X-11 Yenkos

[Rat_Pack]

Shor, I have only one in my 68 and is a tight fit. My son has a ball though when we get it out.

Tom, the Yenko is more recognizable by Chevy fans and the general automotive public and would probably bring more than the others. However, a Jack Douglas Yenko should not be worth any less than one done in PA when they are exactly the same cars. Right now the industry is seeing the prices skyrocket on the supercars and some of the factory hi-po cars also. I was at Corvette Expo in Knoxville two weeks ago and there was not a single driveable Camaro for under 12k. The mid year Vettes were selling high along with some of the earlier ones also. Last week in Pigeon Forge I counted over 30 66-7 Chevelles and the cheapest one out there was a Malibu for $23k. I thought these guys were nuts then we sold that 69 L35 Camaro for $37k and then my friend and I were one of those "nuts". Just glad to see the hobby doing well after a few "down" years.......................RatPack............... ......

[Edited by Rat_Pack (04-26-2002 at 11:38 AM).]

[T Billigen]

I meant ALL Yenkos!

[JoeC]

I been doing some research on Nickey. In my opinion Bill Thomas most likely did the first conversion cars. Bill was directly connected to Chevy Engineering and the Nickey Dealership and had his own engine building and fabrication shop in the early 1960s. He worked on many special cars for Chevy's underground road racing projects including a 1963 fiberglass 427 Nova (3 built). I posted an article on the 62 Nova V8 conversion kit he developed for Chevy to sell through the dealers. He most likely built the first 427 Camaros because he had the facility to do it and the connections to Chevy to get an early Camaro. Dick Harrell worked with Bill Thomas on the drag racing but I believe it was at Bills shop where they were first done. Harrell had Nickey sponsorship in 1966. Not to take anything away from Dick Harrell as he has many accomplishments. He had drag record setting Chevys in the early 60s and a 63 Z-11 then ran his 427 Z-11 motor in a new 64 Chevelle and ran early altered wheel base FX cars that became the Funny Car class. Bill Thomas built many of these early cars and his name is on many of Dick's early drag cars. Yenko and Nickey were involved with road racing Corvettes in the 1950s and getting special Corvettes in the early 1960s. Fred Gibb got involved in 1967 with the Little Hoss Z/28.

[T Billigen]

Joe, you are right about guys like Bill Thomas that did all the "grunt" work so guys like Dick Harrell could have all the fun on the drag strip! They should be recognized!

I have had words with sixtiesmuscle about the douglas yenkos. In all fairness, the last 50 deuces were converted at hurst. I don't know if these cars were ever at yenko chevy? Is this the same? Not quite. But similar in a way. I suppose it becomes a problem when you are selling a douglas yenko, and you over-explain the situation, and the buyer backs out. I think if everyone that owned a douglas yenko, had the correspondence from Don Yenko and Jack Douglas that stated this was authorized, that would be a form of documenting these cars. I would assume someone that buys a yenko car, would want yenko verification? We in the "circle" understand, but those out, do not. Just like there are "in the circle" prices, and out of the circle prices. These cars in my opinion have different "pedigree" levels. This is what people pay for. Obviously if you own a yenko camaro, they are worth alot, until you want to buy another! It is truly a double edged sword.

[JoeC]

Did Jack Douglas keep a record of his vin numbers? One thing nice about the Yenkos are those inventory sheets. The sheets saved a lot of cars from being scrap metal because of people like Vince E. who tracked them down using the vin.

[68TopStock]

JoeC & Stefano,

I too agree that Bill Thomas was there at the beginning with Chevrolet. In Grady Bryants book "Match Race Madness" he relates how he and Dick owned a '63 Z11 Impala, which won the 1963 Winternationals. Bill Thomas had sent Dick some experimental high compression "fireslot" 409 pistons for the car before the event.

I have come to the conclusion that Dick's first AFXer was the Bill Thomas "Bad Bascomb" (a stroked FI sb) which was highlighted in a 1963 Hot Rod publication. I have compared pics from early articles on Dick, and the bumpers, dash/interior look identicle. Bill Thomas's name was on the 1st AFXer, "Retribution II, which I think Dick ran in 1965.

I think Dick went to work for Nickey in 1966, so he knew Bill at least 2-3 years before the move to the midwest. Maybe Dick's relationship with Bill Thomas led to Bill's relationship with the Nickey dealership? or visa versa? Dick's '66 AFXer ChevyII was wholly sponsored by Nickey. I think Bill Thomas may have built a '67 FunnyCar for Nickey and Dick, but when Dick left in the spring of 1967, the car was undeliverable? This "Nickey" '67 Camaro FunnyCar was for sale in the Fall of 1967 in several DragWorld Nickey advertisements. Maybe we will learn more this fall at the Reunion with the Nickey folks.

Dick was sponsored by Don Yenko for the summer of 1967, and maybe Dick's use of big motors in little cars was the seed that started the Yenko conversion program? I do not know when the first conversions occurred, but I might bet it wasn't until the spring of 1967. The earliest article I have of the Yenko/Harrell connection is from the June 23, 1967 DragWorld. It highlights the "Yenko" Sponsored Dick Harrell Camaro FunnyCar which I believe debuted at the AHRA SpringNationals. This was at St. Louis, which would have been in late May of 1967.

BTW, Chevrolet's desert proving grounds were in Mesa, Arizona, just outside of Phoenix. I wonder if Bill Thomas and Dick Harrell visited there occasionally? On the map, it is located right in the middle between Ahaheim CA and Carlsbad NM.

[sixtiesmuscle]

"Top Stock", great info. Don't forget that the car that became a Yenko sponsored car driven by Mike Garfinkle was built by Nickey. That must have been around the Nickey split with Harrell, huh? That's the one I'd like to find. Heck, next to a Douglass-COPO/Yenk, how about a Nickey-Yenko Camaro? Now that's truly "one of one"!

[Stefano]

Sixtiesmuscle,
If you find that particular Super Car, I would be interested in purchasing it from you. I'm certain that since it is not on the Yenko Inventory Sheets it wouldn't be very desirable ,or even valuable for that matter



P.S. I just couldn't resist.

[Rat_Pack]

Topstock, that Chevy II was "Bad Bascumb" that Bill Thomas used as a test bed for the FI 327 which eventually became the altered wheelbase car that Dick drove. That car was replaced in 65 by the black car that had a stock wheelbase. The black car was built without help from Bill Thomas, even though his name was on the fenders. Then while the 66 car was being built, with help from Bill Thomas, Nickey Chevrolet came on board as a sponsor. Nickey was into road racing long before drag racing and that is the connection between them & Bill Thomas Race Cars (BTRC).

BTRC did not build the mystery Camaro funny car for Nickey in 67 but they did build a dragster. They built it sometime after the 66 Nova was finished but I am not sure if it was ever competitive. I think I have seen a couple of pictures of it somewhere but I cannot remember where. DragWorld? Also I am not sure who built the funny car that was for sale but it was not BTRC. Could this have been the car that DH ended up using for the 67 season with the Yenko/Courtesy sponsorship or was it too late?...................RatPack................... ..