Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

Well here's another item to create a little head scratching.
I have a '70 Deuce with the twin sport mirror option but have only seen one other car with the same option. Does anyone have any idea about how many Deuces were sold with this particular option? I seen quite a few with the instrument package and none with the hood scoop or rear spoiler option. What's your thoughts? https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/dunno.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...s/confused.gif

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

While most cars did not get the mirror option, I have seen several that have, as well as the Dixco gauge pack and the 3 spoke cushion grip steering wheel. Marlin will chime in with his data, as I'm sure he has records of all this... I know many of the Colonial cars had additional equipment, including the mirrors, but some didn't, I think it was basically a matter of what the dealers checked off on the order blanks. The network dealers used an order form to select any additional options they wanted... I have a blank one around here somewhere i think, but I'm pretty certain the dual rear spoilers and hood scoop were items that never actually made it on any cars, at least none that i know of... the car in the sales flyer has the scoop on it, but it was a pre-production car that wasnt even really a COPO, and was actually a dressed up 250 6 cylinder car that Don put together before the LT-1 cars were even built or delivered to him. Marlin, do you have any info on option breakdowns for the Deuces in the registry?

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

I think there may be one showing up soon with that optional hood scoop. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/grin.gif

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

I know that all of the known Fencl Tufo cars had options like gauges and fat grip wheels.

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

What does the scoop look like ?

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

[ QUOTE ]
What does the scoop look like ?

[/ QUOTE ]

Like this.

https://www.yenko.net/attachments/142906-ebay834.jpg

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

looks like a hood that one of the amc cars had with the tach in the back drivers side of it..

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

[ QUOTE ]
looks like a hood that one of the amc cars had with the tach in the back drivers side of it..

[/ QUOTE ]

Bingo.

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

The scoop is the Hurst Rebel Machine version, the twin sport mirrors are the Hurst Olds/ScRambler version, the shifter is the Hurst #4177 Pontiac GTO bench seat version, the second order of cars were shipped to Hurst - most likely for conversion. The Deuces have a major Hurst connection.

To our knowledge, no COPO Deuces received the hood scoop or twin rear spoiler (CalCustom item) options.

As for the sport mirrors, more cars received them than I thought. Here is a quick breakdown of most of the options:


Based on actual data from the 175 produced:

Auto Trans = 53/175 produced; 30%
Power Steering = 48/175 produced; 27%
Custom St.Wheel = 33/175 produced; 19% (Extrapolated)
Twin Sp. Mirror = 26/175 produced; 15% (Extrapolated)
Instrument Group= 11/175 produced; 6% (Extrapolated)

Based on the 85 Deuces found to date:

Custom St Wheel = 16 ---> 19%
Twin Sp. Mirror = 13 ---> 15%
Instrument Group= 5 ---> 6%

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

Thanks Marlin!

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

I had gone through the option breakdowns a few years ago, but did it again recently when 4 cars in the last 14 found had sport mirrors - that's almost 33%. So, I redid the calcs and was surprised at how the sport mirror option was catching up to the steering wheel option.

The option that I rarely do calcs on is the optional shifter. To date, I believe only 3 cars out of the 85 have that option, but I should start including that option since it's half as much as the instrument group count.

Trivia; How many deuces came with these types of dealer add-on's - in the trunk?

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

i will say 2

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

Marlin Just for informantion purposes, The original paperwork I have on the Draggin Deuce lists the car as having the instrument package at a cost of $45.00.

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

Good to know Frankie, I will factor that in.

Very close guess Chris, any others?

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

three.

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

Do I hear 4?

"4", from the man in the back...https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

1

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

What car? Are you sure there was only one to come with optional equipment uninstalled, or is only one known car with documentation to prove it?

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

Nah, just the only story that we know of. The original owner recalls that an a/t Cortez Silver Deuce was delivered to Johnny Londoff Chevrolet in Florissant, MO with the shifter in the trunk.

Not to read into it too much, but, it lends creedance to the Hurst converted cars theory. We know that Yenko had capacity constraints with the first 125 Deuce conversions, so hearing about a car with the labor intensed shifter dropped in the trunk is understandable. The key is the color of the car, ie; C.Silver, because silver is in the first order of cars. If it had been a color unique to the second order (Orange,S.Yellow or C.Green), or a red or blue car from the second order, the 'shifter in the trunk' situation would have been less believable.

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

[ QUOTE ]
What car?

[/ QUOTE ]

BTW, the car was totalled, endo'd forward after one of the front wheels went into a ditch.

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

Friggin' Missouri drivers...

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

Saw Blue Thunders Yenko nova at the A.A.C.A. show held on may 28th in Greensburg,Pa. Nice car and Very Nice People

Ron Starry

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

Some more trivia:

It is believed that more cars may have had sport mirrors, but after a few owners, and possibly paint jobs, the evidence is lost bec/ the mirrors are either missing or replaced with another style.

Why were these mirrors commonly removed?

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

Mirrors were too small, and their mounting location made them nearly impossible to see anything out of.

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

Close. The mirrors are dimensionally long, one needs to lean back to use them, and they are 'small'.

However, according to reports: you can't open the wing windows, they will hit the 'bullet' or 'cone' of the mirror! The mirrors also vibrate, and provide a blurry view once you get your head into position.

BTW, we believe the Yenko, in his 'cheapness', only installed the driver's side mirror on a particular Deuce - must have been too much work to drill or punch the holes for the passenger side mirror! The window sticker shows the full price though, $20.

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

Thanks Marlin. You sure have an awesome inventory of information on these cars. We are all in debt to you for the countless hours of research that you must have done.
Alan https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/flag.gif

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

No doubt, Alan...https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/worship.gif

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

[ QUOTE ]
The scoop is the Hurst Rebel Machine version

[/ QUOTE ] It may be the same scoop as the Rebel Machines were prepped with, but I'd bet an oat soda that it was made by Dixco and not AMC.

Here's a good shot of additional holes that were drilled to install the sport mirrors.
https://www.yenko.net/attachments/143...irrorHoles.jpg
...and of the mirror itself

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

oops...here's the mirror
https://www.yenko.net/attachments/143047-SportMirror.jpg

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

Thanks for the kind words, but the info has come from all of the owners - I just compile it. The best info comes from original owners who still own their deuces, like Alan, Schoneye, and the other 10. When research nutz like myself, the Barr Bro's, Frankie, et al get together with the original owners, that's when things start to make sense. I trust the two generations have learned a lot from each other https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

The scoop could be a dixco or cal custom item, since the front openings are closed in the pic. Or it was a Hurst prototype, another Hurst bolt on (for non-functional hoods), or? Good pic of the door, taken in OH? https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/grin.gif

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

Who was the original manufacturer of the bullet mirrors?

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

don't know, but it wasn't Talbot - and the current repops are way wrong!

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

If anyone is in need of a high quality(as good as or better than original) mirror like these, the man to contact is Mike Lewis 1619 Stokes Lane Nashville, Tenn 37215 and his phone number is 615-292-5334. I have seen his stuff in person and it is excellent quality.
BTW, Joe have you had any luck on any documentation for these mirrors? If not, does anyone have any printed material that I could get a copy of to prove to the AACA judges that these mirrors are an authentic option for the Deuces like mine?
Alan https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...s/confused.gif

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

The hood scoop is certainly interesting for sure. With no known example of a Deuce having come equipped with one, and only the pictures of the 6 cylinder prototype car you've seen here to go on, it's really a difficult item to do much further research on. I do feel however, that it is likely a Dixco piece, going solely on the design of the integrated tach.

I can understand where the "Hurst" connection comes into play, as the open end version of the scoop was also installed on a few hundred Hurst-prepped Jeepster Commandos, like this one.
Hurst Jeepster
Here's a side view of another H-Commando.
Side View
While the AMC Rebel Machines were also prepped by the folks at Hurst that hardly makes the scoop a "Hurst" piece. It also doesn't explain the scoop appearing on a prototype Deuce that was built long before the actual 9010 COPO cars were ever assembled and shipped to Canonsburg. So we can hardly credit Hurst for giving Yenko the idea to use it, but that also doesn't necessarily help us with sourcing it's manufacturer.

My guess is that the scoop was a Dixco item based on the fact that it integrated their existing hood tachometer design, and that Yenko may have tried one on the prototype Deuce simply because a plain flat Nova hood was about as mundane as it got for the musclecar era. They were likely more expensive than the standard stand alone hood tach and would have been considered for an extra cost option like the Dixco underdash gauges, racing mirrors, and thick rim sport steering wheel.

Yenko obviously carried and installed Dixco instruments on their post-69 vehicles, and also had their hood tachs custom silkscreened by Dixco, which makes me think the scoop may have been an early design that Yenko was aware of and was considered for use on his new project.

Now why there isn't some old Dixco promotional material on these scoops floating around somewhere escapes me. You'd think even if they were a "discontinued" design or something that was produced even in limited quantity for the aftermarket, there'd be a few NOS examples floating around somewhere that we could examine.

I do know for a fact that Dixco had several other "designs" in mind for their hood tachometers, one of which included a 2 guage set-up integrated right into the face flanking the tach needle sweep. Promotional materials were printed and distributed, however I've never seen or heard of an actual example being produced. Perhaps the hood tach scoop was another still born design that was picked up exclusively by Hurst, who later added it to their Rebel and Commando projects? But that doesn't explain Yenko's using it first. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/dunno.gif

Are there any Hurst or AMC guru's out there who can comment on the scoop being installed on the Rebel Machines? Was it AMC or Hurst's idea to include the scoop?

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

I agree 100% Eric, but just never saw any Dixco hood scoops like this one.

I think you are right though, Yenko would have used stuff from either Hurst or Dixco - what about Cal Custom? We don't really know! Is the twin rear spoiler option another unpublished Dixco item, or is it the Cal Custom item as featured in 8/69 SSDI?

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

The twin rear spolier SSDI ad you're referencing does show Cal Custom units. I do strongly believe however, that the hood scoop is a Dixco item because it just makes sense.

Dixco was in the automotive instrument business, and the scoop is little more than a glorified plastic housing around Dixco's familiar tach face. We also know for sure that Yenko used Dixco instruments on the Deuce project and even had his own logo silkscreened right on the face of Dixco tachs, like Chrysler, Ford, and JC Penney's also did. It seems that Yenko was a pretty significant customer of Dixco's to be able to get "custom" monikered products from them along the lines of Chrysler, Ford, etc. That makes me think the scoop was a "prototype" of sorts for Dixco and Yenko got his hands on at least one. Perhaps the arrangement Yenko Sportscars worked out with Hurst for converting the remaining Deuces opened their eyes to Dixco and their products, leading to their later and essentially exclusive use of the scoop w/ integrated tach on the AMC Rebel and Jeepster Commando projects. I know it's a stretch...but right now it's all we've got.

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

Agreed.

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Good theory SCkid.

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I can find no company ID on the tach, or the shroud. The tach body is more like a GTO unit than a Dixco though. The plastic housing is not the same as any of the Dixco, or JC Whitney tachs I've had either. I tend to think it wasn't made by Dixco.
I think the problem with this set up is how you make it actually function without major hood surgery. I don't think Don wanted something that labor intensive on the deuces. As a non functioning piece without opening the cutouts your ok, but with the air cut outs open you need to vent the air, or you'll tear it off. Ours will function. I think it looks pretty cool. Always thought so from the first time I saw the ad.

Re: Yenko Optional Twin Sport Mirrors
 

Thats gonna look pretty cool Schonye...if it was anyone else I would ask for a pic of the tach side !!!