68 YENKO A.K.A. ''GRAPE APE''
 

I was reading a post in the tech section on this site and noticed there was some talk about a purple Yenko in NY. I am from NY and know that car very well. A friend of mine owned this car when we were in high school/college.We used to call it ''Grape Ape''We used to get into trouble with this car on a regular basis,back then it had a small block in it and as young and stupid as we were we had NO idea it was a yenko! A couple of years later after my friend sold the car he ran into a previous owner of the car and he informed him that the car was indeed a Yenko camaro.For years my friend searched for the car. One day,a friend contacted him telling him he saw ''Grape Ape'' out in front of a body shop about 30 minutes away.He jumped in his car in search of the ape. Once at the body shop,the owner was considering getting rid of it,they were going to use it for a street stock car but decided it was to far gone. To make a long story short,he bought the car back for what a couple would spend on dinner on a Sat night!!The car was by no means worthy of being restored so he sold it to I believe the Camaro association in Fla.The disc brakes were torched out of it, the doors I believe were bashed in,etc...I have since lost track of this car if my mind serves me correctly it was car #43.I will try to post some pics of this car as I think it will make for an interesting post... KP

Re: 68 YENKO A.K.A. ''GRAPE APE''
 

Hey KPascoe,
Here are the pictures that you requested to have posted. aka Mayor of Fishkill.
http://zseller.tripod.com

Re: 68 YENKO A.K.A. ''GRAPE APE''
 

Wow great post almost made me ill...Well as we all know when we are kids we dont really know how good we have it...oh to be a kid again.....

Re: 68 YENKO A.K.A. ''GRAPE APE''
 

From the pics it sure looked restorable to me. Has it been restored yet ? Who has it ? Who restored it ?

Re: 68 YENKO A.K.A. ''GRAPE APE''
 

Do you remember if it had a 140 speedo?

Re: 68 YENKO A.K.A. ''GRAPE APE''
 

Nice pics,but I have some questions.I have a 68 Norwood car that is a 07E as well.My body number is 1465 digits off and my VIN is off approx 2000 units.My trim tag is completely different than Grape Apes.I'm not saying it is not correct,only it is different than mine.My tag says Body by Fisher and has no mention of Magic Mirror,only the complience of saftey standereds.Does anyone know why two different tags this close at the end of a run?My car came right before the Ape and there are not many after......


Steve

Re: 68 YENKO A.K.A. ''GRAPE APE''
 

I thought all the 68 Yenkos had the Magic Mirror tag. Can someone clarify ?

Re: 68 YENKO A.K.A. ''GRAPE APE''
 

FYI,mine is not a Yenko..........

Steve

Re: 68 YENKO A.K.A. ''GRAPE APE''
 

Isn't paint code FF island teal? Were the floors sitting on the ground? How bad was the trunk and rear frame rails from those New York winters? What wasn't beat up on that car, even the firewall was bashed with a big hole in it!! What did you guys do, adjust the timing from the driver's seat https://www.yenko.net/ubb/smilies/images/icons/laugh.gif
M

Re: 68 YENKO A.K.A. ''GRAPE APE''
 

YDR,Island Teal is correct.I saw this car (#43) restored in Columbus a few years back,no more holes and a 140 speedo...

Steve

Re: 68 YENKO A.K.A. ''GRAPE APE''
 

Joe C, The 140 Speedo was in the car when it was in my friends possession the first time.When he bought it back in the pictures you see the speedo was missing as well as other key items.Another friend of mine ended up with the front sway bar out of Grape Ape.As you can see the front discs were torched out of the car,I remember when the transporter came to pick up the ape they had to stick rocks in the control arms and put junk spindles in to make it roll! The transporter that picked up the Ape also commented that it was the worst car he ever picked up. Marlin, From what I remember there wasn't a good piece of sheetmetal on that car.The hole in the firewall... One only knows.... KP

Re: 68 YENKO A.K.A. ''GRAPE APE''
 

It appears that all COPO Yenko 68 Camaro's used the Magic Mirror trim plate. The early prototype car did not. The earliest Yenko Camaro I have seen with the Magic Mirror tag is 8005. 8002 has the normal factory tag. 002 is not a COPO...BKH

Re: 68 YENKO A.K.A. ''GRAPE APE''
 

Does anyone have pictures of the "Grape Ape" in its current condition? If so, try to post them. https://www.yenko.net/ubb/smilies/images/icons/smile.gif

Mike