The ultimate C3 Shark

[Nassau65]

Which do you consider to be the ultimate Corvette shark.
The year has to be 1969, and the two contenders in my opinion are the L88 or the ZL1
I have driven a friends L88 20 odd years ago and didn’t like it much.
I have seen Roger Judski’s ZL1 in his maitland Orlando showroom and it looked fantastic.
I absolutely love the special ZL1 stripe.

 

[Roscobbc]

Guess I'm biased but prefer the 'clipped' front and rear fender openings of the '68 and '69 - and the '68 being the only year with separate back-up lights and four fully illuminated red rear lights. Also the '68 for the cleaner passenger facia (without map pocket).
Overall though I think the '71 has the best combination of features. It's interesting to hear comments and read about peoples experiences driving and trying to live with the very few L88 that are street driven. Many people also reported the unpleasantness and difficult of driving on the street.
Myself, having had other makes of big block cars years ago with silly high numerical axle ratios and ridiculous cams rendering the car almost gutless below 1800-2000 rpm I fully understand where you are coming from.
When selecting components for the engine build of my '68 I wanted an build with similar power output to the legendary L88........but to generate that power at rpm's 1000/1500 lower than the L88 engine, prioritising street flexibility. Seemed to have acheived that aim (and picked-up a mpg improvement of perhaps 10%)