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Topic: Anyone heard of Yenko? (Read 1367 times) previous topic - next topic

Anyone heard of Yenko?

I saw a '68 yenko camaro when I was looking at my new engine.  The guy who's building it completely stripped it down and repainted the frame and is installing a whole new suspension.  Now I'm no chevy guy by any means, but the motor, and the rest of the car for that matter, is purty :ies:.  The guy said it was worth something like 180K.
1987 Thunderbird 3.8. Sold :(

1982 Thunderbird - Goodbye 255, Hello 302!

Re: Anyone heard of Yenko?

Reply #1 –
Oh yes, real genuine Yenko's are worth a poopload.

Here

$150k buy it now for a Reproduction, not even the real thing.  At least the guy used real Yenko parts... I guess.

Re: Anyone heard of Yenko?

Reply #2 –
Don Yenko owned Yenko Chevy Cannonsburg PA. They would special order COPO (Central Office Production Order)Cameros, Chevy IIs, and Chevells with the Corvette engines(the Duces got 375 hp 350s, and 427s for the others) then added special graphics and maybe gears and suspension work. The COPO was orignally set up for fleet orders(taxis, police, etc.), but if the dealers knew the procedure just about any drivetrain could be ordered.

Yenko is probably the best known speciality builder of the era, others were Baldwin-Moton in New York, and Nicky Chevrolet in Chicago. Unfortunatly Don was killed in a plane crash in the mid '80s.
 

Re: Anyone heard of Yenko?

Reply #3 –
Quote from: TurboCoupe50
Don Yenko owned Yenko Chevy Cannonsburg PA. They would special order COPO (Central Office Production Order)Cameros, Chevy IIs, and Chevells with the Corvette engines(the Duces got 375 hp 350s, and 427s for the others) then added special graphics and maybe gears and suspension work. The COPO was orignally set up for fleet orders(taxis, police, etc.), but if the dealers knew the procedure just about any drivetrain could be ordered.

as far as i knew, the COPO's were basically factory, special ordered cars, that only people with connections, such as the higher up's in the cooperation could get ahold of, where as Yenko was basically like Saleen of his era with Chevy products

COPO cars go for some bigtime bucks too, because there wasnt much documentation for them, but could easily be proven to have whatever engine it came with using the VIN number
It's Gumby's fault.

Re: Anyone heard of Yenko?

Reply #4 –
It was at Yenko Chevrolet where they would put the 427's in. The motors were installed by the dealer and all the graphics and other stuff was added creating the Yenko Camaro. Later they found they could order a bunch of cars from the factory with the 427's already installed. These were the COPO (Central Office Production Order) Camaros.

Re: Anyone heard of Yenko?

Reply #5 –
Quote from: 5.0willgo
It was at Yenko Chevrolet where they would put the 427's in. The motors were installed by the dealer and all the graphics and other stuff was added creating the Yenko Camaro. Later they found they could order a bunch of cars from the factory with the 427's already installed. These were the COPO (Central Office Production Order) Camaros.


Bingo.... In '69 they could order the COPOs, prior to that they were swapping engines at the dealer...

Re: Anyone heard of Yenko?

Reply #6 –
The Yenko dealership isnt far from me. There are still quite a few Yenko's running around here.

Re: Anyone heard of Yenko?

Reply #7 –
mmm now that is a chevy I would drive... those were some HOT cars. and like said before, are worth a mountian of gold anymore.