The Supercar Registry Bulletin Board: November '05 Feature Car

November 2005 Feature Car:

Tom Kusmiesz's 1970 Yenko Deuce

SPECS:

Engine (factory):	LT-1 350ci/360hp
Trans (factory):	THM400 automatic
Rear (factory):	4.10 posi
Exterior color:	Cranberry Red
Interior color:	Standard Black
Selling Dealer:	Wallace Chevrolet - Linden, NJ

There are only 86 Yenko Deuce Novas that have been located to date. This months feature car is definitely one of the best, original condition Deuces existing. Where does this one fall in the hierarchy? Well, it’s one of:

175 Yenko Deuce produced.
53 Automatic Deuces
35 Cranberry Red Deuces
11 Automatic, Cranberry Red Deuces
2 Automatic, Cran Red Deuces with original drivetrain
1 As above, with original paint

The story goes like this. It was October of 1971 and Willie was out looking for a fast car, and he went to Wallace Chevrolet in Linden, NJ. Wallace was well known for have hi-performance cars, and advertised their inventory of at least 6 Yenko Deuce Novas. Wallace received Deuces in each of the initial 5 colors: a silver, a beige, a dark green, a blue, & 2 red, all 4speeds except for the dark green and one of the red ones. All 6 of their Deuces were from the first order of cars. Wallace had a variety of inventory, with a variety of colors, were located in a well populated area just outside New York City, and therefore endured their fair share of theft issues. The combination of slow moving inventory and high theft produces a uniqueness among the Wallace Deuces that is unmatched from any other Deuce dealer.

The Wallace Deuces have several things in common, such as; hood pins were installed on every one of their Deuces, the GM locking type with ’69 Camaro ‘crossbars’ between the radiator support and the fender brace. These Deuces all had their YENKO emblems stolen from the fenders and decklid. TheWallace Deuce’s were sold without YENKO fender emblems. The decklids simply had a Wallace Chev. Decal affixed in order to cover the holes from the standard NOVA emblem. Wallace deuces with dealer installed items, like Sport Mirrors, typically had those items stolen also, to be replaced with dealer installed standard chrome versions. Wallace installed other dealer options to their Deuces in order to sell them, items like trim rings, bumper guards, door edge guards, etc…

This months feature car is an excellently preserved example. Willie purchased this car in Oct. of ’71 for about $1,200 less than the sticker price, obviously Wallace was tired of having it sit on their lot for the past year and a half! Willie street raced the car, and drag raced it at Englishtown, but never removed the original exhaust manifolds exhaust pipes, and never removed the rear sway bar setup. The car was kept amazingly original, including the paint, stripes, wheels, interior, even the normally replaced items under the hood. Willie enjoyed the car for many years, and after retiring to the deep south he took the Deuce with him. The car was well taken care of, the mileage kept low, and stayed under a carport until the owner decided to sell it several years ago. Willie was not a person to be heckled with, and knew exactly what this car was. Several prospective buyers attempted to buy the car over the years, but original owners almost always want their Deuce to go to the ‘right’ person. Tommy K was the right person for this car, and Willie knew it - and so do we! Tommy K spent a year gently cleaning every inch of this car, rubbing out the original lacquer paint, and verifying all of the numbers. Of the 86 Deuces found to date, this might be the most original, unmolested, reference Deuce of all. Special thanks to Willie for keeping it, and to Tommy for preserving it. [Write-up courtesy Yenko Deuce Registry and Tommy K]