I was asked by one of your members to tell this story at this site. I have purchased a 68 Yenko Camaro that has been put away for the last 20 years. I now have it home and wish to share it with all of you Chevy fanatics. As I am one too.
Here is the story as it was told to me by the seller.
The car was owned by a sailor in the Navy stationed in the San Diego area. It was originally purchased at Jay Kline Chevrolet in Mn. I do not know how it came to Calif., but maybe him being in the Navy had something to do with it. The person in San Diego owned the car until about the mid 80's. I do not know how long he owned it before this time or if he was the original owner. Sometime in the mid 80's he was done with the car and took some parts off of it and he called a wrecking yard and had it towed away. Bad move. It was actually on the back of the wrecker on it's way to the crusher when a couple of young guys stumbled across it parked in front of a fast food restaraunt, luckily the driver got hungry just at that time or the car would have been lost forever. The guys recognized the badges and realized the car should be saved and made a deal to buy the car on the spot for cash, cheap. The driver dumped the car on the spot and it was dragged home. Later one of them needed transportation and traded it for a $1700. running car, believe it or not I think the car was a mustang. That is how the guy that I bought it from acquired the car. He took it to the desert and covered it and there it has remained until now. Some interesting notes about the car. When my seller got the car it had most of it's external badges intact. He was going through a divorce about 10 years ago and actually took all of the badges off of the back panel, fenders and glove box so the car wouldn't be taken by his ex-wife. That is why you can see the outlines of the badges on the car. The badges are in his garage somewhere. They were pretty crusty but we are going to find them. The car is in not bad condition considering it's been drag raced hard and sat in the desert for the last 20 years. There are a few small rust holes in the drivers front pan and the rear fender lips are messed up from big tires. The paint on the car is original including the stripes. The drivers side fender is missing. It has the 140 speedo, big front swaybar, Yenko door jamb tag, Yenko type cowl tag and the seller is digging out the tach and sending unit. You can see the holes in the cowl for the sending unit. The car has a dash dash paint code on the tag but is painted Deepwater Blue. A 67 color. The int. is std black, ps, pdb. This was also verified by Vince Emme over the phone. The Yenko tag on the fenders is over the old SS holes like the 8008 car. There was no driprail trim or top of the door trim. It did have a SS gas cap. It did not have spoilers. I and a few others have known about this car for years but I happened to be talking to the owner when he said he wanted to sell it. After a couple of weeks of talking we struck a deal. The car is now in my garage awaiting restoration. When I got it home I opened the trunk and there was a live rat still living in there. There is a picture of him to follow. He is now with Don Yenko. If anyone recognizes this car or has any information about it's history I would be greatly indebted to them. I will try and post pics, how do you do that? Have fun.
http://www.yenko.net/attachments/203366-tn_yenko68037.jpg

Pic of Yenko Tag and cowl tag
http://www.yenko.net/attachments/203508-tn_yenko68047.jpg
http://www.yenko.net/attachments/203369-tn_yenko68001.jpg

Pics of Vin and Navy sticker. Maybe someone remembers this car? Let me know if you want more.
http://www.yenko.net/attachments/203378-tn_yenko68013.jpg
http://www.yenko.net/attachments/203539-tn_yenko68052.jpg

Glad you made it over here to share your story. Hopefully someone here might know some more about the car and its history.

Also anyone notice the difference on the Cowl tag for this 68 Yenko??

Remember that on your junk yard jaunts :)

I don't think that Cowl Tag is a Yenko specific item.
It looks like the on one my 68 RS/SS that when I inquired was told it was an Export tag. There is another tag on top of the cowl with the GM Statement which is on the lower portion of the Regular Cowl Tag.

Does the car referenced in this post also have another tag on top of the cowl?

You are right it is an Export tag... it has been theorized that the tag was used so that Yenko could sell the cars with out having to have them emission certified.

This car was sold in the Nothern U.S., I do not believe it was exported to Canada. I did not see an additional tag. When I was verifying the car as a Yenko I just knew to make sure it had this type cowl tag. Pics of 140 speedo and fender showing Yenko emblem was over SS emblem.
http://www.yenko.net/attachments/203372-tn_yenko68038.jpg
http://www.yenko.net/attachments/203371-tn_yenko68033.jpg

Cool story and car..please keep us posted as you find out more

This car was sold in the Nothern U.S., I do not believe it was exported to Canada. I did not see an additional tag. When I was verifying the car as a Yenko I just knew to make sure it had this type cowl tag. Pics of 140 speedo and fender showing Yenko emblem was over SS emblem.
http://www.yenko.net/attachments/203372-tn_yenko68038.jpg
http://www.yenko.net/attachments/203371-tn_yenko68033.jpg

I was not questioning the fact that the car was sold in the US. beginning in 68 the cowl tag said This Vehicle conforms to all applicable regualtions regarding ...yada yada yada...

The 68 Export style tag did not have that statement. It is thought that because the 68 Yenkos had a different coded 375 hp 396 (MY code?) in them with a different (larger?) carb so that when the 427 short block was installed they would just drop the heads, intake, and carb right on the short block that way they would not have to add a larger carb, it would cut conversion costs, and Don would not have extra parts laying around.

If it was an export tag and the original owner was in the Navy, maybe it was sent to Europe to his duty station and then when he rotated back to the states he happened to be stationed in San Diego?
Just a thought, although I liked the emission get around statement by firstgenaddict.

The export trim tag is common to 68 Yenko's, it has been a known tell for many years.

It was used both for the 68 Yenko's and Export cars. My thinking was if your out in one of the Junk Yards and run across a tag like this one, take a longer/harder look at the car and see what else might be there.

Neat find and I hope to see more pics of it esp since its a 67 Color on a 68.

What a great find! According to Ed C's list this Yenko came from Jay Cline Chevy in Minneapolis, MN. Not all the 68 Yenkos had the special cowl tag or 140 speedo. I believe three were converted that were not COPOs..As far as special carb, I am 99% sure I have the original carb on my COPO and it is your basic 780CFM with vacume secondarys (4053) Maybe some of the early Yenkos got a special carb also a QD rear but mine did not and I also have the 3:73 rear (BU) I know of at least 4 other 68s with the BU rear. Ed Montini's COPO and mine were very late cars (07E) and were in the last batch of eight delivered.....

Thanks COPO9737
So is the concensus that my car would have come with a DZ carb and not a GE carb like the 69's? When I read up on these cars the opinions are split. I need to start getting parts and any help would be appreciated. Also on the cowl tag debate, I was not aware of the export angle, I learned something here. I was just looking for that type of tag knowing that it would be on a Yenko 9737 car. I did think though that it might have gone to Canada since it was sold through a Mn. dealership. I like the Canadian paperwork for verification. Does anyone have a pic of the export tag on top of the cowl, I have never seen one. Thanks again

There have been claims of a different carb but I have my doubts. I think one Yenko that was SUPPOSED to be a 427 with a MV coded motor car said he had a 850CFM. Maybe a couple cars came thru with a different carb but I not have seen any real proof.

You will notice the tag doesn't have the standard GM certification that states it meets all applicable federal safety standards. It roughly equivalent to "offroad only" certification that present day aftermarket equipment carries. Basically it says that a car with that tag on it was not street legal, as far as GM was concerned.

The way it looks now I think it was used for off road...

I have spent several trips and many hours digging through parts for the 68 Yenko. Here are some interesting ones I found that came with car. Original Yenko Emblems, S-W gauges and S-W tach and sending unit. I found these in the sellers bldg after 10 hours of searching for parts all day. Worth the hassle.
http://www.yenko.net/attachments/208884-tn_yenko68056.jpg


Dana

http://www.yenko.net/attachments/208883-tn_yenko68058.jpg

http://www.yenko.net/attachments/208881-tn_yenko68055.jpg

Neat find. I like the "wood grain" on the guages, don't see that often. Most 68s I have seen have the "green face" tach. I also have some original Yenko emblems off the 69 I used to own. You are very lucky to be able to retain these original parts. Ed Montini who owns a 1968 Yenko non-converted car was able to obtain the original tach and guages that Yenko installed in his car before delivery, it was also a "green face"

...very cool story.
not Yenko related, ...but wouldn't the taillights have had the backup lamps in them (for a non-RS)? I know it's an easy swap, ...but just noticed it in the one photo...
Keep us posted with the photos, ...really neat find

The "Go Navy" sticker was very popular in the 70's. Some would cut & paste other stickers and make "Go Away Navy."

S&W gauges were the cat's meow in the 60's & 70's. Gauge panels could be in either chrome, black (plastic layover) and wood trimmed (another plastic layover), you made the choice when installing because the items came with the panel, and you didn't pay extra for it.

Thanks for the info.
I have been told that many cars that were drag raced removed the backup lights and replaced them with RS lenses. Something to do with the race rules and running light. Maybe someone can shed some more light on the subject.
Dana

Twenty-some years ago, NHRA came out with a ruling for a rear tailight for night racing to allow the starter to "see" the entrants turn off the track to allow the next pair to compete.

But the book does not specify color. I use the backup lights and tied them into the ignition position through a relay. A white light shows up better than a red light.

The wires in the back are spliced to make the taillights work possibly from a switch in the car. So it probably was due to the drag racing. Thanks for the info.
Dana