Go Back   The Supercar Registry > General Discussion > Supercar/Musclecar Discussion


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #11  
Old 12-23-2021, 03:17 PM
Jimlt4383 Jimlt4383 is offline
Yenko Contributing Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 142
Thanks: 103
Thanked 252 Times in 63 Posts
Default

There is a 1967 RO23 plymouth in the video and they didn't start producing them till about February 15. The altered wheel base 1965 dodge that crashed was the x ramchargers car.
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 12-23-2021, 04:03 PM
1967Z28's Avatar
1967Z28 1967Z28 is online now
Yenko Contributing Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Golden Bear State, USA
Posts: 2,005
Thanks: 1,406
Thanked 994 Times in 410 Posts
Default

I don't think I have seen an NOS/replacement GM front fender that did not already have the holes for the Camaro emblem pre-drilled(punched). I'm guessing all production line fenders had the holes for the Camaro emblem in place as the baseline configuration, especially by the time Jenkins' car was built, however the video images throw a wrench in that thought.

Quote:
Originally Posted by William View Post
The car was featured in the January '68 SS & DI. Appears to have the same emblem; the Camaro emblem above it looks to be much higher than the production location.

May be just an old legend, back in the day I heard many Camaro racers replaced the front fenders with GMPD service parts, said to be a thinner gauge steel.
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 12-23-2021, 04:45 PM
William William is offline
Yenko Contributing Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: New Berlin WI USA
Posts: 2,463
Thanks: 194
Thanked 2,077 Times in 660 Posts
Default

Bill Jenkins' '69 Pro Stock Camaro was built as a Dover White L78 SS. Vintage photos of the car show no Camaro SS or 396 emblems. In addition, the rear quarter louver trim was removed.

Maybe that was just his personal touch.
__________________
Learning more and more about less and less...
Reply With Quote
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to William For This Useful Post:
1967Z28 (12-23-2021), 69M22Z (12-24-2021)
  #14  
Old 12-23-2021, 05:11 PM
RALLY RALLY is online now
Yenko Contributing Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: MI
Posts: 989
Thanks: 19
Thanked 145 Times in 101 Posts
Default

I believe that was Bill Jenkins L78 396-375 horsepower motor in that 67 Camaro. He won some races with this car. Quick as usual for Jenkins. Lots of nice drag cars for sure. Malcom Durham Chevelle Strip Blazer was super fast. He was tough to beat with that Chevelle.

Last edited by RALLY; 12-23-2021 at 05:18 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 12-23-2021, 06:11 PM
cook_dw cook_dw is offline
Banned
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 4,322
Thanks: 623
Thanked 1,487 Times in 609 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by William View Post
Bill Jenkins' '69 Pro Stock Camaro was built as a Dover White L78 SS. Vintage photos of the car show no Camaro SS or 396 emblems. In addition, the rear quarter louver trim was removed.

Maybe that was just his personal touch.
Possibly a body in white kinda deal? By then I would say he was running 427+ cubes in S/S?
Reply With Quote
  #16  
Old 12-23-2021, 08:26 PM
William William is offline
Yenko Contributing Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: New Berlin WI USA
Posts: 2,463
Thanks: 194
Thanked 2,077 Times in 660 Posts
Default

JM's '69 Camaro fact book has a section dedicated to Dave Strickler, Jenkins' team member for several years. He was casually acquainted with Jenkins from many years of drag racing and visited his shop to present him with a copy. Jenkins displayed several folders of factory paperwork from the cars he raced. The folder for the '69 had the window sticker and dealer invoice. No free cars or body in white for him; he bought them from a dealer just like anyone else.

The '69 was raced with a ZL-1 engine; no idea if he ever ran the L78. The car is not known to exist.
__________________
Learning more and more about less and less...
Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to William For This Useful Post:
69M22Z (12-23-2021)
  #17  
Old 12-23-2021, 09:16 PM
1967Z28's Avatar
1967Z28 1967Z28 is online now
Yenko Contributing Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Golden Bear State, USA
Posts: 2,005
Thanks: 1,406
Thanked 994 Times in 410 Posts
Default

I remember seeing a video of his visit to Jenkins and going through the window stickers. I assume somebody still has that stuff.
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old 12-23-2021, 10:04 PM
GrumpyJeff's Avatar
GrumpyJeff GrumpyJeff is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Manheim PA
Posts: 413
Thanks: 11
Thanked 247 Times in 121 Posts
Default

I remember Bill telling a friend and I at one of the York reunions that Chevy actually gave him two 67's, 1st a SS350 with a transplanted L88 before the end of the year 1966. But sometime in March of 67 one if the 1st L78 cars off of Norwoods assembly line was designated for Bill and that one of his crew (Joe Tryson) i believe ? took delivery of a heater/radio deleted, 4;88 geared Car personally and made the long cold drive back to Malvern in it .
Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to GrumpyJeff For This Useful Post:
NorCam (12-23-2021)
  #19  
Old 12-23-2021, 11:09 PM
William William is offline
Yenko Contributing Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: New Berlin WI USA
Posts: 2,463
Thanks: 194
Thanked 2,077 Times in 660 Posts
Default

For some perspective on Chevrolet in the ‘60s, everyone should read these books:

"Chevrolet = Racing?" by Paul Van Valkenburgh
"Best Damn Garage in Town" by Smokey Yunick
"The Unfair Advantage" by Mark Donohue
"On a Clear Day You Can See GM" by John De Lorean

A constant theme through the Donohue & Yunick books is how cheap and difficult Chevy was to deal with.

I doubt Jenkins was given much of anything. Maybe some parts. In his paperwork, there was an invoice for the March 11, 1968 purchase of a used '68 Nova from Ed Rinke Chevrolet in Center Line MI. Shows a purchase price of $2,580.82. The '69 Camaro was purchased from Roth Chevrolet in PA.

Chevy had extensive involvement with sports car racing, NASCAR, SCCA Trans-Am racing. They did do some instrumented testing on Jenkins car, didn't get much from it. According to Paul Van Valkenburgh, they had virtually no interest in drag racing.
__________________
Learning more and more about less and less...
Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to William For This Useful Post:
69M22Z (12-23-2021)
  #20  
Old 12-24-2021, 12:23 AM
cook_dw cook_dw is offline
Banned
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 4,322
Thanks: 623
Thanked 1,487 Times in 609 Posts
Default

A semi local racer worked with Jenkins and he (Grumpy) had the sponsoring dealership of loc racer contact GM from Jenkins contact to special order an early 68 Z. Once the car was delivered it went from TN/KY area straight to Jenkins shop for engine & suspension work for the upcoming racing season. Car and driver was fairly competitive before moving to a 69 Z in 70-71 timeframe. He (local racer) allowed me to take photos of original paperwork and Jenkins receipts from BITD. He also had photos of it at the local dealer to me in the fall of ‘67. Great discussion btw.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 02:46 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.

O Garage vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.