1969 Yenko Camaro Stripe Placement

[sixtiesmuscle]

I don't agree with the contention that ALL Douglas COPOs got Yenko stripes. I just met with a good friend who bought a COPO Camaro from Douglas with sports car conversion package and "hockey stick" stripe. I am looking at a picture of it when new as I type. He remembers pretty well how there was a line of cars, including Camaros, Chevelles, and Novas infront of the dealership. All you had to do was pick a color. He was offered a choice of the Yenko version, or the one he bought, with a $400 premium placed on the Yenko. When I spoke with Jack Douglas about a year ago, he told me that $400. was what he had to pay Yenko for the stripes & badges in order to have Don Yenko approve his making up his own official Yenkos. Since he was the authorized agent, and the cars were identical as if they had come from Yenko, why shouldn't they do it. It worked for both parties. I know there is resistance to consider these cars "real" because they didn't pass through PA., but certainly there should be some value placed on these cars over a similar, "regular" COPO. They clearly are not "clones" in the sense that the word is used today. We have discussed this issue before, but, as new info arises, it is worthy of new discussion. IMO, if somebody can verify that a car was SOLD NEW by Douglas as a bonified Yenko Camaro, that car deserves to be striped & badged. It needs to be considered as a "DOUGLAS YENKO" but, the original owner [and every owner since] had/has a right to view it as the way the car was sold. Douglas didn't say "Oh, you don't need to buy a REAL Yenko. We'll just make you up a clone right here" They sold him a YENKO CAMARO, and he paid the extra for it. If that makes the figures for "real" cars fuzzy, so be it. I think it adds an interesting twist to the whole Yenko Story. Heck, since I own one, it might make them worth MORE because they're so rare. LOL