[PROZ11]

I'm looking for pictures of Grumpy Jenkins 1969 Pro Stock Camaro. I already have some pictures of the exterior but none of the interior and/or the engine. It ran with a ZL1 I believe.
I think he also ran a 69 in Super Stock. I like to see pictures of that car also if anyone has some.

Any help/pictures would be appreciated.

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[JOE58]

I'm not a Grump guru but think he mostly ran the 69 in Super Stock and believe it ran with both an L88 and ZL1. He changed the cars around some.

I know he ran the 68 Camaro with a Can Am alu BB in the first ever NHRA Pro Stock race (1970) beating the Sox & Martin Hemi in the final round.
Then ran the 70 Camaro in Pro Stock.

cool pics of the 69 and the 68, 69, and the 70 show car (not the Pro Stock car)

[PROZ11]

Thanks for the reply Joe. I have those pictures of the car you posted. I've found lots of exterior shots on the web but none of then interior and/or under hood pictures. Those are the ones I'm most interested in if anyone's got them.
I believe the Super Stock car ran with a stock cowl hood. The pictures of the car with the "Grump Lump" scoop is the Pro Stock car from what I've read.

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[SPARKY69]

look at those cragars!! sweet ...

[JOE58]

I checked in some old magazines but didn't find any interior pictures.

Here is one of the 69 set up for Super Stock with a ZL1. Another article said the 69 ran in Super Stock, Pro Stock, and M/P and was used as a test bed for the Pro Stock Vega engines (small blocks)

[PROZ11]

Awesome Joe. Those are the the only pictures I've seen so far. Any chance you could scan that article and email it to me???? I'd really appreciate it.

Mark

[x44d80]

Check Youtube. I thought I saw a old video of him driving the 68 cigar and all.

[PROZ11]

Originally Posted by x44d80

Check Youtube. I thought I saw a old video of him driving the 68 cigar and all.

Yup, I checked out some of the videos out. Cool stuff. No shots of the interior or engine compartment though. The video of him with the cigar hanging out of his mouth while banging gears is great but it is shot from the floor up so not much interior detail can be seen. I'll keep searching.

Are there any other sites/forums that I might have better luck tracking pictures down?

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[NHBandit]

Messing around on Google turned up these.. The second pic is described as a Jenkins sponsored Yenko ZL-1. Anybody know anything about this car ? Is it still around ?

[JOE58]

I tried to get a better picture of the interior of Grumpy's 69 but it is too dark inside the car.
I can't make out what type of seats are in it but they don't look like stock seats.
The dash looks to be open as you can see the backs of the gauges.

The yellow Yenko Camaro is Ed Hedricks. It is a real Yenko Camaro that he ran with the 427 425hp engine and Yenko Chevrolet sponsorship.
It has "Grumpy's Group" painted on the back of the spoiler as he was part of some sort of team with Bill Jenkins. I don't believe this car has been found.

[PROZ11]

Thanks again Joe. Do you happen to know what type/style of roll bar was in the the car? It looks like it might be a triangular shaped 3 point?? Could be why it's hard to see it in the pictures from the right side of the car?

[Vette468]

The Pro-Stock class didnt come out until 1970,,
everybody moved theyre leaf springs in for 32x14.5s

[PROZ11]

In the searches I did online several stated that the 1969 Camaro Grumpy's Toy VI Ran in Super Stock and Pro/Stock. Maybe he ran it in 1970?? At any rate, that is the car I'm looking for pictures of and info for. The 69 with the "Grump Lump" hood that ran with a tunnel ram and two 4's as pictured above.


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[JOE58]

On the roll bar, I have a bolt in Lakewood 3 point bar and it looks a little different. Grumpy's Camaro has the Lakewood decal on it but i would guess he made his bar.
Maybe you can check a 69 NHRA rule book for details?


NHRA Pro Stock started in 1970 but AHRA had a similar class in 1969. I believe, in 1969, it was run as exhibition and no points were given.

Also around 68-69 match racing was getting very popular. Drag strip promotion ads would have great shows like "Match race Maddness", "Run what you brung" heads up racing with little rules other then carburators on gasoline. These races led to the Pro Stock class.

here is a story and picture of the final round 1st ever Pro Stock

The 1968 Camaro "Grumpy's Toy IV" Jenkins used to win the first ever Pro Stock race at Pomona in 1970 is a superhero car. The new Pro Stock class was wild and used liberal rules that ran the cars straight up. Quickest car wins. No staggered Super Stock type starts. No hitting the brakes to avoid a class break-out. The Hemi cars were going to be tough to beat running heads up.

All the big guns showed up. Dyno Don in a SOHC 427 Maverick, Randy Payne in a Boss 429 Maverick, Dandy Dick Landy's Hemi Challenger, Sox and Martin's Hemi Cuda, Wally Booth in his L88 Camaro and Bill Grumpy Jenkins is his little old Aluminum engined 1968 Camaro car number 777.

Some ran trick parts like two plug Hemi heads, prototype sheet metal intakes, duel 1200 cfm Holleys, and huge air scoops. There were rumors of back door factory support. Some say Jenkins was running a destroked big bore Cam-Am block. He kept a blanket over his engine in the pits.

The finial round came down to the Sox and Martin 70 Hemi Cuda Vs Jenkins 68 Camaro.
The 90,000 fans were on their feet. Grumpy beat the Hemi winning 9.99 to 10.12. Bill Jenkins became the first NHRA Pro Stock Eliminator and his 68 Camaro was the hero of the day.

[RichSchmidt]

The 69 car was the one with the least known whereabouts of all the early cars.The 68 was sold to Brookly Heavy and was in the possesion of Carmine Rotunda when the feds came to lock Heavy up.It was sold to a racer around Somerville ew Jersey,and was supposedly not raced much or cut up however it somehow disappeared.The 70 had a long history,and I have pretty good knowlage of that car and could write a book about it.I have never heard anything about where the 69 went.

The 68 was used in 1970 including after the 1970 Camaro was done since the 70 Camaro couldnt fall out of a tree in under 10 seconds in legal trim.In 1971 NHRA changed the rules and cars had to be a 1969 or newer body style so the 68 was sold to Heavy and the 69 was used to back up the non competitive 70.After the 70 was built Dave Strickler was usually given the 1st gen cars because they were faster and he was considered the better driver,and Jenkins usually drove the 70.It wasnt long until Dave moved in with the Booth and Arons camp and built his own 70 Camaro.In 1972 Jenkins built the Vega and the Camaros were all old news to him.

About all I know about the 69 is that it was a 396/375 car from the factory,not a ZL1 or L72