'68 Yenko, Transplant vs. COPO

[Jeff H]

Jim, it's great to have you join in on this dicussion. I will agree with you on your statement about these modern performance cars being bought and stored away. I have one of the 93 Indy Pace Cars and I know it's not really a high performance model but it is a limited production model. I put a supercharger on it and I drive it to work every day. I can't see how someone would buy such a great car and not enjoy it as much as possible. This is a little off topic on this post, but do you have any information regarding the JL8 4 wheel disc brake option? We all see that the number Chevrolet claims made were 206, but a lot of people feel that number was an arbitrary number made up to satisfy the SCCA. It appears that it might actually be closer to 100 units sold. Do you have any insight on this?

[BUIZILLA]

Hi all, I have been following this BB lately and enjoy the camraderie. Since I have lived in South Fla most all my life and attended college in Tampa, Fla. I know all the roads. Further to that, I have drag raced Chevy's for 30 years now. Also, I was the new car get ready manager for a large Chevy store and remember well the good 'ol days, since I was in charge of all the HP cars...
Yes, there were a few sYc cars down here then. And, two or three 69 Camaro's right in my neighborhood now. I specifically remember a bronze color 427 68 car that raced at Miami-Hollywood track in the late 60's to early 70's. There was also a red 69 427 Chevelle. I guess why I remember the bronze 68, was that I never saw that color on another Camaro, ever. There was also a green car that raced at Desoto Dragway in Bradenton and Oldsmar Dragway in Tampa, and this was in 70-72 time frame.
I would be *VERY* curious what dealers sold the sYc cars in this era. Anybody have that info?

I was very familiar with the following dealerships in Miami>
Luby, Don Allen, Anthony Abraham, Sark, Tropical, Costley, Sun, Potamkin, Leiphart.

Jim Haas

[Chevy454]

Jim:

Good to have you here! I guess since the Buick board has been down, people have kind of "migrated" to other boards! Casey was in here yesterday, and now YOU! Who knows...maybe Mike W. will show up next !

Also, maybe some of the people here know the whereabouts of the cars you remember from "back in the day", and you can check them out in person some day!

[JoeC]

The pictures of the 68 Yenko with the palm tress is in the article with the Don Y interview. The car has 4 miles showing and does have the Pontiac wheels. I thought the palm tress may be in California where Dana Chevrolet was. There appears to have been some type of arrangement with Dana and Yenko. One question in the interview was "Were any SYC conversions done on customer cars"? Don's reply was that he did a dozen or so in 67 and 68 but Dana Chevrolet did a lot of them. I have an add for the Dana Camaro that lists many of the same components Yenko used and states on the bottom line "All prices are f.o.b. South Gate, CA. and Canonsburg, PA." Also the 68 Yenko and Dana both used the same glass hood. So does this mean that Dana was doing Yenko conversions in 68? Why is that 68 Yenko there posing with palm trees with a PA dealer plate and 4 miles on the odometer?

[Kurt S]

I have data on a 68 Yenko, April car, with the POP (MV) and the original engine it left Yenko with, which is a CE block.
Also, Fran Preve has dug into the Tonawanda records and determined MV's were 396's.
Now, there could have been a running change during the year, but re-using an existing engine code would be unusual.

One other thing: if Chevy was installing 427's into cars in 68, then what held up the 69 COPO's until January of 69?

Just more fodder for discussion.

Kurt S
CRG - www.camaros.org

[Casey Marks]

Hey guys ......

as a Chevrolet neophite, but avid *all-musclecar fan*, this discourse is very interesting. The history and background on the Chevy Supercars is one of the most interesting to me.

I've followed this specific thread for quite a while now. I tip-my-hat to the gentlemanly way that you discuss some differences in opinion on *MV* coded blocks, and their intentions / origins. This solidifies in my mind what a class-act you guys are !!

And they say the Buick boyz go Fast with Class ........

Casey Marks
1970 Olds F85 W-31
13.xx @ 10x.xx <---(I gotta keep Rob on his toes....)

[Chevy454]

Casey:

Good to have you aboard! So, what are you doing with all of your free time now that the Buick board is down?!

You correct with your "gentlemanly way" statement. We have to look at pretty much everything concerning these cars with an open mind, because you sometimes never know! And we all know some odd things happened along the way with these cars!

Now, about those ETs...so, you are STILL not going to divulge any info, huh? Well, if you keep posting those 13.XX ets, that may give Pete or Marlin something to shoot for, and you just may get your wish about running a small block Nova...