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Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
Got this message from new member GM_427_Racer
My name is Gary Merrick (aka GM_427_Racer) and I am new to this site. I was the original owner of 124379N663539 Yenko Camaro and I see it listed on your 69 list, but no information. I can tell you that it was LeMans Blue (as shown) with black stripes on the sides and hood, it was a 4 speed (M21) and was sold from Marve Minneman Chevrolet, located in Austintown, (which is now Greenwood Chevrolet at the same location) which is located just to the west of Youngstown in northeastern Ohio. In fact, I still have the original window sticker that was removed in May of 1969 when I bought the car. As you would have probably guessed, I do not have the original car, it was sold in 1973 (I think) to someone local. Amazingly, I still do have the original 4346 Holley carburetor and cowl induction air cleaner. I did drag race the car from 1970 until I sold it and I actually raced John Lingenfelter at an NHRA Divisional race in Saginaw, Michigan and won that round. If memory serves me, the car ran a best of a high 10 or low 11 second elapsed time which was pretty good for the time. I think the record was a 10.93 for SS/D back then. If you would like any more information, I would be more than happy to tell you what I recall. Gary |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
Welcome to the site Gary. Hopefully we can turn up your old car.
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Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
Pictures too Gary?...we like old pictures.
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Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
'
Cool story and welcome aboard Gary! Looking forward to more info/pics also best of luck tracking it down! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img] ~ Pete |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
Welcome!!!
Hope your old car surfaces!! Ryan |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
All,
The picture of the car was taken at Youngstown, Ohio Drag City, affectionately referred to as Meander, since it was near Meander lake, which was just west of Youngstown, Ohio. I believe this was taken around 1972, but I could be off a little bit, my memory is not as good as it used to be. Gary [img]<a href="https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pic...e_meander" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pic...e_meander[/img]</a> https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics...rice_label.jpg |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
That piece of paper has alot of value to whoever has the car.
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Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
How cool! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/headbang.gif[/img]
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Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
Picture sent to me from Charley...from the original owner?
https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics...camaro.jpg.jpg |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
Yes, this is the original picture I was trying to post. Thanks Xplantdad for posting, I kept getting an error.
As I stated earlier, this is the Yenko I bought originally in 1969 from Marve Minneman Chevrolet. This picture was taken by a friend of mine around 1972. The location was Ohio Drag City, just west of Youngstown, Ohio. I drove the car on the street for about a year, then turned it into a Super Stock D, using the M21 to start with and then upgrading to a Doug Nash Super T10 about a year later. Gary |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
Looks like it's plantin' the rubber pretty good ... nose up and gettin' it!!! TAZ [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/burnout.gif[/img] [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/3gears.gif[/img]
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Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
If this is a unknown car, gets sniffed out and bought for cheap I would hope some reward would go to Gary. I would also hope Gary would get paid a pretty penny for the paperwork. Not many orig. owners get to reap any rewards.
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Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
Sweet...
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Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Charley Lillard</div><div class="ubbcode-body">If this is a unknown car, gets sniffed out and bought for cheap I would hope some reward would go to Gary. I would also hope Gary would get paid a pretty penny for the paperwork. Not many orig. owners get to reap any rewards. </div></div>
Agreed...what a really cool story! Thanks for sharing, Gary! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/headbang.gif[/img] |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
There's nothing better than being able to connect with an Original owner !!!
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Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
I love when stuff like this pops up on here what a great site
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Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
Nothing available through federal vin# search sites. And nothing through NICB.
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Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
All,
I am not a story teller, but the history of this car and how I ended up with it, is rather unique. Chapter 1 When I was 18 years old, I began a career of 40 years working for General Motors (quite a story in itself, but for another time). My father was pretty much a Ford guy so when I turned 18 (late 1967), I wanted a pony car, so my Dad (what a guy) agreed to sign for the loan and I would make the payments, I bought a year old 1967 Mustang Fastback 289 - 4 barrel, 4 speed (sure would like to have it back also) and paid $2300.00 for it. Once I started at GM, I worked every bit of overtime I could and I paid that 3 year loan off in six months. After I had worked at GM for a while and got to drive some big block Chevys and 400 Firebirds, I decided it was time to make a switch, so I had a discussion with my Dad that now that I had a really good job (I was making almost $3.00 an hour in 1968 LOL) that I wanted to order a "NEW" 1969 Corvette Coupe 427-435 HP. He told me that NO way was he going to co-sign for a loan for a "plastic car". In the summer of 1968 my brother and I joined the US Army Reserves and in May of 1969, both of us were called to active duty, so in early May of 1969, we left for Ft. Bragg, North Carolina for basic training. I kind of gave up on the car idea once I got there, the drill seargants had my mind in other places, but one weekend I was allowed to call home and while talking to my Dad, he said, Hey, I found a car for you. He said he had been driving past one of the local Chevrolet dealers and there was a bunch Yenko cars there (he had no idea what they were) and the one that caught his eye was a LeMans blue Camaro. He asked me if I would be satisfied with that car over the Corvette, I should say at this point, I had already looked at all the Yenkos that were at this dealership, so I knew exactly which car he was talking about, but I played dumb and asked what he thought and he said he was good with co-signing the loan for me. I said, "Hey Pop, if you think it is right and you can make a deal, I like the idea." He went to the dealership on Monday and got $200.00 off the sticker price and made the deal. My Mom and Dad went to get the car on Thursday night and Dad drove it home. Fortunately, I got to call home again on the next Sunday and he told me the car was in the garage. Of course in those days there were no portable phones, so I asked him to start the car and have my Mom pull the phone as far as she could towards the garage so I could hear it as he revved it up. What a sound, it was the sweet sound of HORSEPOWER. After he shut it off and got on the phone, I could tell he was as excited as I was and he told me, you are really going to have to be careful when you drive this thing, it is REALLY fast..... This was the beginning of a 4 year love affair with my Yenko.... If you all are interested, I will give you some more stories as the saga continued. Thanks for reading, Gary |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
Great stuff. Your recollections are what makes this a great site.
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Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Charley Lillard</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Great stuff. Your recollections are what makes this a great site. </div></div>
Agreed...just way too cool! |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
"If we are interested"
Like a kid laying awake on Christmas Eve!!!! We all love Muscle Cars here, but the people and the stories are what really gets us car guys out of bed in the morning:-) Don't tease us Gary Chapter 2 please and thank you. Ryan |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
Gary,
Keep these stories coming.....welcome aboard, very happy to have you among us [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img] Dan |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
Keep em coming Gary! This is why most of us come to this site. No BS real stories and good times.
Rick |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
Chapter 2
After leaving Fort Bragg, I get assigned to Fort Lee, Virginia, for Advanced Individual Training (AIT). After a couple weeks there, I finally get the opportunity to get home and drive the Yenko. My brother and I, also at Fort Lee, hitch a ride back home and get there after midnight. Dad left the keys in the kitchen, so me and my brother take off and pretty much empty the full tank of gas that Dad put in the car. To be honest, my first impression of driving the car was rather disappointing. I really thought that this thing would have so much power that it would break the tires loose when it was in high gear at 60 MPH, but it could not. Obviously, leaving from a dead stop, it had a massive amount of torque and just smoke those Goodyears until you let off the loud pedal. I will fast forward to after I get back from AIT and go back to work at GM. Needless to say, the modifications started as soon as I started making money again, Hooker headers, Lakewood traction bars, Lakewood bell housing, and I had probably had the car to 3 or 4 different guys tuning on it to make it quicker. I just did not think that this car was as fast as it should be. I had been beaten by several 396 SS Chevelles and my buddy had a 68 Z28 with a cam in that 302 and he could even hang with the 427. It just did not make sense to me. In the winter of 1969, I got laid off at GM, so my plans got curtailed for a while. When I get called back in the spring of 1970, I am in a totally different plant that has just been built and not even finished yet, but they are so eager to get product, they have us working in the Body Shop building bodies from 6:30 PM until 3:00 AM, so the construction guys can work in the daytime. At this point, you are probably wondering what does this have to do with anything. Well, since the plant is not complete, nothing is very organized and at lunch time, it is just a bunch of guys sitting around shooting the breeze. One day at lunch, I am listening to this guy talk about Grumpy Jenkins and that is his idol and as it turns out, this guy has a bought a white, 69 COPO Camaro and has completely stripped it after having driven it home from the dealership with 8 miles on it. I am just listening, but it really sounds like this guy knows what he is talking about and his plans are to make his car a Super STock D stick car with the 427 that came in it. His current street car is a 62 Chevy Impala SS with a 409 two four barrel car. As I investigate a little more, I find out that this guy is one of the biggest street racers in a three county area and is very successful. After listening for quite a while, I decide its time to strike up a conversation. I tell him about the Yenko and that really perks his interest and as it turns out he has his own shop that he does performance work on the side. Since I am just learning about all this stuff, I ask him if he would be interested on working on the Yenko, he agrees and tells me to bring it to his shop. I take the car to his Warren, Ohio shop which just happens to be on a 4 lane highway that is not very well traveled. He tells me lets go for a ride, so I run the Yenko through its paces banging all the gears and bottom line, he agrees, for what it is supposed to be, it is a DOG!!!!!!!!!!! I tell him all the people that have tuned on it and he says, Well, I think the tuning is over, it is time for some hard part changes. |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
And then ?????
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Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
Cliff hanger, man this guy can tell a story:-)
Ryan |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
Chapter 3
Since I am back to work and we are now in the summer of 1970. My new found friend is telling me about some parts he has that will perk up the Yenko. Naturally, I ask how much this will cost and he says I will give you a deal on everything, but we need to get some "light" machine work done. Being a novice, and since the Yenko was still my prime medium of transportation, it was now time to buy another car. I end up with a 1960 Chevy 2 door Biscayne with a straight 6 and an automatic for my daily driver. I take the Yenko to his shop and naturally after a couple days, my Dad asks where the Yenko is, I tell him we are doing a little tune-up on it. As it turns out, the "little tune-up" turned out to be the engine being pulled out and completely dis-assembled, which freaked me out, cause this guy was just putting all the nuts and bolts in boxes and coffee cans without any markings. I am thinking, I have barely had this car a year and the engine is out and in a zillion pieces, none of which I know where they go. The heads and block and rotating assembly go to a speed shop in Cleveland. Again, to make a long story short, the block was replaced, the rods got lost, so the speed shop replaced them with new, 7/16" L88 rods, the pistons were replaced, the assembly was balanced and blueprinted, a different camshaft, and the heads were cc'd, milled and a competition valve job. So the car has been gone about a month and Dad is getting nervous, (not as nervous as me), I tell him it will be back soon and he trusts me, so all is well. We go to Cleveland to get all the parts and the engine re-assembly begins, however, the next Saturday I have to leave for summer camp for two weeks. My buddy works all week trying to get the engine done and on the Friday night before I have to leave we have it in the car and it is ready to fire. I am in the car and he tells me to hit the key, it turns over, but nothing, not a bang, not a burp, nothing. He tried for hours to get it started, nothing, can anyone guess how bad I was feeling. Practically, a brand new Yenko Camaro that I have invested a ton of money in and it doesn't run. The bad part was it was like 4 AM and I had to leave at 6 AM, so I had to go. My brother also had to go to summer camp, but he was leaving a day later, so I told my buddy, "When" you get it running, call my brother and he will come and get it. I am really thinking "If you get it running, call my brother. I call home later that night and my brother tells me he went to get the car and it is home, but he tells me it is not running very well. He said when he left the shop it sounded really good and was running really well, but sometime during the trip home it started to miss and never got better. I asked him what my buddy said was the problem as to why it would not start to begin with. He said the timing tape (that is how you did it in the 70's) was put on the harmonic balancer backwards, so the distributor was completely out of time to the mechanical part of the engine. He said it fired right up when he put the tape on the balancer in the correct orientation. As far as the miss goes, #7 spark plug wire had fallen off. When I got home from summer camp, I took the Yenko for a ride and WOW, what a difference, now there was some serious power. I will give you Chapter 4 soon... |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
A little suspense....... oh what a web we weave:-)
Ryan |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
Great story so far and most importantly, thank you for your service. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/flag.gif[/img]
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Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
This is awesome Gary!
Best non-fiction in the world. Dan |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
I LOVE this stuff! Thank you for your service and Thank you for sharing your story with us.
Jamie |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
Chapter 4
I guess it is about time to start telling the story about when the Yenko started hitting the drag strip. Before I begin, my Dad (what a guy) had several friends that drag raced, so my first recollection of going to a drag strip was 1956 or 1957 to watch his friends race. Pop could not afford it, but he loved cars and definitely gave me that part of him. When the rebuild of the engine was going on several other parts were installed with the rebuilt engine, including a new steel flywheel, a new racing clutch, and definitely a new Hurst shifter, the original use to lock up in second gear quite often. Since the car was quite a bit faster and I had my trusty 60 Biscayne, the Yenko did not see the street as much except for special occasions. The first time the Yenko hit the strip was a night I will never forget. I had met this girl (you guys knew it had to be coming, "a cool car and a hot girl"), so I asked her out to go to the drag strip and "watch" my buddy (the guy that built the engine and had the 69 White COPO), run his Camaro for the first time. So I pick her up, I gotta say she was NOT impressed with the Yenko, but I am excited to go to Meander and "WATCH". When we get there, we find my friend and the white COPO is on the trailer, so naturally I ask what is going on, he tells me that the rear cam plug is leaking and the clutch has been soaked so he cannot run it. SOOOOOOOO, he says, lets put my number on the Yenko and that I race it. Now, I gotta tell you I have done a lot of street racing, but I have NEVER been on the drag strip. I am thinking about it and finally say OK, the slicks come off of his car on to mine, the exhaust on my car now gets moved to open headers and the YENKO comes alive and it sounds like a real race car. It is now dark and before I get in the car to make a time trial, that HOT girl I was telling you about earlier whispers in my ear, "This car better get me home tonight!!!!". I think to myself, what can go wrong, everything in this car is brand new, and I tell her "Not to worry". As it turns out, I am the last one in line for a time trial, and after I go down the track they will be starting the races. I am really nervous, I pull in to the water and set the line lock (forgot to mention we had put one on the car), and start the water burn out and it actually went really well. Thank God. So, I am inching, and I mean inching towards the starting line to stage shallow, but what I didn't realize was that the starting line was about 10 feet in front of me. My buddy, finally started waving at me to quit the inching and just pull up to where he was standing which was about 6 inches from the starting line, so I do that and after what seemed like an eternity, both stage lights finally come on. As the lights come down (five light amber back then), I start revving the engine, the last yellow comes on, I dump the clutch, the front end jumps up (not the above picture), the engine revs quickly to 7500, I powershift (accelerator foot never came off the floor) to second gear and the engine just revs to the moon. I am dumbfounded, lift my foot off the accelerator immediately and I am thinking, what just happened????? My hand is still on the shifter, it is telling me that it is in second gear, I rev the motor gently, it revs ok, but I am just coasting, so I "gently" shift it to third gear, give it light throttle, still coasting, put it in fourth gear, still coasting. At that point, I think OOOOH OOOH, there is a serious problem here, engine is OK, but something behind it is NOT ok. As I am coasting down the track, I remember that phrase, "This car better get me home tonight!!!". Then I think, the Yenko has a problem right now, that is what is important. I did not mention that this drag strip was also a private airport, ahhh good reason to tell you because it will come up soon. I should also mention that they would stop the races to allow planes to land, sometimes a couple times a night. Even though I have never gone down this strip before, I did know that there was a turn off about 2/3 of the way down, actually it was there more for the airplanes to get to the hangers, as I said this will come up shortly. So I am coasting very slowly down the track, getting ready to make the left turn off the track and something catches my eye in the driver's door rear mirror, I think, WHAT THE HELL? It is the left side slick separating from the car. I am really confused, as I am making the turn I am watching it in the mirror and it just keeps coming out farther and farther and farther and then it happens, it comes all the way out, well at least half of the axle and the car falls to the ground on the brake backing plate and the car comes to a stop. I get out and the slick is going around very slowly just rotating around the broken end of the axle that is on the ground. NEWS Flash, I guess I know what broke!!!!! Since I was the last car down the track, all the track workers went on break prior to the races starting. So I am sitting there in the middle of this turn off and if you haven't guessed yet, I will give you a clue, remember how I said this was an airport. Well, I would figure you know now that a plane is making an approach to land, they land and are coming directly towards where I am parked to travel to the hangar. Fortunately, the pilot finally sees me and starts giving me hand gestures, me being the 20 year old, give him the hand gestures right back and point to the slick and give it a kick and watch it spin on the ground. He gives me another hand gesture, to which I respond and he finally gets the idea he has to go to another exit. As I sit there, I am thinking, how come no-one has come to help me. It was probably 15-20 minutes and finally my buddies brother comes down and says, What happened? I point to the slick and axle and give it another light kick to make it spin (you have to remember it is totally dark and there is not much light where I am parked, this is 1970 by the way). He tells me that they thought I was embarased that I missed second gear and they did not know where I went. I said "Are you kidding me?". As evidence with the spinning slick, I did NOT miss second gear. Needless to say when the floor jack came, we pushed the axle back in the housing and then we moved the car out of the way. Since everybody's trailer was full, I had to wait a couple hours for another friend to take his car home and come back to get the Yenko back to my buddies shop and figure out what to do. Needless to say it was a very long night and I got a ride to go get the 60 Chevy. As it turned out, where I bought the car, the service manager was a very "COOL" guy. I called him on Monday and told him I broke an axle and asked if it could be fixed under Warranty? Of course I did not bring up where the car was or what I was doing when it broke. Obviously, before we trailered the car to the dealership, we took the slicks off and put the street tires back on and put the exhaust back to closed headers. Bottom line, I got the axle fixed and while the car was at the dealership I asked if they could put a 4.88 gear in it. No problem they said, of course I had to pay for that, could not swing that one on warranty. Now I am guessing that some of the folks reading this are wondering, well is there a Happy Ending with the "HOT" girl, did they date for a while, get engaged, get married, have kids and still look lovingly in each other's eyes to this day?? Me and the 60 Chevy got her home around 4 AM, said Goodnight and never saw her again. Oh well, you really didn't think it would end well, did you????????? The car got fixed and Chapter 5 will come up in a while............. |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img] [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/3gears.gif[/img]
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Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
This is so cool! Thanks for taking the time to share.
Jason |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
This is awesome.. Thank you for taking the time to share.. Fantastic!!
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Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
great stories and thank you for your service
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Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
I can't wait for chapter 5....cars and girls! I'm in!!
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Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]
Where's the popcorn eating emoji when you need it?? |
Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
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Re: Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539
This is the most interesting thread since LoL Dare I say it ... the Munson yenko .. But this one is chock full of facts
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