68' Yenko Camaro prototype/demo found

[bkhpah]

Throw away all the traditional thinking once again. Just when you think you have something understood you get a curve ball. This time it comes in the form of 1968 Yenko Super Camaro 8002. This car has been with it's owner since 1970. This car is NOT a COPO 9737 car. It was pulled directly from early inventory and specialy designed from the start. It does not have the 1 1/16 sway bar or the 140 speedo. Build date is 01C. It is Corvette Bronze with the first glass hood and special glass decklid with intergral spoiler. It is cast from the original deck and the underside shows all the date codes/spot welds etc of the original lid. Special SW 2 5/8 black face gauges under the dash with Yenko applied wood grain treatment. It had the SW tach but is missing today. Monitor box was not mounted in the traditional firewall location. All original Yenko medallions and 427 badges are present. It does not have the special firewall tag of later Yenko's but does have door jamb tag. It is screwed in place, not riveted like later models. This car retains most of the original engine parts including hard to find stuff like radiator, alternator, etc. Engine is a CE as expected. It had headers from new. This is the first car put into service for shows and demos. It was returned after its tour was through and resold at Yenko. This car is fully documented and is 100% authentic. There is no Yenko 8001. Looking at this car you can almost feel Don Yenko and crew thinking about how the cars should run and look. Also as a side note to the 68 MV motor theory. The standard bore 396/375 horse MV code block with a cast date of B-13-8-and cast # 3916323 is indeed from a Yenko Camaro. The VIN indicates it is from Yenko 8006...BKH



[Edited by bkhpah (12-30-2001 at 08:53 AM).]

[Stefano]

bkhpah,
Awsome find. You mention a 1 1/16" sway bar for the 9737 "Yenko Sports Car Conversion Package". The original 1969 Camaro 9737 cars which I have seen,have 13/16" sway bars.

Did the 1968 and 1969 COPOs use a different diameter sway bar?

[Charley Lillard]

Cool car Brian..Any idea why there is no 8001 ?

[bkhpah]

8001 is worded in paperwok as "scrapbook" or destroyed. The 68' sway bars were larger than the 69's 13/16. The 002 car still has all the correct PBD parts and is equipped with power steering. It shows 41K miles. Corvette Bronze is a very interesting and rare color. The car was used in the southern states during its touring and demo days...BKH

[JoeC]

Interesting car. The fiberglass deck lid sounds like it was similar to the one used on the Yenko Stinger. Do you know which wheels came on the car when new? What gear ratio did it come with?

[Rat_Pack]

Brian, sounds like this is the car that was found in Florida almost a year ago. Last I heard he had taken it to Bob Harris for restoration. Do you have the car now? Didn't the white 68 that Mick owned have a fiberglass decklid or did it have the Yenko rear spoiler?...........RatPack..................