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Ford Reveals the Maverick LoboDon Yenko: A Chevy Legend
GM didn’t originally intend for the Camaro to be a performance muscle car, but Don Yenko showed the public what this car could be.
The Man Who Perfected the Camaro
The Ford Mustang’s immediate success in the mid-1960s changed the automotive landscape forever and forced competitors to play catchup. Chevrolet knew that their rear-engine Corvair couldn’t compete against the quickly developing pony car segment, so they introduced the 1967 Chevrolet Camaro. This was Chevrolet’s answer to the Mustang as it was a two-door, front-engine, rear-wheel-drive pony car that was available with a V8 under the hood.
However, General Motors unfortunately limited their intermediate sized vehicles, like the Camaro, to 400 CID powerplants at that time. This left Camaros underpowered amongst the Hemi-powered Dodges and the R-Code Mustangs at the drag strip. But one man aimed to fix the fault under the Camaros hood and changed the perception of the car forever. We’re taking a look at Don Yenko, the man who swapped an RPO 427 CID V8 into the Camaro and became the face of performance Chevrolets.
Who Was Don Yenko?
Don Yenko was born a Chevy fan at an early age as his father owned a a couple of Chevrolet dealerships around Pennsylvania. While he was around cars at an early age, Yenko took an early interest in airplanes, gaining his pilot’s license at 16 and later serving in the Air Force. He went on to get a degree in Business Administration from Penn State and returned to work at his father’s dealership in the late 1950s.
It was then that Yenko took an interest in racing and began taking Corvettes to Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) circuit races. He went on to be a three-time SCCA National Champion while behind the wheel of the Corvette, but things changed by the mid-1960s. The C2 Corvette carried too much weight and failed to compete against the likes of the Ford Mustang and Shelby Cobra at SCCA events. Don Yenko was quoted saying “I got tired of looking at the rear bumper of Mark Donohue’s Mustang.”
So, the only way to stay loyal to the bowtie brand was to follow Shelby’s lead and utilized his manufacturer connections to order parts through his family’s dealership. He’d build his own Chevrolet race car to stay competitive. This is where Don Yenko started his rise to essentially become for Chevrolet what Carrol Shelby was to Ford.
The Yenko Stinger
Don Yenko chose a Chevrolet Corvair Corsa over the Corvette for the base of his new SCCA race car. The flat-six engine was less powerful than the V8 found in the Corvette, but the Corvair Corsa also came in about 500 pounds lighter. The Corvair Corsa also had preferable handling for circuit tracks due to its unique layout and shorter wheelbase. The seats were ripped, the engine was upgraded and tuned, a custom aerokit was produced for the model, and the customized Corvair was submitted as the Yenko Stinger for SCCA racing approval in 1965.
To be considered for class D Production racing the next season, a minimum of 100 models had to be produced before 1966. That’s exactly what Yenko’s garage did over the course of two weeks, but these Corvairs weren’t all the same. Each of the Stingers featured their own quirks and different tunes as they were personally put together at the Cheverolet dealership. This small team putting together performance Chevrolets is what kicked off Yenko Sportscars, but the next hurdle would lead to their greatest achievement.
Modifying the Chevrolet Camaro
Yenko found moderate success with the Stinger, but he decided he should apply what he learned from the model and pivot toward Chevrolet’s new pony car. Yenko took two Camaro Z/28 models and began tailoring them for the SCCA A Sedan class and the Tran-Am racing series. To accomplish this task, he enlisted the help of RST Engineering, a group of GM engineers that produced aftermarket performance parts.
RST had provided some Corvair parts for the Stinger project, but the group provided a little more support for this new racing project. The Camaro project sourced its racing suspension, engine components, new aluminum wheels, and a fuel tank from RST. There were even some parts from the famous Bill Thomas that were put into the project car.
In the end, this Camaro project ended up with a 302 CID small-block V8 outfitted with forged pistons, a custom cam, a Holley 800-cfm carburetor resting on a tuned intake runner, and so much more. The modified Z-28 Camaro was dubbed the Stomer by Yenko and marketed for FIA Group 2 Sedan Racing events. However, just two examples of the Stormer were ever put into production, one red and one blue.
The focus pivoted away from the Stormer once they figured out how to install a big-block V8 into a Camaro. Bill Thomas and Dick Harrell helped Don Yenko figure out how to swap a larger V8 into the Camaro. This new project was originally called “Stomper”, but the muscle car world knows it better as the Yenko Super Camaro.
The Yenko Super Camaro
Yenko utilized the Regular Production Order service to get his hands on the L72 big block from the Corvette. This 427 CID V8 engine was capable of 425 horsepower straight from the factory and was one of the most powerful engines available from General Motors. The speed shop managed to fit this monster into the engine bay of the Camaro SS and tune it up to 450 horsepower to create a beast capable of an 11 second-quarter mile.
The Yenko Super Camaro debuted in 1967 with the Yenko Tuned big-block, updated gauges, a dual-vented fiberglass hood, a 4.10 rear end, heavy-duty suspension, and the Muncie M21 4-speed manual transmission. 54 examples of the Super Camaro were sold in its first year and it quickly became the focus of Yenko Super Cars.
In 1968, the Super Camaros were updated to feature 140 mph speedometers, larger anti-sway bar at the front, added Pontiac sourced wheels, and threw on specially made Yenko emblems and wheel caps around the vehicle. There were also front and rear spoilers added either straight from Yenko’s garage himself or from specialty order depending on when the car was made in ‘68. Just 64 examples of the Super Camaro were produced that year.
1969 is when General Motors finally recognized the popularity surrounding Don Yenko’s Super Camaros and added his big-block swap to the Central Office Production Order (COPO) system. This allowed dealerships to order the 427-engine swapped into Camaros straight from the factory rather than rely on Yenko’s garage.
1969 was the final year of the official Super Camaro and 201 examples were sold thanks to COPO streamlining his production. The updates to this year included power disc brakes, a four-core radiator, and a Turbo Hydramatic 400 automatic transmission option. Unique exterior vinyl striping was added along the sides of the vehicle featuring the iconic “Yenko S/C” and the interior was updated to feature headrests with “sYc” for Yenko Super Car.
Don Yenko’s Legacy Continues Today
A mix of COPO making the 427 engines more widely accessible for the Camaro, the Environmental Protection Agency stepping in, and rising insurance costs put the Super Camaro production to an end. Yenko continued to produce modified cars for a short while like the Yenko Chevelle, Yenko Deuce (a small-block Chevy Nova), and the Yenko Stinger II (a turbocharged Chevy Vega).
His garage pivoted to selling performance parts and Don Yenko continued to race Corvettes in his spare time. He produced one more specialty vehicle, the 1981 Yenko Camaro Turbo Z, before selling his family’s Chevrolet dealership in 1982. Don Yenko continued to pilot his Cessna airplane in the following years before unfortunately crashing the plane five years later.
Don Yenko’s contribution to the muscle car world is still fondly remembered today. Chevy fans continually search for his iconic Super Camaros or even pay homage to the design with well-done replicas. The Super Camaro idea still lives on in modern day through the Specialty Vehicle Engineering team who continue to produce high-performance 2024 Yenko/SC Camaros as well as Yenko inspired C8 Corvettes, Silverados, and Tahoes.
The Chevrolet Camaro is due to end as we know it after this year. After that, the Camaro name will be attached to a hybrid or fully electric generation in the coming years. Hopefully Chevy gives a little nod in some way to Don Yenko since he’s one of the leading forces that made the Camaro the muscle car icon it is today.
