yenko camaro
 

68 Yenko Camaro (unconverted)on Cars online for sale
http://www.carsonline-ads.com/colsite/co...postingID=40539
What makes this 68 Camro a COPO??Could any person at that time order a 68 COPO 9737 from GM, or were they only made for Yenko?? Was the 9737 stamped on the vin# Tag??
PJ
PJ

Re: yenko camaro
 

PJ - your link is for a 68 SS convertible. To date only two of the reported 6 non-converted Yenko Camaros have been unearthed.

Re: yenko camaro
 

The link you posted is for a 68 Convertible.
James

Re: yenko camaro
 

here is the link to the camaro in question

http://www.carsonline-ads.com/colsite/co...postingID=40451

Re: yenko camaro
 

This is the Billigen car. One of two known to exist. This is the way Yenko ordered them from the factory prior to transplanting in the 427 engine. (427 was not part of the COPO ordering from the factory in '68). But other hi po COPO items (special sway bars) were available in '68. I am a novice - others will chime in. Tom passed away a few years ago and his widow owns the car now. Outstanding restoration!

Re: yenko camaro
 

http://www.cars-on-line.com/40400/68chev40451-1.jpg

Re: yenko camaro
 

Did they ever have any luck with an NICB on this car?

Re: yenko camaro
 

[ QUOTE ]
Did they ever have any luck with an NICB on this car?

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Didn't Tom buy the car new?

Re: yenko camaro
 

He sure did Dan. I remember the Kenny Ross Chev. dealership campy t.v. commercials. I think he used his grandma in them. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/laugh.gif

Re: yenko camaro
 

Sure I'm not alone when saying I have seen this car in person several times in past years and it is outstanding. If my memory serves me right, I believe Tom bought it new and then reacquired it many years later.

Re: yenko camaro
 

I would love to own that car ... https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/worship.gif

Re: yenko camaro
 

Should the value of this car be so high? I know it is a well restored low mile car with a really great story but... it is not a 427 Yenko. While I am sure everyone here would love to see it and own it at a fair price would someone pay up to own this novelty?? Should it not command a premium over a 68 396 SS but be worth far less than a 68 Yenko?

Re: yenko camaro
 

Not his gradmother, it was his Aunt Penny..If you got the deal at Kenny you get a jar of Aunt Penny's jelly.. This car was sold new at Kenny Ross. It is believed dealer traded by Yenko. The original owner never knew it was a Yenko COPO 9737 Camaro. I refound this car at a local Camaro meet near the Pittsburgh Airport,and Frank Arone tried to buy it. The deal for what ever reason did not get done. I remember it was painted black and had KILLER interior. For some reason the entire original interior was never reused in the restoration. Instead it had 100% repo door panels etc installed. I have emails from Tom asking SCW to restore this car and thanking me for my help to break that the car was a 9737 COPO....BKH

Re: yenko camaro
 

Here's the thread when Tom found his old 3737 car and bought it back...
https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/show...fpart/all/vc/1

There's a couple pics of the car at the beginning of this thread...
https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/show...?Number=312711

A few pics of the car are still alive in this old Dupont page too...
http://www.dupontregistry.com/autos/...?itemid=498103


Below is Tom's pic of his 9737 car when new sitting outside the Kenny Ross dealership...

https://www.yenko.net/attachments/63067-3.JPG


https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif
~ Pete

--------------------
I like real cars best...the REAL real ones!

Re: yenko camaro
 

[ QUOTE ]
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Did they ever have any luck with an NICB on this car?

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Didn't Tom buy the car new?

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I knew Tom bought it new off the lot @ Kenny Ross, but I was wondering if they were able to confirm the dealer trade theory or not...it would make sense that it worked like that, but the '69 COPO secret was leaked at some point as well, so there's always that possibility I suppose. Anyway, the NICB should show the original destination dealer...

Re: yenko camaro
 

Someone should invite her to the Muscle Car and Corvette National show to help it get some great feelers out on it.

Re: yenko camaro
 

supposedly the car is off the market. Rumor is it traded

Re: yenko camaro
 

Did the original engine ever get reunited with the car? Is the L88 still in it??

Re: yenko camaro
 

Please remove the air shocks.

Re: yenko camaro
 

[ QUOTE ]
Should the value of this car be so high? I know it is a well restored low mile car with a really great story but... it is not a 427 Yenko. While I am sure everyone here would love to see it and own it at a fair price would someone pay up to own this novelty?? Should it not command a premium over a 68 396 SS but be worth far less than a 68 Yenko?

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Exactly what I was thinking when I read the sales ad description.

Yenko sold a lot of family cars too. When WE think of a Yenko Camaro, WE think of either an early transplanted engine car OR a later COPO that had the factory installed 427. Either way, a 427 car.

Re: yenko camaro
 

Maybe when "WE" think of Yenko's as 427 cars "WE" are not really a Yenko enthusiast. One of only a handful of Yenko conceived COPO Camaros is a special car, and certainly NOT a family car as you refer to it as. Any Yenko performance car has a special place in history. What a value is, seems to be for most the only thing they think about. I'll take any L/78 or 302 Yenko performance cars that nobody else doesn't want. When you show me the next 68 COPO 396 Yenko Camaro let me in on it first. IS a Mr.Norm Hemi car just another Hemi? I doubt it to most. Its the dealer name connected to the car. I imagine most MoPar collectors would rather have a Mr Norm car..BKH https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/dunno.gif

Re: yenko camaro
 

[ QUOTE ]
Maybe when "WE" think of Yenko's as 427 cars "WE" are not really a Yenko enthusiast. One of only a handful of Yenko conceived COPO Camaros is a special car, and certainly NOT a family car as you refer to it as. Any Yenko performance car has a special place in history. What a value is, seems to be for most the only thing they think about. I'll take any L/78 or 302 Yenko performance cars that nobody else doesn't want. When you show me the next 68 COPO 396 Yenko Camaro let me in on it first. IS a Mr.Norm Hemi car just another Hemi? I doubt it to most. Its the dealer name connected to the car. I imagine most MoPar collectors would rather have a Mr Norm car..BKH https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/dunno.gif

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Well said! ..and I agree. Heck, I'd take ANY cool 60's Chevy originally sold through Yenko vs. one sold elsewhere...

Re: yenko camaro
 

I think you have mis-interpeted what I was trying to say.

It is funny that you use the example of a Mr. norm's hemi car. It makes no difference WHAT dealer sold a car like that unless it has something to do with that dealer had something to do with it being something different than a car that any other dealer could have sold.

The difference with a Yenko conversion car or a Yenko COPO car is that they were the first ones to DO it or realize they could make such an order. therefore they were only done buy them. It is what the car actually WAS, not the DEALER that happened to THINK of it or do it.

Anyone that "buys into" the idea that a car is worth more because it was something that was order/sold sold by a particular DEALER that was also available from any other dealer that sold the same thing is just kidding themselves. There were dealers all over the country that sold those same cars.

Now if you were comparing it to something like a 1968 Mr. Norm's GSS (the car that set the stage for the later 1969 440 Darts) it would be a comparable example to a Yenko early conversion or later COPO that Yenko as well as a few other dealers that also ordered COPO cars it would be a like comparision.

The 1968 GSS was ONLY available from Mr. Norm's and therefore makes it something "special" with regards to the dealer it came from simply because he was the only one offering them. He had to commit to buy a minimum of 50 before Chrysler would build them.

Re: yenko camaro
 

I agree to disagree with you on this one..BKH

Re: yenko camaro
 

[ QUOTE ]
I agree to disagree with you on this one..BKH

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No problem there. We all have our own options and what some people choose to asign value to is their own business with regards to how they spend THEIR money.

Your not the first and certainly will not be the last to disagree with me. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif

Re: yenko camaro
 

My original question was Why is this Camaro a Copo??
Why is my 68 Camaro l78 m22 488 factory orderd ss not a copo
just like the one on cars on line??????My car has just about as much history and maybe a little more.
pj

Re: yenko camaro
 

[ QUOTE ]
My original question was Why is this Camaro a Copo??
Why is my 68 Camaro l78 m22 488 factory orderd ss not a copo
just like the one on cars on line??????My car has just about as much history and maybe a little more.
pj

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Was your car ordered with the COPO 9737 options as this car was. If it was, then it is a COPO. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ins/3gears.gif

Re: yenko camaro
 

The '68 COPO Yenko Camaros were the first ever hi-po Camaros ordered by Yenko to use as a platform for the 427 program. Specially designed parts were used in these cars. A 140 MPH speedo, a very large for the time 1 1/16inch sway bar, As a matter of fact these were worded by GM as Yenko Sports Car Conversion 9737. Special MV code 396/375 that was emission tested with the 427 engine program in mind. Without these cars, there would most likely be no 427 COPO Camaro as we now it today. These cars used the unique "Magic Mirror" trim plates to further separate them from NORMAL 396 cars. @ 70 units were sent to Yenko, not counting prototypes. This number was chosen for the 50 units NHRA needed to classify these cars for competition. Yenko was considered the manufacturer on these cars. So why are these cars considered rare to some? I guess most users of the Yenko board think that way..BKH

Re: yenko camaro
 

[ QUOTE ]
The '68 COPO Yenko Camaros were the first ever hi-po Camaros ordered by Yenko to use as a platform for the 427 program. Specially designed parts were used in these cars. A 140 MPH speedo, a very large for the time 1 1/16inch sway bar, As a matter of fact these were worded by GM as Yenko Sports Car Conversion 9737. Special MV code 396/375 that was emission tested with the 427 engine program in mind. Without these cars, there would most likely be no 427 COPO Camaro as we now it today. These cars used the unique "Magic Mirror" trim plates to further separate them from NORMAL 396 cars. @ 70 units were sent to Yenko, not counting prototypes. This number was chosen for the 50 units NHRA needed to classify these cars for competition. Yenko was considered the manufacturer on these cars. So why are these cars considered rare to some? I guess most users of the Yenko board think that way..BKH

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Very well put Brian... There is no doubt these were/are special cars special built and configured cars based Don Yenko's request.

Re: yenko camaro
 

[ QUOTE ]
My original question was Why is this Camaro a Copo??
Why is my 68 Camaro l78 m22 488 factory orderd ss not a copo
just like the one on cars on line??????My car has just about as much history and maybe a little more.
pj

[/ QUOTE ]

Simple your car was ordered using the standard ordering process. The original owner selected RPO's available to any dealer and listed on price/order sheets. This is not to say it is not special, just not a Yenko/COPO.

Re: yenko camaro
 

I think it's crazy to suggest the selling dealer doesn't mean anything unless the car is an ultra-high performance model. You're telling me if you had a pair of Hemi Challengers side by side, one from Grand Spalding/Mr. Norm and one from Joe Shmoe Dodge down the street, you wouldn't pick the Mr. Norm sold car? Of course you would.

Heck, I'd take an old Chevy C10 Fleetside with a glovebox full of Yenko paper over a similar one from somewhere else... i don't know of too many folks who wouldn't.

Re: yenko camaro
 

[ QUOTE ]
The '68 COPO Yenko Camaros were the first ever hi-po Camaros ordered by Yenko to use as a platform for the 427 program. Specially designed parts were used in these cars. A 140 MPH speedo, a very large for the time 1 1/16inch sway bar, As a matter of fact these were worded by GM as Yenko Sports Car Conversion 9737. Special MV code 396/375 that was emission tested with the 427 engine program in mind. Without these cars, there would most likely be no 427 COPO Camaro as we now it today. These cars used the unique "Magic Mirror" trim plates to further separate them from NORMAL 396 cars. @ 70 units were sent to Yenko, not counting prototypes. This number was chosen for the 50 units NHRA needed to classify these cars for competition. Yenko was considered the manufacturer on these cars. So why are these cars considered rare to some? I guess most users of the Yenko board think that way..BKH

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Thank you for explaining the COPO 9737 option. That in itself does prove it to be a true COP order and it obviously does set it apart with the items included in that option number. However, the car did not have the INTENDED 427 installed so it is NOT what we typically expect to find in a Yenko COPO.

So, what does the 9737 option REALLY add to the value in this particular case? I think THAT is what was really being asked here. It certainly can't add the same value as one that HAS the 427. It is simply a peculuarity in my book.

Re: yenko camaro
 

[ QUOTE ]
I think it's crazy to suggest the selling dealer doesn't mean anything unless the car is an ultra-high performance model. You're telling me if you had a pair of Hemi Challengers side by side, one from Grand Spalding/Mr. Norm and one from Joe Shmoe Dodge down the street, you wouldn't pick the Mr. Norm sold car? Of course you would.

Heck, I'd take an old Chevy C10 Fleetside with a glovebox full of Yenko paper over a similar one from somewhere else... i don't know of too many folks who wouldn't.

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If they were identical cars I would probably by the Mr. Norm's car simply because I was selling Dodges new from 1968-74 about 150 miles from his dealership and heard his advertisements on WLS radio constantly. Would I pay anything extra for it, NO, not one dime.

The only two things that were different in the two example cars you use is that the Mr. Norm's car would have had a "Dyno Tuned" sticker on the window and a recurved disrtibutor which consisted of different weights in the distributor and reseting the carb when it was on the dyno. Which, BTW was done to ALL of the hipo cars that they sold AND charged extra for which at that time I believe was $20.00 or under. That is the only difference between a car sold there vs. and other Dodge dealer selling a like car.

Re: yenko camaro
 

I don't know.......if there were two cars next to each other and I knew one was sold at my local Chevy dealer as opposed to Joe Schmoe Chevrolet I would definitely pay a premium. It adds to the "cool" factor IMO. Like you MultiMopars, I worked in the car business for 10 years. Maybe that is why I feel that way about the selling dealers.

Heck, there is a collector on this board who has assembled one of the best muscle car collections out there and the theme of his cars is that they are all Chicago area sold. That makes his collection so much more significant because of what it took to accomplish this amazing feat.

Re: yenko camaro
 

Yeah, everyone has specific reasons that may be dear to their hearts as the reasoning that they MIGHT pay more for a given car. It simply would not be any signifigant value adder for me.

I can see someone paying a LITTLE more if the car came from their hometown dealer. Not me now living in rust free AZ. and my old hometown dealership that I worked for being in the N.W. Illinois RUSTBELT where if it hadn't rusted into the ground it would certainly have rust issues if it had not left there early in life for a better climate.

Re: yenko camaro
 

"Did the original engine ever get reunited with the car? Is the L88 still in it??"

Tom told me some years ago that he had the original engine in the car. He sent me a pic of the pad-stamp also.

Re: yenko camaro
 

As I recall the story, Tom installed the L88 early on, and kept the L78 in his garage...don't know why. Then when he found the car, he reunited it with the original motor.

Re: yenko camaro
 

I believe there are a couple of 68 Yenko's with their transplanted engine and orig delivered L78 engine as well. It is my understanding that orig L78 short block were sold via local papers. Over the years some have come up for sale and reunited.

Re: yenko camaro
 

A yenko is a yenko and a copo is a copo no matter what dealer sold it.

Re: yenko camaro
 

Didn't those L78 engines have a different carb as well? I thought I remembered a discussion about the EPA certification papers for that engine code, was it MQ? Anyway, I thought it was a bigger carb than the normal L78 carb so Don could just swap it onto the 427 he was planning on installing. It's definitely a unique piece of GM history but it's always tough to guess at how much value is added. People buy specific cars for their own personal reasons and will pay extra because of it.