speedvision yenko/copo t.v

[RLS_Jr]

Just watched the show it was awesome.Contragulations to Brian and Glenn Henderson ,was great to see your cars get some airtime.Good job as well Tom

Ron

[70 copo]

Really good to see the special supercars featured. Congrats to Mark Hassett and the ZL-1 feature-it takes guts to risk one of these priceless cars on the strip- WOW! Larry's Yellow ZL-1 was good too.

[Charley Lillard]

Who was the ugly guy driving the Rally Green Yenko ?

[68l30]

Congrats guys!I think the drag racing really says alot about the cars and the show.Nice job Ray,I'm glad to see some Novas on there as well!

Steve

[Bob Jenkins]

That was a nice show......alot of really great shots of the cars in action.....well done

[Denis]

the show was cool. it would be something to stage my white 67 alongside that black 67 (park's?). if i can score a trailer and someone to share the driving from/to seattle, count me in for the get-together in september. i think i can also get the original owner to come down from wisconsin.

[sYc]

Denis; Jim Parks has attended the Supercar Reunion with his Black '67 Yenko, but it was Greg Snapp who put his '67 Dark Blue Yenko Camaro through its paces at this year's reunion. Going on how much fun he had racing his car, I would say he will be at this year's reunion and would love to line up side by side with you. WOW, what a sight, 2 '67 Yenkos racing. I wish they had shown the footage of Greg and Jerry Ewert in a '69 Yenko racing. Both cars went from centerline to guard rail and back several times, as neither driver was wanting to let off. Tom

[Chevy454]

Denis:

It would be AWESOME to see tht '67 of yours, and would be even better to see it lined up against another '67!!!! You don't see that every day!

Maybe you and some of those "other" Washington guys should get together and work something out! It seems like there are several of you Washington guys that pass thru here!

[Denis]

Looks like 4200 miles round trip from Seattle. That's quite a chunk of road and time. Maybe if we can get a few more cars from the Northwest (or pick 'em up along the way), it would make sense to charter a car hauler and driver to take the whole lot to the reunion and back. Then we can all just fly in and meet the cars there. Kevin's out of town for a couple of weeks so we probably won't hear from him until later, but would anyone else be interested? Any other suggestions?

Hey, this might just work out. http://www.yenko.net/ubb/smilies/images/icons/smile.gif

[JoeC]

It was a good showing for the Chevy SuperCars. They mentioned most of the dealers such as Yenko, Motion, Gibb, Nickey, Berger, and Dana. I was glad to see they aired Tom's interview which will give a little publicity for the SuperCar Reunion. There was an interesting interview with Jim Mattison, who worked in the GM department where the COPO paperwork was generated. He stated that the 64 1968 Yenko Camaros were COPO 427 cars done at the factory. They showed a COPO document and a picture of Kevin's white 68 Yenko Camaro. That document looked like the same one that appeared in the magazine article about Kevin's 68 Yenko. Maybe some of the 68 Yenkos were COPO 427 cars but it is difficult to believe all of them were. If 50 or more were factory 427s that would have allowed them to run Super Stock in NHRA. Same thing with the 50 Novas. The 68 TH400 COPO Nova was built to run in NHRA automatic class as a 396/375. If I correctly remember my conversation with Ray Morison, he had to remove his 427 and install a 396 to race in NHRA. Overall I think the show was well done with just a few inaccuracies. Nice clip of Wally Booth's 68 Camaro SS/E drag car running a Barracuda.

[NWYENKO]

Denis, I think that is a great idea! I mentioned it to Fred , the hauler we have been using ( thanks to Charley). He has three trucks and is really good. I would love to go to the reunion and maybe take both cars if it would not be too prohibitive. We have a ton of airmiles so the flight would be free. I could not guess what it would cost to use a truck for a week.
In the process of writing this I decided to call Fred and ask him. He estimated about 10k for the truck round trip which would be about $1700 per car round trip. I think Kevin sent cars back to the Corvette nationals, he might have some ideas.

[Denis]

Fred?

From Gig Harbor?

The guy who got a new 70' trailer about a year ago?

This wouldn't happen to be him pictured below, would it?

http://seattlemusclecars.tripod.com/findfred.jpg

[NWYENKO]

I would assume that is him. I have talked to him on the phone a lot and met three of his drivers but never met him personally.I would guess by the picture he delivered your car also. Jim

[bkhpah]

I thought that the show was nice, but it was filled with footage from other shows from a few years back. I would have liked to have seen the entire show on the SC Reunion. Tom did a good job of promoting the show and I hope that brings out a fresh crop of cars. The show still made a few errors in history. Why do shows not check with the proper people to help steer the text in the right direction? Misinformation soon becomes fact. The show could have been great, it was just good...BKH

[Charley Lillard]

Yes that would be Fred. I will tell him he is a Star......

[moparts]

Hey Tom! http://www.yenko.net/ubb/smilies/images/icons/smile.gif Why wasn't your name mentioned in the credits! Ha!! http://www.yenko.net/ubb/smilies/images/icons/wink.gif It would have been a great show if they would have done just the reunion. But it was nice to see what they did do. Who was that handsom guy driving the Yenko Stinger anyway? http://www.yenko.net/ubb/smilies/burnout.gif

[Denis]

bkhpah couldn't have said it better -- the Supercar episode was good but fell short of great. I hesitated earlier to say anything, seeing as how I'm no great authority myself, but they should've checked their facts better. For example, they said SS 350 were used as base cars by Yenko in 1967. I thought Yenko used SS 396/375 L78 cars whereas Nickey and Dana were starting with SS 350 cars. Then, when they started explaining the COPO program, they showed a 68 Dana, which isn't a COPO car. It looks like their data might've come from vintage magazine articles and archive photos/footage. They should've asked the guys here instead. Heck, they could've shot the whole episode at Kevin's house.

That said, it looks like we'll be hauling 5-6 cars to the reunion that would not otherwise have gone from the NW. Can't complain about that.

Finally, and most importantly, the show did raise awareness and appreciation of the cars. My 3 teenage kids -- who normally couldn't care less about the hobby -- all watched the show, learned a lot, asked good questions, and seemed genuinely interested. And that, my aging friends, is what it's about!

[Chevy454]

That said, it looks like we'll be hauling 5-6 cars to the reunion that would not otherwise have gone from the NW. Can't complain about that.

Denis:

PLEASE tell me you aren't teasing us!

[Denis]

I'm serious. Jim & I are good for 2-3 cars between the two of us (depending on what kind of deal $-wise we can work out with the truck owner). Yenkofan is interested if we can get his car from LA. Can't speak for Kevin but we all know he has enough supercars to fill up a friggin' caravan of haulers, plus I'm 95% sure he'd be up for it if the rest of us do so. Will know better in 2 weeks after he's back. PS: Maybe we can take his newly-acquired red 1968 Dick Harrell SS 427 Camaro http://www.yenko.net/ubb/smilies/images/icons/wink.gif

[NWYENKO]

Well, the wife says I can go. My Bday is 8/30. Lets see what kind of deal we can get. Would the cars need to be there Fri and out on Sunday? Denis, when Kevin gets back,let's see what he says. Could the truck get there in 2 days or would it take 3 each way? Freds concern was if fuel prices go up. He also said he is really booked in August with Pebble Beach. I don't know the dates for that. If the price isn't too bad and there is room I would bring the Camaro and the Deuce. Wow! Do I sound EXCITED??

[Denis]

mapquest says it's 2,130 miles and 36 hours of driving from seattle to collinsville. figure three days time driving, four days elapsed, each way.

pebble beach concours d'elegance wraps up on the 19th of august. that's about 9 days from when our cars would need to get picked up locally.

looks do-able from where i'm sitting, although you might remind fred it took him three months to get my dang car shipped here from maryland http://www.yenko.net/ubb/smilies/images/icons/frown.gif

[SuperCars]

Over in Europe here for two week trip, (my wifes choice for the kids springbreak), but have my laptop to keep in touch. I see my friends are making arrangements to get me to bring cars to the Reunion. I'll have to think about it.

Hey Charlie did you drop the reserve on the Duece like you were talking? I think Jim needs to be a three Duece owner. lol.

I didn't get to see the Supercar Show on TV. The producers called me and asked me to send pictures of my 68 Yenko though. I referenced it as being unique as a "Special Order Drag Car" as shown on its GM tag riveted to the door pillar post. I told them about the old article of my car in Chevy Action that asks the COPO question. Seems to be a lot of mystery on this.

Anyway I have the copies of the GM documents obtained by Fran Preve that have a lot to do with this. I have studied these for hours trying to solve the mystery. There are about 50 pages, most of which deal with COPO 9737 which was typed on the bottom as 9737 Yenko Sports Car Conversion. In the 1969 COPO 9737, the word Yenko gets dropped so it appears that in 1968 this was a 1968 Yenko only COPO order. Anyway, I sent Marlin a couple of the noteworthy documents. I haven't forgot, but I promised to send to Brian too(When I get Back). Marlin if you could post the one showing the GM Lab report for 68 Yenko 427 Camaro Smog Emmissions test, which is a document that shows a 68 427 Camaro was factory built.

My personal belief as has been discussed on this web site off and on is that the 68 Yenko COPO 9737 MV code motor is predominantly the L78 396, and Yenko did the 427 transplants. But I also believe there was at least one or two 427 Camaros from GM. I don't think my car was labeled "Special Drag Car" because it was the ordinary L78. But whether you want to call it COPO or Pilot Prototype is the real question.

The Tonawanda GM engine documents I have show the MV code as F body CONV L78, of which approximately seventy some were built. (I am typing from memory so don't hold me to exact numbers.)On this same sheet it shows the separate code for the standard F body L78 as well. In addition to the Tonawanda records, I have the engine ECR's (Engineering Change Recommendation Orders) showing on the L78 the Add and Delete of intakes and carbs etc, to the L88 intake and Carb. These add/deletes were done under one engine assembly part number. It is the engine number of the MV Code. But towards the end of the production year, under COPO 9737, the engine assembly part number is superceded by a different ECR engine assembly number, not just once, but twice. This possibly tells me there were three different motors during this 68 COPO 9737 production run. One other noteworthy item is a handwritten note by one of the GM engineers on the engine ECR is stating make RPO V78 mandantory for Yenko 9737. When I go to the list of RPO's that make up the Yenko 9737, it says RPO V78 is something to the effect of: nonconforming and for export only. Other items on one of the ECR's state use L78 fuel pump only for delivery to Yenko, new pump to be installed at Yenko. If the motor was already a L78 as installed by GM why would the Engineer say to install the L78 fuel pump only for delivery, as if it truely was an L78, it would already have the L78 pump on it?

Well I must be bored over here to have typed this much. I've refrained from typing this in the past as I don't like controversy. So all I can say is that the above is all speculation on my part, as I am no expert. Also typing from memory as I don't have the Documents here in frontof me. Kevin.

[Edited by SuperCars (04-01-2001 at 12:46 AM).]

[JoeC]

On the COPO document in CHEVY ACTION it appears to show 9737HD. The "HD" can be an ECL code to show a configuration change in the COPO number. Such as on the 69 Camaro 9561AA (4sp) and 9561BA (TH400). The Chevelle 9562 had eight different ECL codes. Chevy could have used a different ECL suffix code on the 9737 to build different configurations of the 1968 COPO Camaro. I'm sure they wanted to build at least 50 427 Camaros in 68 since the Hemi Darts and 428CJ Mustangs were NHRA legal. If Chevy built 50 of the "MV" 396 engines with the 850 Holley DP and open plenum L88 intake, they could have ran them in NHRA Super Stock. As far as I know, the drag racers were just using the RPO L78 396 Novas and Camaros in 1968.

[COPO]

Kevin, great information. I would agree regarding the special tag rivited on your car. It must have been a pilot or prototype car. Have you ever tried a NICB search on the car to find the original destination once it lef the plant? Perhaps it was sent to GM Engineering?

I'm on the spring break trip myself for 3 weeks. Taking a crusie of Asia/India Currently in Thailand (Phucket). Kids are having fun and it's nice to be abel to keep up w/the board via satellite.

[Edited by COPO (04-02-2001 at 02:56 AM).]

[Denis]

copo:

if it's not too late, i'll pay you good money to bring back a t-shirt with the name of that town where you wrote from.

if it's too late, well, phucket.

sorry, sometimes i can't help myself...

[COPO]

Sorry Denis, enroute to Cochin, India now. Phuket is actually pronounced poooket. Of course they had the Hard Rock Cafe shirts, but I wasn't sure of your size. If you want something in India let me know. So far, I haven't come across any rice powered Yenko or Motion cars, just elephant powered. A Mopar lovers dream.

[MikeA]

I was glad to see there was some racing at the Supercar Reunion. Does anyone know what Ray Morrsion's ('68 COPO Nova) ETs were? That is a very cool Nova!!

[Chevy454]

MikeA:

I had my brother dig up his time slips from the Reunion last year (since he ran Ray), and here is what it said:

R/T: .6716
60: 2.2245
330: 5.9056
1/8: 8.9598
1/8 MPH: 80.57

That 1/8 mile ET is around a mid-high 13 second 1/4 mile, which is pretty good considering no tuning on the car, and that he doesn't race it on a regular basis. It would have been interesting to have saw what kind of ETs Ray would have turned with the BFG Drag Radials in his trailer... http://www.yenko.net/ubb/smilies/images/icons/wink.gif

[MikeA]

Thanks for the info. Why only an 1/8th mile?

[Chevy454]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Why only an 1/8th mile?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, the track used to be 1/4, but a couple of years ago, for some reason (insurance?), they backed it down to 1000 ft. But, on the evening they were there, they were only running the 1/8, so that's what we did. We were just glad we had a place to run!

This year, though, the racing will be done at Gateway Intl. Raceway, so we won't have to convert ETs from 1/8 to 1/4! It should be a lot of fun, and we are going to try and use some of the track time to make sure our Camaro is set up for the PSMCDR. I guess we will see if we know anything about rebuilding an engine or not... http://www.yenko.net/ubb/smilies/images/icons/wink.gif

[COPO]

For those who missed the first showing the "Supercars" episode will be on Speedvision at 8 pm (est) this Thur. the 26th.