yenko camaro

[camarojoe]

I think it's crazy to suggest the selling dealer doesn't mean anything unless the car is an ultra-high performance model. You're telling me if you had a pair of Hemi Challengers side by side, one from Grand Spalding/Mr. Norm and one from Joe Shmoe Dodge down the street, you wouldn't pick the Mr. Norm sold car? Of course you would.

Heck, I'd take an old Chevy C10 Fleetside with a glovebox full of Yenko paper over a similar one from somewhere else... i don't know of too many folks who wouldn't.

[MultiMopars]

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The '68 COPO Yenko Camaros were the first ever hi-po Camaros ordered by Yenko to use as a platform for the 427 program. Specially designed parts were used in these cars. A 140 MPH speedo, a very large for the time 1 1/16inch sway bar, As a matter of fact these were worded by GM as Yenko Sports Car Conversion 9737. Special MV code 396/375 that was emission tested with the 427 engine program in mind. Without these cars, there would most likely be no 427 COPO Camaro as we now it today. These cars used the unique "Magic Mirror" trim plates to further separate them from NORMAL 396 cars. @ 70 units were sent to Yenko, not counting prototypes. This number was chosen for the 50 units NHRA needed to classify these cars for competition. Yenko was considered the manufacturer on these cars. So why are these cars considered rare to some? I guess most users of the Yenko board think that way..BKH

[/ QUOTE ]



Thank you for explaining the COPO 9737 option. That in itself does prove it to be a true COP order and it obviously does set it apart with the items included in that option number. However, the car did not have the INTENDED 427 installed so it is NOT what we typically expect to find in a Yenko COPO.

So, what does the 9737 option REALLY add to the value in this particular case? I think THAT is what was really being asked here. It certainly can't add the same value as one that HAS the 427. It is simply a peculuarity in my book.

[MultiMopars]

[ QUOTE ]
I think it's crazy to suggest the selling dealer doesn't mean anything unless the car is an ultra-high performance model. You're telling me if you had a pair of Hemi Challengers side by side, one from Grand Spalding/Mr. Norm and one from Joe Shmoe Dodge down the street, you wouldn't pick the Mr. Norm sold car? Of course you would.

Heck, I'd take an old Chevy C10 Fleetside with a glovebox full of Yenko paper over a similar one from somewhere else... i don't know of too many folks who wouldn't.

[/ QUOTE ]



If they were identical cars I would probably by the Mr. Norm's car simply because I was selling Dodges new from 1968-74 about 150 miles from his dealership and heard his advertisements on WLS radio constantly. Would I pay anything extra for it, NO, not one dime.

The only two things that were different in the two example cars you use is that the Mr. Norm's car would have had a "Dyno Tuned" sticker on the window and a recurved disrtibutor which consisted of different weights in the distributor and reseting the carb when it was on the dyno. Which, BTW was done to ALL of the hipo cars that they sold AND charged extra for which at that time I believe was $20.00 or under. That is the only difference between a car sold there vs. and other Dodge dealer selling a like car.

[hvychev]

I don't know.......if there were two cars next to each other and I knew one was sold at my local Chevy dealer as opposed to Joe Schmoe Chevrolet I would definitely pay a premium. It adds to the "cool" factor IMO. Like you MultiMopars, I worked in the car business for 10 years. Maybe that is why I feel that way about the selling dealers.

Heck, there is a collector on this board who has assembled one of the best muscle car collections out there and the theme of his cars is that they are all Chicago area sold. That makes his collection so much more significant because of what it took to accomplish this amazing feat.

[MultiMopars]

Yeah, everyone has specific reasons that may be dear to their hearts as the reasoning that they MIGHT pay more for a given car. It simply would not be any signifigant value adder for me.

I can see someone paying a LITTLE more if the car came from their hometown dealer. Not me now living in rust free AZ. and my old hometown dealership that I worked for being in the N.W. Illinois RUSTBELT where if it hadn't rusted into the ground it would certainly have rust issues if it had not left there early in life for a better climate.

[COPO_Anders]

"Did the original engine ever get reunited with the car? Is the L88 still in it??"

Tom told me some years ago that he had the original engine in the car. He sent me a pic of the pad-stamp also.

[Unreal]

As I recall the story, Tom installed the L88 early on, and kept the L78 in his garage...don't know why. Then when he found the car, he reunited it with the original motor.

[Steve Shauger]

I believe there are a couple of 68 Yenko's with their transplanted engine and orig delivered L78 engine as well. It is my understanding that orig L78 short block were sold via local papers. Over the years some have come up for sale and reunited.

[1969l78]

A yenko is a yenko and a copo is a copo no matter what dealer sold it.

[Jeff H]

Didn't those L78 engines have a different carb as well? I thought I remembered a discussion about the EPA certification papers for that engine code, was it MQ? Anyway, I thought it was a bigger carb than the normal L78 carb so Don could just swap it onto the 427 he was planning on installing. It's definitely a unique piece of GM history but it's always tough to guess at how much value is added. People buy specific cars for their own personal reasons and will pay extra because of it.