Was it a real L88?

[Dave Rifkin]

Back around 1973 my parents had a house in Ventnor, NJ. They had a buccaneer red, white interior, 4 speed, 455 Trans Am at the time. At the end of the street was an apartment building that was frequented by folks who would come down for the summer.
One such gentleman also had a 1973 Trans Am but his was buccaneer red, black interior, automatic, 455 with honeycomb rims. He also had a 1969 Corvette convertible that was an unusual gold color (not Riverside gold; it probably was not a factory color). It had flat black side pipes an L88 hood that had "L88" decals on each side.

This Corvette could have been a real L88 as he was a lawyer from Maryland and probably could have afforded one at that time. I have my doubts though as I know he replaced the standard "455" decals on the TA hood scoop with the "SD-455" decals. Who's to say this Corvette was just a 427 car that someone put an L88 hood on and added some decals?

I tell this long winded story here because over the years I have seen where the group here seems to know of almost every important car around; it truly is amazing the wealth of knowledge on this one site.

If it helps, the gentleman's last name was Rappaport and he was a lawyer in Maryland somewhere.

I'm just curious to know if he really had an L88 or if it was just a big block made to look like one.