My Yenko experience from days gone by.

[BLACKLS5]

This story happened back in 1981-82 when I was in 8th grade or a freshman in high school so some of the details are a little sketchy but the story is true non the less. A classmate of mine who I was never fond of and was always somewhat of a smart a@@ told me he knew the whereabouts of a Yenko Chevelle. He knew I was into cars and was always reading the latest mags in school. So of course him being a blow hard I said he was full of it, but he gave me a few details that started to make me believe he might have actually seen a Yenko. Him not wanting to be called out, arranged for his uncle to drive us 60-70 miles to see the car. Now mind you we weren't old enough to drive and certainly were not buyers, but off we went. We show up at this guys house and he has a small garage, I'd call it a 1 1/2 car garage. He opens the garage door and there is a Lemans Blue '69 Yenko Chevelle and a Red 70 1/2 Z-28. He has to crawl through the window of the Z to pull it out of the garage so we can see the Chevelle. Although I didn't know much about documenting anything back then, let a lone a Yenko Chevelle this is what I remember.

The car was Lemans Blue with Black interior and If my memory serves me it was a bucket seat 4-speed car without a console. Milege was 22XXX or 33XXX I can't remember. The car had the ralley wheels not the SS wheels and the stripe on the right quarter panel was painted on. I asked the owner why and he said it had been hit in the right quarter and the panel had been repaired or replaced at one time. The upper radiator mounting panel had a decal that said "Yenko tuned" or "Tuned by Yenko" Sorry to many years ago. Both cars were for sale, The Yenko 7K and the Camaro he was asking 5K. I tried to talk my Dad into buying the Chevelle but of course he thought I had lost my young mind. We still laugh about it. To this day I can't tell you how he or his uncle knew of the car or why the guy would be nice enough to show the cars to a couple of kids.

I never forgot those cars and when I got my drivers licence a few years later I returned to the house where the cars had been. No one was home but I left a note on the door with my (parents) phone number and a brief reminder of why I had stopped in. Sure enough he calls back a couple of days later and says he remembers us. I asked about the cars but both had been sold. He said The Chevelle went to someone in Canada. This was probably 1984. I wonder if the car is still around?

[mnyenko]

The Chevelle was advertised in Hemmings for sale in the early 80's. It sold to a buyer who drove it home to Alaska. I heard the car is back in the lower 48 now. Earl

[BLACKLS5]

Earl, That's good to know. The car was North of Hartford City, In. on State Route 3. I sure thought he told me it went to Canada. Maybe Canada then Alaska? How did you know it was driven to Alaska? Were you contact with the owner? If so where was the car located at the time?

[mnyenko]

I called on the Hemmings ad while it was still in IN. The seller told me the car just left with a new owner. He was driving it home to Alaska. The new owner checked in with Vince E. Sent photos of the car to confirm. Earl

[BLACKLS5]

Earl, I don't want to be a pain but did the car check out? Was it real?

[mnyenko]

It is a real Yenko car. I do not know the selling dealer. As I remember the price was around $9,500. I bought a FG 69 Yenko Camaro in 1985 For $12,000 out of IL. Earl