Re: Yenko Wheels
The story on Atlas wheels goes like this...and keep in mind this is what I've been told by Warren Dernoshek, head wrench for Yenko's race team and a key player who experienced the heyday at Yenko Chevrolet first hand. As Warren explains, the Atlas Foundry was not in the business of making wheels, valve covers, or other speed parts. Primarily they produced aluminum cores that were somehow used to make electric engines for locomotives. They were a large industrial casting facility, producing mainly large indurstrial castings. Don happened to be close friends with a gentleman who happened to be employed by Atlas as a sales rep, and who also happened to be at least partly responsible for developing the core design Atlas relied on as their bread and butter casting. The rep was a fellow Corvette owner and racing aficianado, so naturally Don worked his connection with the Atlas rep, and had them tool up, and then cast a limited quantity of the 5 spoke wheels. Warren explained that the Atlas wheel mold was made directly from a period American Torq Thrust (peaked spoke) at the time, because Don liked the look of the wheels on an employee's vehicle, and even borrowed the wheel to lend to Atlas in helping copy the design. Why go to all this trouble instead of simply buying from American, because Atlas could and did do it cheaper. Anything to save a buck and help the profitablibilty of resale. Warren explained that when they were ready, the sales rep would bring the wheels into Yenko's dealership on a pickup truck, with no special packaging for retail sales or anything like that. More like "here's your castings, do what you will with them." From there Don simply marketed them as his own mags as a substitute to the more expensive Americans, but aside from the lack of American Racing text cast into the backside, a legit Atlas wheel will be very comparable in design to an early peaked spoke Torq Thrust. So if anyone tells you they have Atlas wheels in Atlas boxes, or that they bought them somewhere other than Yenko (or stole them from the foundry) they're blowing smoke. Atlas was also responsible for casting the Yenko crest Vega valve covers, as well as some other special one off race parts of Don and Company's design. The wheels were cast in both 14 and 15 inch sizes. Hope this helps clear up the controversy guys.
|