Bogus Yenko sighting at Carlise

[Yenkofan]

SYC and others:
Of course the registration process and validation is the key here.
We can't let just anyone say they have a supercar and register it as such.
There must be sufficient info provided to validate the authenticity of the car.
Perhaps a knowledgeable group can set standards for each type of car.
If we can accomplish this the club will be providing a most valuable function.
I will be glad to help, but I'm new here and less knowledgeable then many.
Gary

[Vern B]

I'm not sure how many cars Tom has registered
at the moment, but maybe what we do is go back and re-register the cars and ask the owners to provide whatever documentation they
have as to the authenticity of their particular car and register it as such. If
the information is deemed undeniably reliable, then a prospective buyer is informed of that. If the information is questionable, then a prospective buyer is
informed of that. Reliability on a scale
of 1-5 with 1 being the most reliable and
5 being the least and reasons why? I have
the original title application and all title work in between and have talked to the original owner of my car and
have a notarized/signed document from him
as to it's authenticity. I've never paid the
$ 150.00 fee to the COPO Connection to
document it any further, as I am satisfied
beyond a reasonable doubt that it is correct.
Is it possible we could do a one time buy
from some of the owners of that info ie. the
COPO Connection, Deuce Registry, etc to get
it in one file? As I said last night,I understand that they probably have untold
hours in getting that info together and are
now trying to capitalize on that and I respect that. What would be nice, however
is to somehow try to get that all into one
registry. I don't have the answer, just thinking and typing it out. The more discussion on this topic there is, the closer we will come to a solution. Keep the
wheels spinning!!

[bkhpah]

For the most part Marlin and myself have the numbers for the 1969 Yenko/SC cars and the 1970 Deuces. The numbers for the 67 and 68's are harder to come by, even though we have some. The trim tag information is important as well, and will give the legit cars a very strong document to go with. The trim tag is often the most overlooked part. The information on the trim tag will reveal a great deal of info that the person wishing to clone a car would likley never understand. I am not just talking X-codes here. To give a certificate of authenticity over the phone is in my opinion worthless. Without an expert looking at the car in person it would be hard to determine if the car even exists, let alone has the majority of correct parts. Some will even change the color to a more "desireable" one in order to get a bigger buck. With restamped tags, blocks, engine parts,etc it is easy to come up with the correct looking parts at the very least. Most people in the hobby are honest I have found over the years, but some are not. That's just the way it is and will always be even if the numbers are released I'm afraid. A registry will help keep the cheats at bay. I for one am not against releasing the numbers and have helped many people with their finds. I have yet to help one person that had a good number and found the "good deal" yet. The cars that have been called in about have always had a strong past history with them and were legit. If the price is good, beware.

[sYc]

I think that we all are in agreement that something needs to be done, and the sooner the better. Here are some suggestions. One, we need to form a group of interested parties and have them meet to organize a plan of attack, and also set some guidelines, such as fees, release of information, etc. In addition, they would over see the activities related to the supercar hobby, such as the registry, reunion, web pages, etc. Second, Brian is right, the best way to document a car would be to see it in person. A good place to begin doing this would be at the supercar reunion. Each year we have experts on the various supercars in attendance. We could have the experts on the Yenkos do those, the Harrell people do those, etc. Once a car is judged to be authenic, the owner would get something stating that the car has been certified by the Supercar Registry and also, the information on the car would go into a central registry. For people who own several supercars and/or can not make the reunion, then arrangements would need to be made to go see the cars. Both ways of checking cars would require some time and money, but once done, we would have a good base to work with. Even though I know the history of my cars, I would be willing to pay to have them certified and placed in a central registry. That way, if I ever sell, buyers would not have to take my word for it that the cars are legit. It would make the cars easlier to sell and I think, would raise the price, as buyers could bid with comfidence that they were buying a legit car. Third, we need one central registry for all of the supercars. I do not care who or where it is, I would be willing to work with who ever the group chose. In conclusion, as founder and president of the Yenko Sportscar Club, I will pledge full support from the club, in an effort to get this started. Its OUR hobby, so WE should determine how it continues. NOW!!! Tom

[Yenkofan]

Tom and others:
We ought to continue the discussion here, and, how about setting up a meeting at this years reunion to discuss this issue and form a plan?
Gary

[copo69]

Tom, Brian, and all, I too think something needs to be done. Clones and fakes are becoming more of a problem in our hobby and perhaps the club could provide a registry or certification although hasn't this been done by Cunneen and the clubs? How could we make this different? COPO makes some good points. Without some corroboration from GM it's going to be hard as the exact numbers of cars built is unknown let alone anything on specific cars. Without exact numbers from GM it would still be somewhat speculative determining a car's pedigree. Also, the club can only certify those cars brought to them. A lot of guys I know are becoming more private about the cars as they feel some of the registries are done for individual gains as the info is only available to a few people. I know this doesn't help much but these points need to be addressed. What about a published potential fake list? Probably way too much legal liability.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Tom and others:

You can 'count me in' towards any efforts to making the authenticating process better.

Like Brian Henderson, I have not, and do not, issue certificates or charge a fee to anyone who calls me regarding confirmation of a particular car. I started my registry on a quest for information, not to make any money.

If The SuperCar Registry is willing to be the 'Central Source' for maintaining VIN #'s, I will release to them all of the VIN #'s of the '70 Yenko Novas that I have, but withold the conclusive info that I use to truly determine a car's authenticity. I will also provide timely updates of new information. If someone wants to check on a VIN, the SuperCar Registry can confirm the VIN, but at their/my discretion can then request some further info to see if it checks out.

I will still continue to do research, and search for cars/owners. I do not have the capacity or desire yet to build a website, and maintain it. This would simply supply some initial info by which 'newcomers' wishing to purchase a Yenko, can access the circle of people who can reliably help them. I have several experiences regarding the release of info where it has come back to haunt me, everthing from a complete fake attempt, to modifying statements on my Registry Letterhead! So, I am justifiably hesitant when offering this info.

Additionaly, I think this can help the whole hobby only if we can maintain the integrity of the information. From a CPA standpoint, integrity requires more than one set of eyes for reviewing, crosschecking information, documenting results, reliance on particular 'experts'in their fields, ect. Hopefully, we can attain this by working together.

I welcome constructive thoughts/opinions,

Marlin R. Spotts Jr.
Yenko Deuce Registry - currently at 70 cars remaining!

[sYc]

Concerning putting together a group to over see our hobby, I have no problem meeting at the reunion, but we might want to consider meeting sooner. To me, the sooner we have the first meeting and set some guidelines, the sooner we can get things rolling. Also, if the group should want the Supercar Registry(sYc) to be the Central office, that is fine, but does not matter to us. The registry should have three divisions, one for the release of information, one for documenting cars and another to over see other clubs activities, such as publicity, newsletter, web page, reunion, etc. I like Marlin's idea concerning the release of numbers. The central registry would have all of the numbers and could answer basic questions, but once more information was required, it would be funneled to the person who is the expert on that model, Deuce, Camaro, Chevelle, etc. As per documenting cars, we could have different levels, from listing the VIN to a fully documented car. When we release information on a car, we could state what level the car's documentation was at. This would allow the owner several options of how to register/document his car. I think most owners would register their cars, but at different levels. Tom

[JoeC]

I am also concerned about all the Yenko clones that seem to pop up everywhere lately and would help out with verifications on the Yenko Chevelles.
Another problem is the lists of Yenko vin numbers that are being traded. Without much effort I was able to assemble a list of 140 1969 Yenko Camaro vin numbers. I was wondering how accurate the list is and where the numbers are coming from so I called Vince last night to see if he released any info on the Yenko numbers.
He has not released any info lately but years ago he would sell a Yenko Inventory Sheet to a Yenko owner showing their vin number. He said he would block out most of the numbers and just give them the section where the ownerÃs car was listed along with the cars with similar options. He thinks other people then copied and filled in these same Inventory Sheets and now the sheets do not match his originals. This may mean that there are fake Inventory Sheets going around so if any vin number lists are made there must be way to verify that the correct numbers are used and where the numbers came from. I donÃt know if Chevrolet released any numbers lately but Vince has the originals and maybe some effort should be made to include him.
I also asked about the total for the 1969 Yenko Camaro since many web sites still list it as 201. He said, many years ago, he was asked in a phone interview to give a total for a magazine article. He ran through the Sheets and counted 201 but later recounted more carefully and only found 198. The magazine printed 201 and that number stuck despite him trying to change it.