified C4 while cruising through a local metro park. This where we get to listen to some more good ole V8 thunder.
Now sit back, relax, and enjoy one very cool video.
