Yenko Deuce Found - pics finally!

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Here are the long awaited for pics of the long searched for Huggar Orange Deuce that has been commonly referred to as 'the Centreville, MD' car.

New owner plans a full resto.

Thank you Denis and Rob for the help resizing the pics!

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Another of the Front.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Another of the engine compartment.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Another of the interior.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Another of the trunk.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Last, the rear underside.

[Stefano]

[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[SS427]

Very neat Marlin! The hunt is the best part of these cars. Looks like it will need a very extensive restoration but well worth the efforts.
[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif[/img]
Rick

[55chevy]

Very cool. So what is this car's life story? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Here's the deal on the Orange Yenko! About 7 years ago Ray (sixtiesmuscle knows this guy!) from MO buys a Nova off the streets of Baltimore, MD with the rumour that it's a Yenko Deuce. The seller claims that when he was sanding down the º's the outlines of the stripes showed up. Ray and I hook up a few months later, and I confirm that the car is indeed a Yenko Deuce. Ray proceeds to tell me a story about a huggar orange Deuce also rumoured to be in Chestertown, MD and says that a guy in Dover, DE used to own it. I find the guy in DE named Lee Slaughter, he owns a used car lot. Lee remembers the car quite well, and informs me that it was a black stripe car, 4speed, power steering with a 454 in it. I tried to tell him that it came with an LT1, but he was convinced that since he owned the car in '73-'74 with the 454 already in it that it must have come that way from GM or Yenko. (Now that the car is found with the original stripes still on it, you would think that the LT1 decals on the hood would have been a strong indicator of the original engine). Regardless, I did not argue with him, and tried to get more info from him. He claimed that he sold the car within 6-8 months for $8,000. This also seemed like a stretch, they were approx. $4500 new, and certainly didn't go up in value after the gas crunch hit, but again I did not argue with him. He then confirms that the car did indeed go over to Chestertown, MD. This is as far as I got in '97.

In '98 another inventory sheet showed up, page 8 to be exact, with 7 of the 10 orange Deuces on it. Bingo, the first orange Deuce produced was sold out of Lustine Chev. In Hyattsville, MD! This must be the Lee Slaughter car right? Well, a friend did a title in MD for the Lustine car, and the car exists but has changed hands recently but has not been retitled - so we don't know exactly who has it. A divorce is involved, yada yada, yada... The car is also tubbed, caged, tied, and NHRA cert. - makes sense if it had a 454 in it from '73, somebody took it 'all the way'. So, we conclude that they are one and the same car. I figure it's just a matter of time before the car is brought to light, and I can close the loop on this one. Wrong!

In late '98 a stranger tells me about a huggar orange Deuce that is sitting next to a transmission shop in Centreville, MD. Oh yea, I say that car is now a race car, it was owned by such-n-such in '86. Impossible the guy says, in '86 it was sitting outside! Hmmm, two of the 10 orange Deuces in the same state, same general geographic area? In '99 two more independent accounts of the car are given, one as far away as Florida, about the Deuce sitting next to a transmission shop.

In '00 a coworker informs me that his cousin just bought some Impala parts from a guy in PA with an orange Deuce jammed into the back room of a barn, and it's for sale. It was too tight to see any numbers, condition, etc... but he assured me that it was not a Rally Nova. Of course I ask 'where?', and they proceed to tell me a small area in the opposite direction of where the car actually turned out to be. Nice, eh? I drive all around where it was supposed to be, obviously no luck. By this time I'm realizing that there could very well be two different orange cars involved!

In April of '03 Sam calls me to say that his friend Dennis found an orange Deuce in Schwenksville, PA - Ω hour from my new house! It's in a barn, jammed into a back room, black stripes, Cragars, no tach, for sale etc... a duplicate description from 3 years earlier. Of course I give them the body number singular! Because it is a 4sp with p/s it can only be one number since there was only one orange Deuce in this configuration. The number ties out - amazing! I go to see the car within a few days to verify it in person, and give some restoration analysis.

The car has a plastic emblem on the trunk lid saying 'Lee Slaughter Auto Sales' and a small oval decal on the hood molding and º window that says 'Midway Transmissions, 4 miles west of Centreville, MD' and then the address. Obviously the puzzle pieces really started to fall into place now, but where was it sold new? We found some receipts inside the car from ShallCross Chev in Dover, DE - but are still unsure if that was the original selling dealer.

The car came with a non match 350, and an M20 trans, NOS º's, outer wheel houses, front fenders and front inner liners plus some other misc. parts - not a bad start huh? The bad news is that there is no hood tach, rear sway bar, or shifter - but I have them for the new owner if he wants them. The car will need a lot of sheetmetal repair, both floors, trunk, door work, full interior, and the all expensive drivetrain!

So, that's the whole story - the new owner plans a full resto when he completes his '69 Z28 project, and I hope to see it on a regular basis.
M