After years in obscurity, this 1967 Chevrolet Yenko Super
Camaro 450, number YS739 and one of only 10 known, is one of the most
well-documented Yenkos in existence. It was reintroduced to the world at the
2008 Forge Invitational Muscle Car Classic in Kingsport, Tennessee, as a prize
“barn find.” Unrestored and painted Red, the car was a product of the
collaboration between Don Yenko and drag racer Dick Harrell, whose Kansas City
Performance Center handled the conversion of factory-built SS396 Camaros into L72
427/450 HP-powered Yenko stormers. After its Forge debut the car was completely
refurbished over the following year by its owner, restoration specialist Mike
Slaughter, who was amazed to discover it intact and unmodified, a true wonder
given that most Harrell-built Yenkos were changed to one extent or another for
drag racing.
Heads-up competition was clearly the purpose of the
Yenko-Harrell conversion; beyond the switch to L72 power, this Yenko 427 Camaro
used Mickey Thompson tube headers, Traction Master traction bars, an R/C
bellhousing, a fiberglass Stinger hood with hold-down pins, Stewart Warner tach
and gauges, Autolite plugs and wires and “427” exterior badges.
Purchased new at Burt Chevrolet in Englewood, Colorado, on
August 1, 1967, the car was originally finished in Butternut Yellow with a
standard Black interior. Mike Slaughter, an automotive paint rep who well knows
how to use his products, resprayed the car with award-winning skill in his own
shop using BASF Glasurit paint. The car retains its original quarter panels,
roof and floor pans, with NOS sheet metal only used where necessary. Dean Davis
of Moline, Illinois, built up the 427 CI engine using all the correct pieces,
most importantly the correct-code Holley 3910 780 CFM 4-barrel carburetor,
achieving a dyno-tested 500 HP; a Muncie-shifted M21 4-speed and 12-bolt 4.10
Positraction rear end complete the driveline.
Since its completion by Slaughter in 2009, this rare machine
has received Legends Certification from the American Camaro Association; the
Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals Day Two Concours Diamond Award and Chevy
VetteFest Gold Spinner Concours honors with 998 of 1,000 points. It was chosen
as a finalist for the GoodGuys Muscle Car of the Year award in Kansas City in
2009 and Loveland, Colorado, in 2010 and won Best Paint in the Super Chevy Gold
Class in both 2010 and 2011. Featured in the April 2010 issue of Muscle Car
Enthusiast and The Complete Book of Camaro by David Newhardt, the car was
praised by Super Chevy Magazine as “one of the rarest and most valuable Yenko
Super Camaros in existence.” Most importantly for one of only 10 remaining 1967
Yenko 450 Super Camaros, this legacy muscle car is fully documented. It was
“certified original” by Larry Christensen, who issued complete inspection
reports both during and after the restoration. It is accompanied with the labor
invoice from Dick Harrell to Yenko, an invoice from the sale of the car by
Yenko to Burt Chevrolet and two copies of parts invoices from Yenko.
source: http://www.mecum.com/auctions/lot_detail.cfm?LOT_ID=CA0813-161569http://www.stevescamaroparts.com
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