Original Selling Dealer

[James Berry]

I'm looking for information on Jack Douglas Chevrolet in Hinsdale Illinois. Does anyone know if they are still open, or have an address or phone number?
I'm also looking for phone number for Gary Dryer, a former owner of my Yenko Chevelle.
Thanks!

[Steven J]

Jack Douglas Chevrolet became Team Chevrolet and moved to Westmont, Illinois, about four miles further west. If you are referring to Gary Dyer, a Chicago area racer, 411 gave me this number - 708-496-8100. Don't know if it's the same Gary or not, give it a try.

[Mr70]

Team Chevrolet is just up the street from me.As Steven J said Jack Douglas is gone.No records exist for cars sold from Jack Douglas or at Team.They couldn't care less about cars from 30 years ago.

[Belair62]

James,if it is Gary Dyer that would be very cool. He still runs a machine shop in Summit Illinois. If it is him,call him.He's a pretty cool guy. He is a legend in drag racing. He was involved heavily with Mr. Norms Grand Spaulding Dodge and was in the A/FX and Funny Cars from the beginning. He was also partners with Austin Coil- John Forces crew chief way back when.

[sixtiesmuscle]

Jack Douglas sold a lot of COPO cars, and, was the authorized Yenko distributor for Chicagoland. Ed Cuneen has records on some of the cars sold there, contact the COPO Connection. Jack is still around and remembers the high performance cars well. Back in '69 there would be a line of COPO cars and Yenko Camaros, Chevelles, and maybe a spare Nova on the lot just waiting to be driven away. You could take your pick of a double COPO Camaro with "hockey stick stripe" for about $3900 & change or a Yenko for $400 more if my memory serves me well. They also converted some COPOs to Yenkos,with the approval of Don Yenko and the purchase of the Yenko stripes from Yenko for $400. Mr. Douglas recalls doing 25 to 28 of these stripe additions. I'm curious about whether these car should be considered as Yenko cars since they were approved by Yenko, and, Douglas was the authorized Yenko dealer. Any opinions?

[James Berry]

Thanks for the help!

[James Berry]

Good question, are Dealer approved Yenkos real Yenkos, My question would be do they have a sequence number? Sounds like we need ED.
I am getting alot of E-mail, asking what car I have. My car is sequence #54 Lemans Blue Chevelle. If anyone has any information on this car please contact me.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

I would think that a Douglas Chev. car with a set of Yenko stripes installed on it would not be a real Yenko car. A hi-po Camaro taken to Motion Performance for the stripe treatment doesn't make it a Baldwin/Motion car, does it??

Yenko cars were ordered by Yenko Sportscars, were double COPO's, had specific items installed - like emblems & stripes, were recorded on the New Car Inventory sheets for NHRA qualification, and then were distributed to other hi-po dealers in the Yenko Sportscars Network.

The Douglas Chev. cars do not follow any of this procedure, therefore they cannot be considered 'Yenko' cars just because they have stripes.

Consequently, I was not aware that this Douglas Chev. making Yenko SportsCars wannabe's was a real agreement. I had thought that after Yenko found out why they were buying stripes, he would not sell them any more!! Any info to the contrary??

Marlin

[sixtiesmuscle]

Well Marlin, without the ability to ask Don if Jack is being truthful, we'll never know if there was an official agreement. It seems that the number that were purchased [25-28] and the price paid , $400. per set, would lead one to believe that there wasn't any confusion over why they were being bought. I don't know what the stripes cost in '69, but, you have to figure that $400. was a pretty profitable sale. I happen to agree with you, and, when I finished my Douglas COPO I did it the way most of his were appointed. This, even though a previous title, and a previous owner claimed it had been a "Yenko". What if, however, one showed up with original owner documentation, original paint & stripes, etc. Hypothetical, I know, but an interesting possibility nonetheless.

[Belair62]

Interesting discussion. Under what circumstance would Don Yenko sell a set of stripes much less 25-28 of them? Could anyone walk into Y Chevrolet and buy a set of stripes to put on their Camaro or Chevelle ? http://www.yenko.net/ubb/smilies/burnout.gif Darn I'm hooked on that burnout now !

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Mike;
I understand your logic regarding the relationship between the price of the stripes, and some sort of an agreement.

I am curious to know where the $400 stripe price came from. It does support the agreement theory because it is extremely high as compared to the Yenko parts catalog's suggested list price: Yenko Styling Kits for Camaro/Chevelle #YS1-2012 & #YS1-2020 $86.50 , and Yenko Deuce #YS1-2016/17 $86.50. (Subscriber Net Price = $65.00).

Additionally, it would be interesting to see some paperwork on such an agreement. Yenko was a business man, and when he formed agreements he put them in writing - signed by both parties. For example, one such agreement is between Don Yenko of Yenko Sports Cars and Josh Darden of Colonial Chev. in Norfolk, VA. This particular agreement outlined the specific territory under which Colonial would be the 'Exclusive' dealer of Yenko Sports Cars. Most people think the Norfolk Navy business was the reason for the high volume of Yenko sales in that region. This is true, but the formal agreement is what made Colonial the seller of all of that volume.

Can you get some paperwork from Douglas??

Marlin

[Edited by YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY (02-07-2001 at 09:35 AM).]

[JoeC]

Did Jack Douglas say how many COPO cars he sold? If he purchased 25 to 28 sets of stripes and said he didn't put Yenko stripes on all his COPO's, it sounds like he had a lot of COPOs. From what I read, Yenko was the 1969 L72 COPO leader with 297, Berger had 50 COPO Camaros and about 10 COPO Chevelles. Emmert and Douglas had 20 each according to ED's site but ED may not have a complete list. Does anyone know what dealer was third in number of L72 COPO units sold? I guess it would be possible for a dealer to stripe a COPO and sell it as a Yenko car just as it was possible that Yenko sold a striped non-COPO car. There is that discrepancy of 16 cars between the photo of Don showing 350 units sold vs the 334 vin numbers that have turned up. On the other hand, the 350th sign may have been a rounded number just for publicty. I'm sure Don would have a good laugh if he knew there would be a few Yenko nuts that would try to figure out his business 30 years after the fact.

[James Berry]

Ok, what a can of worms. If a Car is a Yenko wouldn't it have a sequence number and paperwork from Yenko Chevrolet?

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Yes,

[sixtiesmuscle]

You say YES, Marlin, I say YES, But. The Douglas deal is a strange situation. Jack Douglas says he has NO paperwork, OF ANY KIND from back then, so, no contract would exist. I guess neither one thought we would be interested in who sold what, with what stripes. The $400 figure times 25 cars, if you use the concept that money would double every 10 years, would amount to a current day value of about $80,000.00 That might even get you a good Yenko Camaro today. Probably not a YANKO, or a Yank-Me, but a pretty decent driver.

[Belair62]

James,all you would have to do is call Gary Dyer in Summit Illinois.If he has time to chat I'm sure he would remember that one..I know Mr-Gasser has his number. He's had a blower car or 2.Look him up in the members directory unless he see's this and posts the number. As for the Jack Douglass issue,it seems to me that it would have been a good and wise decision on Mr.Yenko's part to let Douglass create a Yenko striped COPO since it would be great for his own organization. He gets the stripe money AND the advertising!!!Not sure how these cars would be classified though.How about a "Jack-no" or a "Yenk-lass" beats Yanko anyhow !:burnout:...darn who started that burnout thing ?

[Edited by Belair62 (02-07-2001 at 04:42 PM).]

[Edited by Belair62 (02-07-2001 at 04:44 PM).]

[JoeC]

James Berry - A few years ago I went to look at a Daytona Yellow Yenko Camaro in NY. The guy said he had sold a unrestored Yenko Chevelle that he had purchased from Dryer's Super Charger Co.


[Edited by JoeC (02-07-2001 at 05:46 PM).]

[James Berry]

Joe C thanks for the information. I did get a hold of Gary Dyer, he was a former owner of my Yenko. Thanks everyone.
Does anyone have Jack Douglass' phone number. I would like to give him a call and see if he remembers anything about my car. If you guys have anymore information, please let me know. Thanks for all the e-mails, I'm running down the leads. A Yenko is only a Yenko if it was striped in Cannonsburg originally. http://www.yenko.net/ubb/smilies/images/icons/smile.gif

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Not so fast there James!!
It is almost definite that the second order of 50 Yenko Novas in 1970 were striped by Hurst Performance in Detroit, MI!! They were however, on the New Car Inventory Sheets, with stock numbers, destination dealer, ect... I would consider these real Yenkos, even if the stripes may not have been applied in Canonsburg.
Marlin

[James Berry]

Marlin, I stand Corrected