R&S Chev, Joplin

[71LS5]

I have only lived in the immediate area about 5 years so I will have to rely on some guys that have been around here awhile.


Checked with a couple of folks that have been here since Rogers and Bentonville were just wide spots in the road. Dean Bitner is still alive and living....or at least 6 months ago he will still in the area.

Still need to ask a couple more guys about the Nichols'. Am coming up empty handed right now. Do you know where the car was bought at? Was is Berger in Bentonville? Spicer in Neosho, Mo? Sparks in Rogers? Or R&S in Joplin? All of these dealers would have been within an hour's drive of here and been around about that time.

What color was/is it? I know the Duece would have been an oddity enough, but if I knew the color it may jog a few memories.

I even asked a couple of guys that used to be on the Rogers P.D. Suppose they could have at least seen the fading taillights on the Duece. Did not ring a bell (yet).

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

The last prior owner that I know of for this car is Barbara Berner, but am not sure what town she was from. According to www.whitepages.com she is not in the area, or has an unlisted number. Dean Bitner never titled the car in his name, he kept it as an open title - as it still is today!

The car probably had white stripes, and would have looked like this;



If the car did have black stripes, it would look like this;



Thanks,
Marlin

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

This car is Fathom Blue, supposedly with black stripes, it has an automatic, and power steering. Car was last owned in AR by Dean Bitner, who bought it from Ira Nichols. It was then sold to another yard owner about 10-15 years ago. It is unknown what dealership the car was sold out of. The Yenko network dealers in that area are R&S Chev, Joplin, MO, and Peck Chev, Little Rock, AR. A few network dealers that were a little farther away were, Francis Chev, St. Louis, Johnny Londoff Chev, Flourissant, MO, and Riley Chev, Jefferson City, MO.

thanks for searching,
M

[71LS5]

Marlin,

Here is some additional information that I came up with during my search for the Nichols'.

There is a guy here in Rogers by the name of Rick Blevins who has been around here for ages and was/is into muscle cars. His dad used to own the Chrysler dealership here in Rogers during the late '60's and early '70's.
Anyway, I asked him if he had ever run across the Nichols' and their Duece. He seems to remember one but he thought the owner was either a Tim Jermeir or Larry Shelley. What he could not remember was exactly what color it was and if it was a Yenko car. May have been a Nicky car. And the color, he thought, was charcoal gray.

Anyway, I will try to get in touch with Larry Shelley tonight. He still lives in the area. Am still trying to track down the Nichols' and Dean Bitner for you as well.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Thanks!!

[71LS5]

M,

Just got off the phone with Larry Shelley. He is a guy in his mid 50's and a used car dealer. Said he bought what he thought was a Duece in Little Rock about 1975-76 time frame. Blue car, special door panels, Yenko badges. No stripes but thinks it had been repainted. Had a 350 in it when he got it. He had bought and sold the car 2 or 3 times during the next 4 or 5 years. Sold it to someone up in Pea Ridge. Then a Jim Hill bought it from the guy in Pea Ridge, and Larry ended up with it again. The owners in Pea Ridge apparently had dropped a big block in it. He sold it to some gal in Bentonville and she blew the motor out of it.
Last he heard, he thought the old car was sitting somewhere off the 540 bypass between here and Ft Smith.


Anyway, he also had a '69 "Dickey H" Camaro at the time. Blueish silver in color and ended up somewhere in Minnesota. Was painted black by the time it went up there.

Not sure if this helps much or not. If you need to talk to him, he is a great guy and have told him I will post his number for you to get ahold of him if you need to. Larry is at 501-636-9239.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

71;
Thanks a bunch, that helps a lot!! Will be sure to call this guy and pick his brain about this car, and others.
Thanks again,
M

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Spoke with L.Shelley today, he was most helpful with the history of this car. It turns out he sold the car to one of the people listed on the title, so it is one in the same.

He could not confirm that it was or was not a YENKO since he did not purchase it new, only remembered that it had an emblem and some door panel stickers - both items available through the catalog. He initially thought it was a HARRELL car, as the emblem looked similar from across a parking lot. He sold it at his car lot sometime in '76.

Thanks again for the contact,
Marlin

[71LS5]

Glad to be of what little help I could.

Has this car been found and you were trying to do research on it? Larry seems to think the old car is still in someone's backyard here in NorthWest Arkansas.

If you need me to, I will be glad to make a road trip to see if I can find it. I drive between here and Ft. Smith quite often and a few extra stops would not hurt.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

71;
This car is definitely found, and is in the New England area now.

From talking with Larry, I would conclude that this car was originally sold out of Peck Chev, in Little Rock, AR. This makes the second car found from there, and there is usually at least 3 Yenko Novas sold from any one dealer. This theory says that there should be one more in the area, (?). There were also two confirmed from R&S Chev, in Joplin, with a theory-third car. None of these have been found either!

There could very well be another one hanging around, keep searching!!
Thanks,
Marlin