Anyone ever seen a Yenko Camaro Convertible??

[hubleyman]

Just curious if anyone is familiar with or remembers this car? In the early ’80’s or so I ran across a red 1968 Camaro RS/SS 396 Convertible sitting next to some guys house in Castro Valley, California. Since I currently owned both a white and a blue version of the same, I stopped to see if I could add a red one to my collection…
After going to the door and getting the owner to come out and discuss the car with me, I was able to check it out a bit closer. It was similar to my cars except it had a funny looking fiberglass hood on it instead of the SS hood, someone installed 427 emblems on the front of the fenders, and it had metal Yenko fender and rear panel emblems, and a numbered metal Yenko tag in the drivers side door jamb. The owner liked the car and enjoyed driving it once in a while, but wasn’t interested in selling it for less than current market values (which was cheap back then), and I wasn’t interested in paying that much for it because it had a 427 under the hood instead of the “original” 396. I don’t remember him mentioning any history on the car but I do recall him not knowing much about cars in general. I did note that it had some typical HIPO options.. Hi redline tach and gauges, 12 bolt posi, front discs, 4 speed, and if I recall it may have had some luxury options as well.
Anyway, with my knowledge back then I was pretty sure that Yenko never made convertibles, so I never went back later to check it out again.
So, any locals remember seeing a car like that driving around the Bay Area? Any “spotters” ever see one like that anywhere? I’ve always wondered what the true story was behind that old red Camaro??????????

[camarojoe]

Being that it was sighted in CA, If the car had any legitimacy at all, I would guess it may have originated at Dana Chevrolet in South Gate. It's documented that Yenko and Dana had some sort of relationship and it has even been suggested that Dana may have built some cars for Yenko on the West Coast. Being the early 80's, it could have just been a car with some Yenko emblems stuck on, but the numbered metal Yenko tag inside the door is something that makes me wonder if it may have been something more than a recreation... I'll be interested to hear if anyone else remembers the car.