Re: yenko 69 Nova Big Blocks
 

Stefano, for discussion purposes only, I have a question for you, and others, if they care to join in. Where does a car sold new at just a regular Chevy dealership, but later taken to Nickey, Yenko, Berger, etc. for an engine swap, fit in? What is it?
And by the way, once Baldwin went out of business, all Motion cars fit into this catagory. Tom

Re: yenko 69 Nova Big Blocks
 

Well, I purchased a '69 Camaro sold new in Tn. as a Z28. After racing the car as a small block the original owner had it converted to a big block modified production car. In the early '70s, Motion was the king of modified production cars, so, he took the car to New York to get a complete conversion to an all out race car to compete in M/P. The entire conversion was covered in a couple magazines in '74. The car received a tunnel ram, twin dominator "ZLX" motor, Summers Bros axles, dual pick up & dual Holley fuel pumps, complete fiberglass front end, etc., and a Motion type paint job. So what should this car be called? A Motion Performance converted Camaro with tons of paperwork documenting all the work that was done at Motion. It does NOT make this car a '69 Phase III Baldwin Motion Camaro. Of course, it will destroy any Phase III at the strip, but hey, it's a race car. Thanks go to Copolocator.

Re: yenko 69 Nova Big Blocks
 

Tom, here's my perspective on a Supercar. 1) a factory built, break the rules by putting in a high performace engine that was not offically available or 2) a dealer built conversion that was ordered as such. I think the cars that received conversions later on in their life are special, but don't represent a true supercar in my view. That's my take on it and I'd like to hear other views as well.

Re: yenko 69 Nova Big Blocks
 

Tom,
Are you baiting me [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

That would be one cool Day two,Muscle Car with a very interesting history. It would fall in between a regular muscle car and a full blown Super Car and I would be overjoyed to own such a car, based on the sYc definition of a Super Car.

Some Tunner cars are also Super cars and would deserve a special notation. If a car was taken to a tunner for a full conversion(ala Motion Phase III) when no other equivelent car was available for purchase as new, then that also would be a Super Car to me. So this is dependent of the era and what may or may not have been available at the time.

If someone purchased a Nickey, Baldwin, or Yenko regular muscle car such as an L78 1969 Camaro and then had it converted to a 427 after the fact, it would not be a Super Car by definition. My emotions/senses however, would certainly say that it was 100% Super Car.

The Tunners who had a pedigree, Such as Harrell,Motion,Yenko, Berger, Nickey (Mr. Norm's Grand Spualding Dodge and Royal Pontiac would be examples for other marks)should receive some dispensation.

Many of the Super Car dealers also sold just "regular" muscle cars and these are certainly not Super Cars, IMO.

I would think that Tunner Cars have their own niche in the Super Car world.

P.S. This is a generic discussion and not meant to put down anyones particular vehicle.

Re: yenko 69 Nova Big Blocks
 

Stefano, Yeah, maybe a little baiting. I just wanted to be on the giving side for a change. [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] And, I like the dance step where you said it would fall between a regular muslcecar and a full blown supercar. [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] That is the problem, many of the issues we deal with are not black or white. The Motion car Mike speaks of, and Brian's car, to me are full blown supercars, I would love to own either. But, John Q. Public might see them in a different light, which is OK with me. I just want many of these rare cars as I can to come to a reunion, where we all can enjoy them for what they are. As per worth, I willl leave that to others. Just one year ago I told a person that I felt 85 for a restored '69 Yenko Camaro was at the high end of the market. He now has turned down 120. Go figure.

Re: yenko 69 Nova Big Blocks
 

Maybe we can hear the rest of the story and how he thinks his car should be categorized directly from the owner, Brian.

As far as the Mentioned 1969 Motion Camaro, that is no doubt, a Motion Perforance built/converted Car. That car, in my opinion is a full on race car designed and purpose built, to dominate a specific class at the drag strip. It is the ultimate culmination of efforts/talents/resourses by Motion Performance for a specific race class.

It would be a real treat to see a car like that at the reunion and it would be difficult for anyone to missunderstand exactly what it is/was if it were to be set up in the same trim ,as when Motion Performance finished with it/or as raced , back in the day, by the owner.

Re: yenko 69 Nova Big Blocks
 

It sounds like an awesome car Stefano, but the issue I have with it is based on the fact that it was a car built after the fact. If I bought a 69 Camaro 327 base car, and pulled the 327 the day I brought it home and dropped in an L72 I had ordered when I ordered the car, does that make my car a SuperCar? I ordered it specifically for the purpose of doing an engine swap and racing it. I would say no. Now if I took my car to Motion a year later and had them drop an L72 in it, it now seems to be special. I don't think we can use name association to create a special category. I would call it a Motion modified car, but not a Motion ordered SuperCar. And I don't mean to pick on Motion, I'm just using it as an example. I think we're starting to blur the definition of a factory/dealer SuperCar by saying that a car that has an engine swap performed way down the road is the same thing as a car that was ordered with a 427 from day 1. Again, this is my view of the definition and I would still like to hear how others view it.

Re: yenko 69 Nova Big Blocks
 

When Brian was looking for a NEW car to replace his AWESOME Yenko Camaro.I said to him you will never replace a car of that caliper. So when he told me of this 69 L-78 nova from Yenko's. I knew it would be an AWESOME car. And without disappointment at the Reunion i see this NOVA that just jumps out and hits you in the TWIG & BERRIES like no other car that i have seen. When he bought the car, it was bought as a L-78 Nova from Yenko's with papers and nothing more then that. But what got my attention was the HIGH price on the papers and the $500.25 credit. How could you get a credit on a special order car. That just didn't make sense to me. So this must be the credit for the 396 for the conversion. But it seems money was running short for the orig. owner and had to put off the swap for maybe a year. But when the owner was now ready for the swap, Yenko's was busy with the Vega program as Brian was telling me last night.So he still had Warren do the swap in another facility. And from what iam hearing NONE of the 69 sYc Nova's were transplanted at Canonsburg. So where did they get done? So far as my opinion this is a 1 of 1 Yenko Nova. Correct if iam wrong. "MOF"

Re: yenko 69 Nova Big Blocks
 

Brian please come on and tell everybody the history that you know so this issue can be settled .If I in any way I misquoted Warren.I'll apologize again.

Re: yenko 69 Nova Big Blocks
 

I think we're starting to blur the definition of a factory/dealer SuperCar by saying that a car that has an engine swap performed way down the road is the same thing as a car that was ordered with a 427 from day 1.

Jeff; If we go by this, only COPO cars are supercars, as they were the only ones ordered as a 427 cars. The rest were ordered as something else. I know the early Yenko cars, plus I believe several other of the dealer converted cars, were ordered as small block cars. And, how long did they set on the lot before being converted, and where was the conversion done, and who did it? Tom