1st Yenko Deuce

[sYc]

Judging by the 1969 dealer plate, this may have been the prototype for the Deuce. I was told by a former employee that the prototype was a 6 cylinder car.

And notice the emblem, red/white/blue.

[DarrenX33]

If it was dual exhaust I would imaging the passenger rear quarter at the bottom would show it. I have heard the 6cyl rumor as well. Now what color is it Fathom Blue?

I will share an interesting story. I know someone indirectly thru a marriage that I was was told had a Yenko Deuce the same color as my car (Rally Green). I finally got in touch with him recently and he told me he didn't have one but had a 1969 Nova with Deuce striping back then. That explains the color match. He worked at KUX manufacturing and they used is 6cyl 69 Nova as a test car for the stripes.

[camarojoe]

The "first deuce" if you want to call it that, was indeed a 250 6 cylinder car. I have several original photos of this car in my collection, including the ones that were used for the ad flyer that you see frequently. Most of the original pics of the car were black and white, but i do have one color photo of it, and it is definitely fathom blue with white stripes. Don took it right from dealer stock and added the stripes, etc. MONTHS before the actual COPO LT-1 cars were even built. i know this because the pics are dated as being developed in early 1970 before the first production run of deuces even happened. The car had 6" steel wheels and dog dish caps before the "external/visual conversion" to Deuce specs. The car also had white or beige interior, rather than black, and this can also be seen in the ad flyer pics. Don Yenko removed the 250 emblems from the fenders, and in the original 8x10 photos you can see the 2 holes... these were airbrushed out before the ad was made. (Note that the car has no 350 emblems) The car also has a hoodscoop that incorporated a tach, which I beleive was what Don had originally intended for the cars, then decided to go with the cheaper Dixco HT/X tach instead. In several rear pics I have, you can see TWO Yenko emblems, one on each side of the decklid. I think Don was either "experimenting" with emblem placement, or another theory is, he removed the "Nova" script and added the Yenko emblem in its place, but the other side already had a Yenko emblem in the black and chrome variety because the 6 cylinder car already had the emblem installed opposite of the Nova emblem when they pulled it off the lot. In later pics, obviously taken on the same day, (such as the one Tom just posted) the black and chrome emblem was removed from the passenger side of the decklid. Another instesting sidebar to this, (while I'm rambling!) is that I have several cast potmetal "LT-1" rectangular badges that i have got from TWO separate sources, and both people claimed they were from a Yenko Deuce. Well, as you know, Yenko Deuces didn't have LT-1 emblems, right? Well the first pair i got came froma gentleman who swore to me that he and a buddy "found" them in the glovebox of a yenko deuce that was sitting unlocked on the lot one sunday afternoon when the dealership was closed. He even wrote me a signed letter swearing his story was factual. I had never seen these emblems anywhere before. About 2 years later, i found another one, and the seller was a former yenko employee. When i informed him Deuces never had these emblems, he said, he didn't recall if they did or didn't, but DEFINITELY knew he got it at Yenko Chevrolet, and that they were laying all over the place at the dealership. My guess is that maybe Don had intended to replace the 350 fender emblems with these, and changed his mind for one reason or another. I will post some pics of these, as they have always intrigued me. They are made very similarly to the yenko emblems, and even have the same type adhesive backing tape. I'll post some pics if i get motivated enough to dig one out.

[camarojoe]

Here's a pic of the rear, showing the "dual" emblems on the prototype 6 cylinder car... note the background is identical to the pic Tom posted, as the pics were likely taken on the same day.

[camarojoe]

Here's one of the weird LT-1 emblems i mentioned. Has anyone ever seen these in ANY old speed catalogs, etc? I don't know if Don Yenko had them made, or if he bought them from a catalog. I have never seen any others. (besides the other 3 I have that I can't seem to find now!)

[SS427]

Very neat info Joe. Thanks for sharing that and the pictures. Those LT-1 emblems are something else!
Rick

[Dave Rifkin]

No offense but those LT1 emblems are hideous. I'm glad they never put them on any cars.

[bkhpah]

But I'll bet if they did, they would be looked upon as cool...BKH

[Canucklehead]

Those emblems look cheaply made. Possably fake?

[Mr70]

I think that emblem looks Very authentic of the times.They were most likely diecast metal,then plated,and painted with a black background.They were Cheaply made that way originaly,and not overdetailed like someone would,if they remanufactured them today.
They resemble other emblems made back then,like Dealership nametags on trunks,and Interior door emblems,etc.
Very Nice.