Photo of 68 Camaro's at Kenny Ross Chevrolet ?

[JoeC]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Bryan302</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Thanks Pete and Joe!
Was there official records that stated that there were only six unconverted cars? Just asking?

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No
years ago before NCRS reports, when I was helping Tom B research his 1968 CB L78 with 140 speedo, I told him I thought it was an unconverted Yenko COPO9737 because I thought that Yenko was the only one who got the 1968 L78 COPO 9737 Camaros from Chevy. There is some paperwork that supports this similar to Fred Gibb getting all 50 1968 COPO 9738 L78 TH400 Novas.

I then found one of those Yenko ads showing 6 L78 140 speedo Camaros for sale late in the model year.
Some people took this to mean only 6 unconverted cars were sold but I never said that.
Someone even put it in a magazine article but it has no supporting documentation.

I have not found any hard numbers for how many 1968 COPO 9737 Camaros were built or how many were converted to 427.
Fran Preve's work estimated about 70 1968 COPO 9737 Camaros were built based on MV engine production records.
Vince E said his records show 64 427 Camaros sold

Yenko also built some 1968 427 450hp Camaros from non COPO 9737 L78 4 sp cars and appears some 427 425hp TH400 cars were built from SS396 325hp cars (same as in 1967)
As far as I can tell, all the 1968 COPO 9737 Camaros were ordered as L78 4 speed with 140 speedos and the other hi po parts but hard to say if this is 100% true

[enio45]

Great Ad.....ill have to look but my sell date according to the protects plate book was in September of 68.

Could be that the one advertised is my car.....we will never know for sure but the months line up pretty good

[PeteLeathersac]

'

Cool info and subject!
Bryan has it right and there's 3 x Ash Gold cars noted w/ L35 so an ad typo may be more possible than 3 x lower engine conversion swaps on 3 cars of the same color?
Being the totals add up to 15 as noted, the quantity 3 x AG cars is probably correct so was the 325 noted a mistake and supposed to read 396/375 like the others?
Jiving known lost or surviving examples of '68 9737 cars sold by Kline/Ross etc w/ these ads and other facts may yield new info...certainly more questions!
[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]
~ Pete

[Bryan302]

Thanks Joe and Pete,

I love this stuff!! Yes, IMHO, the unconverted count just bumped up to twelve! What do you think?

I have another question... Has ANYONE in the Canonsburg area searched the courthouse records? The Probate Court office should have those big ass books with personel property records. There will be a direct and reverse listing. Look for documents listed from General Motors TO Yenko Chevrolet from March 68 to July/Aug. It is well worth the time to investigate!

Yes Pete, I got to thinking about those Gold cars. If Yenko needed more cars quick to convert, and grabbed a 325hp car, IT would NOT have had the 140 speedo in it. It was also Sept. and wanted them gone. If this is close to correct, then where did the 325hp, 400 turbo, and 3:31 gears come from?
Any ideas? Do you think the gold cars was a total misprint and they are supposed to be like the others?

Bryan

[bkhpah]

I never recall seeing a 427 Yenko Camaro in 1968 in Ash Gold..BKH

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bkhpah</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I never recall seeing a 427 Yenko Camaro in 1968 in Ash Gold..BKH
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That one is entirely new to me as well, would love to see it though...

[8016]

Pete, as I bought new, ys 8016 at Jay Kline chevrolet in early 1968, and I posted this a number of years ago, ys 8016 was the first yenko sold by kline that year. Kline had all 6 yenkos in a separate showfloor, the show floor was called sports car headquarters.anyway I got a good look at all six, the whole years supply of yenkos. Back in those days it took about a week to secure financing, and insurance.I made about 3 trips back to kline chev during that week and of course looked at my new yenko every time, along with the other 5. the six were only 2 different colors, all had the same equipment, and price on the window sticker . that price as I said before was $4400 and change.none had the sw under dash guages, or the add on tach near the steering wheel. all had the factory in dash tach. I also worked as a salesman at Jay kline chevrolet in the mid 1970s and had access to their sales records.,,,,,

[Bryan302]

8016,

It's good to hear from you. About the carbs. It is well known that the L78 (MQ) and COPO 9737 (MV) came with the 4053 DZ carb, which was designated as a 780 cfm. Yenko advertised his conversions as being supplied with an 850 cfm carb. Many of his ads state a 850 cfm carb being part of the conversion package. Some say that the 850 carb used was a L88 carb. Some say the DZ carb at 780 cfm was close enough to the 850 cfm, that the DZ was considered the carb Yenko was talking about.

Do you still have the original carb that you pulled off when you replaced it with the three barrel. If so, would you see what the numbers are on the choke horn in front.

Also, Some enthusiast are working on spreadsheets and collecting information on 68 Yenko Camaro's. Would you mind giving your trim tag information and possibly a photo of YS 8016 and the trim tag.

YS 8012, VIN 8N412417, was a Grotto Blue Yenko Demo. at Yenko in Canonsburg, PA. I believe that YS 8012 was the Grotto blue demonstrator that was for sale in Yenko ads of Dec. 15, 1968 and Dec.29, 1968.
YS 8012 is shown to exist in sYc registry!

Thanks,
Bryan

[enio45]

Don't forget - these end of production cars that did not get converted were put out there to sell as the new 69 copo and yenko cars were on their way in the dec/jan time.....so to move the inventory they pushed to sell them. And in the case of the Corvette Bronze car they were dealer traded as well. According to Tom Billigan - his CB car was on the lot at Kenny Ross and the NCRS doc I ran for his car indicated it was sent to Yenko as we would expect.


The question about the other ash gold cars, i would assume warren who worked at yenko would know if they converted other stock inventory cars.

[old5.0]

If a guy wanted a new Yenko Camaro with a juicebox, wouldn't it have been simpler for Don to just engine swap an L35 rather than convert a stick car to auto? And if so, wouldn't an L35 COPO be a possibility?