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1968 Yenko Camaro YS# 8011
Before buying this car, I went on this site and enlisted the help of several members to make sure I was secure. This was not a $3k barn find. It was found in the middle of the desert but the owner knew what it was and I paid a fair value. I want to especially thank Charley, TC and Mark for their help.
Here is the story as it was told to me. The car was owned by a sailor in the Navy stationed in the San Diego area. It was originally purchased at Jay Kline Chevrolet in Mn. I do not know how it came to Calif., but maybe him being in the service had something to do with it. The person in San Diego owned the car until about the mid 80's. I do not know how long he owned it before this time or if he was the original owner. Sometime in the mid 80's he took parts off of the car and called a wrecking yard and had it towed away. Bad move. It was actually on the back of the wrecker on it's way to the crusher when a couple of young guys stumbled across it parked in front of a fast food restaraunt, luckily the truck driver got hungry just at that time or the car would have been lost forever. The guys recognized the badges and realized the car should be saved and made a deal to buy the car on the spot for cash, cheap. The driver dumped the car on the spot and it was dragged home. Later, one of them needed transportation and traded it for a $1700. running car, believe it or not I think the car was a mustang. That is how the guy that I bought it from acquired the car. He took it to the desert and covered it and there it has remained until now. Some interesting notes about the car. When my seller got the car it had most of it's external badges intact. He was going through a divorce and actually took all of the badges off of the back panel, fender and glove box so the car wouldn't be taken by his ex-wife. That is why you can see the outlines of the badges on the car. The badges are in his garage somewhere. They were pretty crusty but we are going to find them. The car is in not bad condition considering it's been drag raced hard and sat in the desert for the last 20 years. There are a few small rust holes in the drivers front pan and the rear fender lips are messed up from big tires. The paint on the car is original including the stripes. The drivers side fender is missing. The hood was gone but my seller acquired an orig. after years of searching. It has the 140 speedo, big front swaybar, Yenko door jamb tag, Yenko type cowl tag and the seller is digging out the tach and sending unit, along with some other parts he stowed away. You can see the holes in the cowl for the sending unit. The car has a dash dash paint code on the tag but is painted Deepwater Blue. A 67 color. This was also verified by Vince Emme over the phone. The interior was std black. The Yenko tag on the fenders is over the old SS holes, not above the Camaro emblem. There was no raingutter trim or top of the door trim. The rear panel was never black. It did have a SS gas cap. It did not have spoilers. It came with PS and PDB. I and a few others have known about this car for years but I happen to be talking to the owner when he said he wanted to sell it. After a couple of weeks of talking we struck a deal. The car is now in my garage awaiting restoration. When I got it home I opened the trunk and there was a live rat still living in there. There is a picture of him to follow. He is now with Don Yenko. We dubbed the car The Desert Rat. If anyone recognizes this car or has any information about it's history I would be greatly indebted to them. There is still a Navy sticker on the back lower part of the car. I am a Bowtie fanatic and I am glad to bring this car back and put it in it's glory. Sorry I ran long but I know people like the story. I tried putting a pic but it was a little too big. |
Re: 1968 Yenko Camaro YS# 8011
https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif Congrats on your find! Another 68 found and saved..... https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...s/headbang.gif
Steve https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif |
Re: 1968 Yenko Camaro YS# 8011
Thanks. I sent some pics to Charley, when I hunt him down I will have him help me get them up. It is not pretty but I love it.
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SWEET......Love those as found pics. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...-I-Have-It.gif
Steve https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif |
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Glad to help... look forward to seeing it at a SCR.
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A long haul but I would love to go.
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Cool story..congrats and good luck with the restoration.
ALbert |
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Awesome story... can't wait to see the pics. Interesting that the Yenko emblems were put on in place of the SS emblems. This does not surprise me, as Don didn't really want the cars to be viewed as Super Sports, but rather as Yenko Sportscars. I'd be willing to bet there were other 68's done like that originally. It was common for him to remove SS badging and replace with his own, as seen in the early 69 Yenko Nova pics in another thread. Does the SS gas cap show any signs of being painted/blacked out? Odd that the rear panel wasn't painted black... likely due to the special order paint color. Did I mention I can't wait to see pics? https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/cool.gif
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Proud new owner wondering what he has gotten himself into... https://www.yenko.net/attachments/203...yenko68037.jpg
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Awesome find!!! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif I do think that's a repro cactus though...
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Nice find. How many 68 Yenkos were special paint?
James |
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I would loke to know the answer to the special paint question. Whomever ordered the car must have liked the 67 color. I would love to find out the original purchase story. Maybe someday....Also there was no extra charge for the rat excrement
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Thanks CamaroJoe,
I do not have the gascap, but it does have the hole for a SS cap?? If the rear panel was not black what color would the cap be? The seller has been collecting nos parts for years, it all goes with the car. I just have to spend a few trips digging it all out. |
Re: 1968 Yenko Camaro YS# 8011
Wow...way cool! Congrats on the purchase! Thanks for sharing the pics. Oh, thanks for the awesome story, too!
Please keep us updated on what you find...we live for this stuff! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif |
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Awesome find! Congrats to you, and best of luck in the future restoration process.
This Camaro is a great example of Yenko's creative work to get rid of the SS IDs on his converted Supercars, and the first 68 I've seen with the fender crests in lieu of the SS emblems. I wonder how they got to the nuts on the back to get the original SS emblems off, it's been suggested they were just whacked with a sharp chisel? Maybe you'll find broken studs with nuts still on them down in the bottom of the fender when you remove it, that would be awesome. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...emlins/eek.gif As for the gas cap...Yenko typically (or at least as evidenced in a few cars in original pics) painted the SS gas cap completely black, right over the white SS and chrome outer edge. I think he did this to "hide" the fact that the cars began as Super Sports and more to emphasize them as unique and totally stand alone sYc cars, not something in addition to a traditional Super Sport, unlike what Motion went after with their one upper SS427 marketing. No telling what gas cap this car had when it left Yenko. No doubt it was delivered with a standard SS cap, but Yenko may have simply sprayed it all black even on the blue rear tail same as he did the ones that came in with blackout...it's anyone's guess at this point. Again, congratulations on your find. Neat story of being saved off the hook too. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif |
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Thanks Supercar Kid https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/cool.gif
I appreciate the info. I want to put the car right. I think I like the idea of painting over the SS on the cap. Did you notice the steering wheel? It is original and it has the small SS but no 396 on it. I remember seeing 8008 the giveaway car and I think it had the fender emblems like mine? This was a Jay Kline car also. Maybe someone could post a pic? The back of the front lower valance has a grease mark with SS and 55 on it, also the frame by the steering box has the same white SS mark. |
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Thanks Mark. Here is one of the Navy sticker on the rear of the car. Thanks Charley for showing me how to post the pics. I am dangerous.
https://www.yenko.net/attachments/203...yenko68045.jpg |
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The rear panel was never black. It did have a SS gas cap. [/ QUOTE ] Just wondering about this statement, as it looks like the rear panel is black in this pic, and the gas cap is missing... I'm no expert on 68's but I know the cars were painted prior to the blackouts, so i think the blue paint under the black would be normal. Is this evidence of blue under the black your reasoning for believing it never had a black tailpanel originally? https://www.yenko.net/attachments/203...yenko68041.jpg Was the black painted on by the previous owner? And what about the SS gas cap? Do you have the original? -Joe |
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Camaro Joe
The panel is blue and was never black. The Deepwater Blue is very dark. There are a few lighter blue spots where the owner tried to sand the remnants of the emblem outlines off (see 1st post) and I think that is what you are seeing. The 4th hole being open where the gascap goes would be to hold on the SS cap? I do not have the cap. I am open to all help as very little info is known about these cars. I will post pic of Yenko # tag in a min. |
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Pic of Yenko tag. Bingo! Note steel rivets. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/naughty.gif
https://www.yenko.net/attachments/203...yenko68047.jpg |
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NICE FIND FREAK! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif
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Again...way cool!
Hopefully soon it will look like this: http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...n_DSCF3308.jpg http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...n_DSCF3309.jpg |
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Congratulations on a great find Dana. I can only imagine many sleepless nights over this one! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif
Rick |
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Camaro Joe
In reference to your question about the rear panel being blacked out or not, I am re-looking into the issue. After thinking about your question I went back out to the car. The tail is not in the sun and it is hard to tell. When I pulled it out in the desert it sure matched the paint on the car. I rubbed on it and still cannot tell the difference. I think the black would be satin or flat though and it is not. If you look at the pic again you can see what I mean when you try and compare the tail with the lower panel. This color is almost black. I am going to remove a taillight and see what is under there. If it is black I owe you an apology. Did anyone notice ralley sport taillights? Seem born in the car, with wires spliced in rear to make work?? |
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https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/worship.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/dunno.gif My apologies to Camaro Joe. I stand corrected. I washed the back of the car and took my wife out there to look in the sun(she can actually discern colors)and it was black over blue. The black was rubbing off from many washes and the colors are so close I couldn't tell. It makes sense that it is black though. I will shut up now.
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Did anyone notice ralley sport taillights? Seem born in the car, with wires spliced in rear to make work?? [/ QUOTE ] Want to post a picture of the taillights? Also not all of the SS gas caps were painted black on the Yenko's. Have seen pictures of both. Rick H |
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https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/worship.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/dunno.gif My apologies to Camaro Joe. I stand corrected. I washed the back of the car and took my wife out there to look in the sun(she can actually discern colors)and it was black over blue. The black was rubbing off from many washes and the colors are so close I couldn't tell. It makes sense that it is black though. I will shut up now. [/ QUOTE ] No apologies needed. The black on the tailpanel was originally pretty shiny, so its likely that it would be similar in sheen to the original blue paint. Don't shut up now... go take some more pics! Would love to see more. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif |
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Wow... that is an amazing find! Congrats! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif
I hope the car is not still outside... https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/haha.gif |
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75 degrees here and perfect weather, but car is going inside now. Here is taillight. ??? Car has day/night mirror and backup plug on firewall
https://www.yenko.net/attachments/203...yenko68052.jpg |
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