1987 Muscle Car review article with Don Yenko

[sYc]

Mike (and others) do you feel that ALL Douglass COPOs received Yenko trim, and thus should be listed/restored as Yenkos, thus no Douglass COPOs?

[ssl78]

It is kinda of strange that JD only sold early cars. If I was Don, I would have scrambled to find a new Chevy dealer to sell my cars in one of the largest markets in the country. Unless I knew they were still being sold by JD. Yes this is only speculation.

[hvychev]

Tom, is there any other truth than JD sold the most COPO's/Yenko's in Chicago? Who else was selling these cars in the Chicago Metropolitan area back in 1969? Im not talking anywhere else in Illinois. Just the Chi-town metro area.

[Supercar_Kid]

I think a lot is being read into a silly sign from '69 and an interview from '87...that was conducted a full 20 years after Don had built the cars that are in question. The fact that the 350th unit built sign was photographed on BOTH a Camaro AND a Chevelle on the same day shows that neither car could really be THE 350th unit built, whether he meant to include '67s and 8's in the count, or Chevelles and Novas or whatever. Don was a bullsh*tter, this is pretty clear. Claiming he installed Yenko serial plates on all 69 cars, even saying he added headers, removed and upgraded the stock shocks and sway bars, claiming the Chevelles were SS396 engine swap cars or even suggesting that there were more than a few 427 Novas built in '68 are all statements that actual evidence of existing cars contradicts. Maybe he recalled incorrectly, I mean it was 20 years earlier. Maybe the 350th sign was just a marketing promo, or maybe it was made to impress the big whigs at Colonial Chevrolet, a sizable network dealer who Don wanted to make feel special. Maybe it was to fool the NHRA into thinking he was well on his way to builing enough cars for them to be race legal, or maybe it was just a made up number that sounded reasonable and gave Don a little ego boost. I've also seen Don's personal photos of Glen Campbell standing beside a Yenko Deuce in the Colonial showroom, which was surely a publicity deal. Don was a salesman, and he wanted his cars to SELL, whether it meant inflating a few numbers or having a country & western singer appear beside his product. I think Don was all about making a big to do about his cars, himself, his ideas, and rightly so, he was a revolutionary individual in a lot of ways, but I certainly don't think he was above stretching the truth a little. To take the numbers that he apparently claimed on a sign during the time he was actively building and selling the cars, or even the numbers he recalled some 20 years later and try to make them add up, counting *Douglass cars, Canonsburg cars, Chevelles, Camaros, Novas however you want to try is surely an exercise in futility. They just don't add up, cuz they're BS...just my opinion, I'm sure many will disagree. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bs.gif[/img]

[sYc]

Very interesting info about the pictures. As you said, pretty much rules out using that sign as a gauge of how many Yenkos were produced.

And makes this whole thread meaningful, if nothing else then to get valuable information about what most people had thought for years was a vital piece of eveidence concerning the number of Yenkos produced. To me, discovering this type of info makes this board worthwhile, and unique. Thanks to you and Brandon for sharing it.

[ssl78]

Supercar kid this isnt all about the sign. This has been a on going discussion for a while. Tom according to Jack he paid a fee for every one of the copos to be sold as Yenkos. wheter or not they were sold as Yenkos we dont know. Since most cars retain its original tail panel that is about the only way to tell for sure. I dont know of any JD copos found that do not have the holes for the Yenko emblems in the rear tail panel. So at this time I think it is safe to say they all can be restored as Yenkos.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

John, I don't find that strange at all. Apparently, the first few batches of Yenko Camaros sold pretty well, for most of the participating dealers. If Jack had 6+/- of the X66 cars on his lot, then ordered up another 22-25 COPO cars on his own, he had plenty of cars to move, and didn't buy anymore from Don. By the time they dissolved their prior agreement of Jack being the exclusive Chicago dealer for sYc's, the insurance problem was in effect. It is understandable that few if any of the other Chicago dealers would have been anxious to get their hands on some distressed merchandise. Once the Deuce was loose in '70, several Chicago dealers were on board - except Douglass.

[ssl78]

Marlin you take little segments of the dicussion to make each argument look like your right. There is a whole picture here to be looked at. You are calling JD a liar. I would like to know why JD said it happened what does he have to gain by it, and why Don mentioned it happened. We should throw all that away because you think it didnt happen. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[sYc]

[ QUOTE ]
So at this time I think it is safe to say they all can be restored as Yenkos

[/ QUOTE ] .

John, to me that creates up a very interesting situation, with a blanket statement like that, not only are we liable to see Yenkos in all colors, with all kinds of rare options, ones not normalaly asscoiated with Yenko built cars, but we may very well see a Yenko Camaro convertible, Yenko El Camino, Yenko Corvette, etc. You see, I am sure JD was no different then any other dealer of that era. If a customer was willing to pay the $$$, it was built, including putting Yenko trim on ANY car they had in inventory. I do not feel that this is a stretch of the imagination to believe this happened.

Thus, I feel there are two options. 1. since JD had an agreement with Don and had the trim in hand, acknowledge all Douglass cars as Yenkos, or 2. require documented proof of any Douglass car before it is allowed to have the name Yenko associated with it. To me, this is easy, as we require documentation of all other supercars before they are accepted as legit.

[hvychev]

Mr Clary I am still waiting to hear who else in Chicago was selling Yenko/COPO cars in 1969. If not then in fact JD was the leading COPO/Yenko dealer in Chicago.