X-11 Yenkos

[sixtiesmuscle]

Great discussion guys. Let's not forget that Harrell, Bill Thomas, and their work with Nickey started the concept, and, made it work. Not that Yenko & Motion wouldn't have done it anyway, but, the Stefani brothers at Nickey took the concept to market, and, did a great job of marketing these conversion cars before anyone else.
As far as who was the first or the best, however, I love 'em all. Some prefer the "factory hot rod" COPO type cars, some like the dealer built conversion cars, which typically were built for more performance. They're all an important part of the Supercar legend, and, have a unique place in musclecar history.

[Rat_Pack]

I agree with Stefano and sixtiesmuscle as to who started it and then when Dick Harrell switched camps to Yenko in mid 67 then he got Yenko going on the same thing. Don just pursued it further with Chevrolet than the others.

I have been listening to the debate over the Douglas built cars compared to the Yenko built ones. Now I may open a can of worms but from discussions I have had with guys offline, most everyone is in agreement that there is no difference. They were still COPO Camaros with the 9737 option built at Norwood when they were delivered to either dealership. Who put the stripes and emblems on should not matter since Don had given permission to Jack Douglas to do the installation and sell them as such. Would this argument have occured in 69? I do not think so. This argument would be like saying which is worth more: a 427 Nickey built by Bill Thomas or one done at the dealership? To me no difference there either.

There are Yenko cars out there that would have more value in the long run over any he built: the gold magazine test car, Ed Hedricks car, any of the drag cars, Don's demo, any car with more options than the others or that has a specific history with Yenko. Just feel proud to own what you do and quit comparing which is worth more. I thought I would never see the day when an L35/M21 69 Camaro would bring over $35k (sold one this weekend) so that tells me the value is what someone is willing to give and someone is willing to take at a specific point in time. Sorry for the long post......................RatPack................

[shor]

I promised to take my kids to Jersey Freeze for ice cream tonight.(in the Camaro!)I wonder how many 69 427 Camaro's have had two childs seats strapped into the back seat!Charley, you are good at posting pictures on the site...I will take a picture tonight and email it to you and maybe you can post it!

[T Billigen]

I agree that all these cars are important, but a "yenko" is by far the most popular to Chevy fans! If you were to line up all the chevy muscle cars produced, whether it be factory or dealer built I would be willing to bet most people would point to a Yenko and say"that is the car that I would like to own"! Don Yenko did for chevy what Shelby did for ford. Just look at the value of some of those Cobras! They were the same price as a ZL1 back then but their value is around a 250K now! I know what a car is worth is not everything, but the hard fact is everyone is watching the value skyrocket and wondering when it is going to slow down. I think it will continue rise because people will hold on to the ones that they have and since there have not been new ones discovered, people that have money and want one bad enough will pay a lot of money to get one! I think some of the well documented Yenkos with a race history and low mileage originals will be catching those Cobras in the next five years. Look at the Deuces, Belk got a hefty price out of an unrestored original, just a few years ago you could get a frame-off for a lot less than he got for that car! He made a believer out of me!

[Rat_Pack]

Shor, I have only one in my 68 and is a tight fit. My son has a ball though when we get it out.

Tom, the Yenko is more recognizable by Chevy fans and the general automotive public and would probably bring more than the others. However, a Jack Douglas Yenko should not be worth any less than one done in PA when they are exactly the same cars. Right now the industry is seeing the prices skyrocket on the supercars and some of the factory hi-po cars also. I was at Corvette Expo in Knoxville two weeks ago and there was not a single driveable Camaro for under 12k. The mid year Vettes were selling high along with some of the earlier ones also. Last week in Pigeon Forge I counted over 30 66-7 Chevelles and the cheapest one out there was a Malibu for $23k. I thought these guys were nuts then we sold that 69 L35 Camaro for $37k and then my friend and I were one of those "nuts". Just glad to see the hobby doing well after a few "down" years.......................RatPack............... ......

[Edited by Rat_Pack (04-26-2002 at 11:38 AM).]

[T Billigen]

I meant ALL Yenkos!

[JoeC]

I been doing some research on Nickey. In my opinion Bill Thomas most likely did the first conversion cars. Bill was directly connected to Chevy Engineering and the Nickey Dealership and had his own engine building and fabrication shop in the early 1960s. He worked on many special cars for Chevy's underground road racing projects including a 1963 fiberglass 427 Nova (3 built). I posted an article on the 62 Nova V8 conversion kit he developed for Chevy to sell through the dealers. He most likely built the first 427 Camaros because he had the facility to do it and the connections to Chevy to get an early Camaro. Dick Harrell worked with Bill Thomas on the drag racing but I believe it was at Bills shop where they were first done. Harrell had Nickey sponsorship in 1966. Not to take anything away from Dick Harrell as he has many accomplishments. He had drag record setting Chevys in the early 60s and a 63 Z-11 then ran his 427 Z-11 motor in a new 64 Chevelle and ran early altered wheel base FX cars that became the Funny Car class. Bill Thomas built many of these early cars and his name is on many of Dick's early drag cars. Yenko and Nickey were involved with road racing Corvettes in the 1950s and getting special Corvettes in the early 1960s. Fred Gibb got involved in 1967 with the Little Hoss Z/28.