'69 Original Yenko Nova

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Rob;
I am not certain about the fender antenna indicating an AM-FM, but I believe that is the case. When only an AM radio is installed, the antenna is in the windshield unless the customer specifically orders the fender antenna.

I would agree with Brian about the SYC on the headrests. These rests are short with a serious curve at the top, which would make it hard to keep them on.

It is really hard to obtain early photos of '69 Yenko Novas, special thanks goes to RowdyRat who persisted for quite some time to obtain these! Also, thanks to Joe Grom of 'Chevy II Only' for the 'discovery' story. These kinds of photos do raise a lot of questions, which was the purpose for this post.

The F41 package can be determined by looking on the underside of the trunk floor, above where the muffler is installed. If it is an F41 car, there will be brackets welded into the floor for the two short vertical bars from the rear sway bar portion of the package. All of the '70 Yenko Novas have F41 suspension, even though GM only offered it on SS cars. The '70 COPO 9737 is thought to have superceded this, and included the F41 package. It would be interesting to see if any of the '69 Yenko Novas were ordered with this option first, which made Don order it on all of the '70 Yenko Novas. It is usefull for traction since the force is applied behind the rear wheels, it is worth a few hundreths in the 1/4 mile. Take a look under your car, they are not real big, but they will be obvious.

Marlin

[MikeA]

I remember reading an old interview with Don Yenko. In the article, Yenko said that the '69 Yenkos were not SS cars? The photos appear to contradict this statement. It seems weird that Yenko did not know how the cars were delivered. Can anyone explain this or do I remember the article wrong?

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Mike;
That is the big question on these cars. Most people that we have spoken with remember their cars as SS cars, black interior, bench seats, dog-cap wheels, AM radios, rubber mats, and only 4 speeds.

However, 'Supercars' has a Garnet Red car that did not have any SS indicators found on it when it was being restored. It is really not known for sure how Yenko picked out which cars got converted in '69. There is one that is rumored to have been left an L78, but got a Corvette Tri-Power added to it!! Yenko also is quoted as saying that they 'got the emblems, but no stripes', these photos contradict that as well.
M

[JoeC]

Great Yenko Nova photos! Thanks to all the people who worked on locating and posting them.
MikeA “ Don Yenko did say in his interview that the 1969 Yenko Nova was œnot even an SS”. Unfortunately DonÃs ability to recollect 16 year old car facts was not 100 percent accurate (it isnÃt easy to do). There are other statements in his interview that have proven to be untrue. In my opinion, Don was referring to the 1970 Yenko Deuce Nova not the 1969 427 Nova when he made the statement that the car œ was not even an SS”. He may have recalled getting a fantastic COPO deal from Chevy by ordering all the Hi Performance components that the Deuce is equipped with such as the LT1, 4.10 12 bolt, and F41, without even paying for the SS grill, hood, rear panel, and emblems. Don was pretty smart and knew how to get a œgood deal” from Chevy. By ordering the Deuce that way, he reduced the cost and weight of the LT1 Nova and knew that by adding the stripes the car would have no identity problem among the hot rodders without the "SS" emblems.
Getting back to the 69 Nova photo - it appears to have plain rims and small hubcaps with trim rings. Maybe the 69 Yenko Novas were ordered with the small hubcaps and the trim rings were added later. It is not scientific proof but for discussion purposes, if you look close at the 1969 Yenko œ Meet the Mean Ones” ad the Nova appears to have the stripes and the small hubcaps. The ad is only a drawing but appears to be well detailed with the SYC on the headrests and the USA-1 license plate. Don Y may have drawn the ad himself since there are other drawings by him that have been found in the Yenko memorabilia collections.

[Kurt S]

Unless Nova's were different than Camaros (I don't think so in 69), if you ordered any radio, you got the antennae. AM was the oval telescoping one and FM was fixed height. It looks tall to me, probably an AM one.

The windshield antennaes came out in 70.

[bkhpah]

Kurt is right about the antenna on a 69. Only 70's got the windshield style. As for the dog dish art work, there is a 69 Yenko Camaro with stripes, no spoilers with dog caps and trim rings on the Hult Chevrolet ads..
BKH

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Good Call on the antenna, my '70 is the oldest Nova I have owned and just assumed that windshield antennas were the norm from '68 on.

Supercars;
Does 'Sue' have any other photos of your car?

Marlin