My SCR7 two cents

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

This has been discussed at length on other threads, so I'll try to give the 'cliffs notes' version.

All of the 175 Yenko Deuces were built in 3 consecutive weeks, but in two distinct orders. The cars were ready to ship to Canonsburg, but where was Don going to put 175 Novas in addition to his other new car inventory, his used car inventory, and his leftover inventory? And how was he going to convert 175 cars that had a more complicated stripe pattern than the '69's, needed a wheel change (not a wheel & tire change, just the wheels, so they all had to be broken down to reinstall the whitewall tires!), needed three holes drilled into the hood and install and wire the hood tach, install the emblems and door panel decals, and any additional options like sport mirrors, dual gate shifters, custom steering wheels, etc.... Think about 175 cars lined up nose to tail, and you can see where this can be quite a task. Don't forget that dealers were initially clamoring the for 'The Deuce' and they needed to be shipped asap. How many kids, local garages, spare employees, etc... could Don get to do this work?

It is our understanding that the entire second order of 50 Yenko Deuces were sent directly to Hurst in Detroit to perform this work. It was not a case where Hurst was trying to get into the Nova business, he was just a subcontractor to Don. To our knowledge, Hurst did not install his wheels on any of the cars, nor did any of them receive the 'HURST Equipped' badges when new.

When Hurst completed the conversions, the Deuces were either drop-shipped to the receiving dealer or shipped to Yenko in Canonsburg to await transfer to a particpating dealer. So, it's possible that some of the cars never saw Canonsburg, however, the MSO is still Yenko not Hurst, Kidder, or Douglass. The cars received an HYS-### stock number instead of the normal YS-### stock number to signify that the car was converted by Hurst.

The '67 Yenko Camaros were done similarly. Harrell did the conversions for Yenko, and those cars also may never have seen Canonsburg. If you have ever been to the original dealership, you will have a better understanding where 175 Novas won't fit!

[Supercar_Kid]

I agree the wheels on the orange car in the '71 photos could definietly be something other than Hurst Dazzlers. The rim doesn't appear to be wearing a trim ring either, it looks to me like it's chrome plated or highly polished aluminum. I don't think they're Keystones, at least not Klassics anyhow, so what are they? Who holds the original print of this period photo, I think it would probably be much clearer if we could see the actual print in person. This is certainly an interesting question I'd like to hear a definitive answer to.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

The original print was to accompany the car through successive owners, Mark should have gotten those pics when he recieved the car. If not, Belk was the person who initially received the pics from the original owner's family member.

I initially thought that they were Hurst wheels, just didn't have the trim rings installed in that pic. In the '71 pic it appears to have the rings.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Just to clarify, I believe Belk kept the pictures with the car, and they may have since been separated.

[DaJudge]

That's a cool tie in regarding the Deuces and Hurst. Hurst Performance in Warminster, PA was down the road from where I grew up. My father was an executive VP of First Pennsylvania Bank back then and met George Hurst. The Hurst execs had special parking spaces close to the front door, it was very common to see a half dozen Hurst Olds cars in those spots. Way cool that even the execs were into these cars back in the day. There was also a dealer down the street called Paul Oldsmobile and they sold a bunch of Hurst Olds. The Hurst plant is now a plastic tubing manufacturing plant I believe. There is an old Naval airbase across the street and word has it that a bunch of reject Hurst wheels and shifters were used as back fill when the base was constructing a runway. If I had a late build Deuce I would definetely put some Hurst wheels on it, The orange in the video looks great with them

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Double H plastics on Street Rd across from the Johnsville base.

I spoke to Campbell who ran the Warminster plant, and the deuces never came there according to him. In fact, the other Hurst involved cars didn't come there either for any conversion work. He remembers that the Hemi under glass would visit occasionally, but that was about it. They were a mfg plant, and apparently stuck to mfg. I think Dennis Kirban got a lot of stuff from the plant when they were shutting down.

[DaJudge]

That was a sad day when they closed the Warminster plant. They had a side entrance for shifter parts and rebuilds. You could go there and get your shifter rebuilt for about $25.00. I had mine redone on my 69 Judge when I was 18. I did not mean the cars were converted there, it was just really cool to see Hurst Olds parked out front. Kirban lives about 2 miles from me and he has an extensive Hurst collection. I used to buy GTO parts from him and he had his basement lined with all kinds of Hurst and GTO. goodies.

[Fasttoys1]

My appology to any I dissapointed by not getting the cars or myself to the Re-union. SORRY. I unfortunately had some family issues that needed my immediate attention and had to leave the country.

I do thank Tom, Rob, Dennis C, MrsBillyBobcat (Rita), Charley L, and the others of you who expressed concern and said some prayers. The good news is my Daughter was released from Hospital last week and my Grand Daughter Today! Hopefully all will work out just fine.

I can now get back to my Hobby "Fasttoys".

Thanks again for all the positive energy.

[camarojoe]

Glad to see you back online, and even better to hear your family is recovering. I'm sure i'm not alone in saying we were all very anxious to see these cars and quite honestly, still are! How about posting some current pics of both.

[Charley Lillard]

Jim and Dave are now required to bring cars to next years reunion or else.........