Whitetop, yes, I "think" we are talking about the same Monza. Interestingly enough, (assuming it "is" the same car) I have been chatting lately with the new owner, Mr. Lefever, of said Monza, or more precisely his son Kyle. Anyway, the monza does have the IMSA flares, but is not a Dekon monza. It was originally owned by Jim Trueman (owner of Red Roof Inns.) I'm not sure if Don Yenko ever owned the car or not, but he did drive it a couple of times. A guy by the name of Kim Mason crewed on the car for awhile and when it went for sale, he bought it. (Kim M. is the very Kim Mason that came up in another forum a couple weeks ago. He runs and owns Yenko Honda in McMurry, PA. and has been a road racer for years. He was and employee/friend of Don Yenko, and also the developmental engineer on the Yenko Turbo Z (Camaro) program from 79-81.)
Anyway, once the car was ineligible for IMSA GT in the 80's, the car's body was changed from a Monza to a Corvette (at the time the wheelbase was the same length). Eventually more rules changes forced Kim into deciding whether to completely change the chassis, or convert it back into the Monza as it was
originally. He decided to put the Monza bodywork back on and sell it to a vintage racer or museum. Kyle and his dad followed the car for awhile and then decided they wanted to vintage race and that this would be a great car to have. The Trueman/Yenko Monza was raced fairly regulary in IMSA Camel GT. It was raced in the 24 hours of Daytona several times as well as the 12 hours of Sebring, once with Bobby Rahal as a co-driver w/ Herb Adams & Jerry Thompson. At
one time the car had a Chevy big block in it, but it currently has a 358 small block residing in it. The car was a middle-of-the-pack car, with a best finish of fifth at a season finale in Daytona. It raced in Monza configuration from 1976 to 1984. The Lefevers bought it and hope to vintage race the car by spring. I met them through a request that came through looking for old Camel GT decals to help them in the car's restoration. I've been helping Kyle and his Dad with possible sources for those decals.
Dave (whitetop), if you still have that article, and haven't put it up for auction on Ebay yet, consider it sold! Give me an email at
[email protected].
Bkhpah, I'd love to see what info you have as well.... am looking forward to it.
Ken