Matt; Having been directly involved with the supercars for the past several years, I recall things a little different. Clones are not responsible for the recent popularity and value of the supercars.
In the late '80s to early '90s, the supercars were very popular and demanding big bucks. Then, in the mid '90s, the trend changed, values dropped and the cars were bascilly "put away". There was a small group of enthusiants who were quitely working behind the scenes, Brian, Marlin, Ed, etc, who were keeping busy tracking and documenting these cars. In 1997, at the national shows, USCC, ICC, NCOA, and even Super Chevy, it was rare to see more then 1 or 2 documented supercars attending. Clones were few and far between. Why, evidently exposure. You see, in 1998 the sYc was born, and along with it, this web page. And with the help of Cliff Ernst and Brian Henderson, a show was planned that would be like no other. Non-judged, with a cruise, drag racing, and most important, for documented supercars. Thus, the first ever Yenko Reunion. Each of us got on the phone and called some of our friends to coax them into bringing their supercar. Thankfully several of them did, 20+ in all. I will never forget what Ray Morrison told me a couple of weeks after the event. "I only attended because of our friendship. I thought there would only be a handful of cars attending." Now, to the exposure point. The event was featured on My Classic Car TV and full color articles in both Muscle car Review and Super Chevy. That's was all it took. SCR2 had over 45 documented cars in attendance. The sYc was receiving requests from most of the major musclecar shows wanting it to become a part of their event. Supercars were once again being used as magazine cover cars. When our Yenko Camaro was featured on the cover doing a burnout at the Pure Stock Drags, Muscle Car Review reported its largest sales ever. Other supercar shows and showcases were started, such as the Gibb show. Supercar owners and their cars were once again out in the public. TV shows, scale model diecast makers, supercar owners and people once associated with the supercars were now contacting us. As the sYc grew, so did the hobby, to the point where both the sYc and the supercar hobby are today, second to none. And, with this renewed popularity and major increase in values of documented supercars, came the influx of clones. The clones exist because of of us, not the other way around.
And, when I say us, I mean ALL of the dedicated members of the sYc. With out them, the supercar hobby would not be where it is today. To them, I say thanks for your past, and hopefully continued support. Together we made it happen. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/
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