Yenko Chevrolet Nova
1969 Yenko Nova
For 1969, the Yenko Nova 427 engine was not a factory installed option. With horsepower in the 450 range, the Nova was a power-house and actually lighter in weight than a Corvette ! The Yenko Nova’s were offered with a close-ratio Muncie four-speed gearbox complete with Hurst linkage or a Turbo Hydra-matic with Hurst Dual Gate shifter. The Yenko Nova’s were offered in 1968 and 1969. During this time, they were produced in limited numbers with only 37 being created in 1969. These too, are highly sought after by collectors. Regardless of whether they were sanctioned, the dealers who offered such combinations became legendary. The teaming up of Joel Rosen’s Motion Performance and Baldwin Chevrolet on Long Island; race car-builder Bill Thomas; the Nickey operation out of Chicago; Fred Gibb’s business down in LaHarpe, Illinois (in conjunction with nitro-racer Dick Harrell); Berger Chevrolet in Grand Rapids near the Motor City; and the Dana dealership in Southern California all played a role, but none was more visible than the Yenko’s family-run business in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Throughout the late 1960′s, Yenko Chevrolet became so well-known that it created a group of additional participating dealers to sell the special cars.The stripes on the COPO cars were not put on by outside detail shops, but put on at one of Yenko Chevrolet’s buildings near the main Canonsburg dealership. The cars would be taken from the storage lot and taken directly to this building to have the stripes applied. Unless the car was to receive add-ons, such as gauges, headers, etc., the cars never were in the main Canonsburg shop. The reason the stripe location varies from car to car is that many of the stripes were applied by teenagers working at the shop, including Don’s daughter, who received $5 to wet the car down, apply the stripes, and smooth out the air bubbles with a squeegee. Recently I spoke with a Yenko collector who had an original stripe car that had a one piece stripe on one of the rear fenders. So the next time some one tells you that your stripes are wrong, tell them that there is no one, right way. Each car would have been unique. When a customer bought one of the supercars from Yenko, the customer had the option of accepting the car as it was, or could have the items added to the car, such as gauges, headers, scattershield, mag wheels, etc. If items were to be added, then the car was taken to the main Canonsburg shop to have these items added. These items would be added by Yenko’s race mechanics, who worked on Don’s race cars. If the customer had the desire and money, the car could be built to meet their wants. This is why, even though all of the cars started with the same standard equipment, several of the cars were bought new with the other equipment. Yenko usually had a demo car or two that might have a couple of these non-standard items.
