TN454Monte Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Has anyone ever heard of a Yenko prepped Monte Carlo 454 SS? I was contacted via my 454Monte Blog by a poster that claims to know of one of these cars. He seems legit and has sent me three pictures of the car, but he is not the owner of the car, so I am a little hesitant to share them at this point. I will say this, in one of the pictures in place of the Monte Carlo Script on the sail panel, is a clearly visible "Yenko" Badge. The car is Red with color keyed Rally Sport Rims. Supposedly (this is only form the poster himself I haven't been able to verify his claims there were 4 such cars done by the Yenko family...) I've asked that he put me in touch with the owner via E-mail so I can ask him about the history of the car, what mods were done to it and get his permission to share the photos. Just curious as to if any one here has ever heard of a Yenko prepped 454 SS 1st Gen... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Peters Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 To the best of my knowledge Yenko never built a first gen Monte. Yenko is Local. They built a lot of different models but never a Monte that I know of. Just like there are a ton of Clone SS454 Monte's, there are a number of Clone Yenko cars out there. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN454Monte Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 Thanks Rob, I will keep looking into it...I'm hoping the owner will contact me, interesting car if it does turn out to be legit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyDavey Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I think this came up not to long ago and the general consensus is, no they didn't. That doesn't mean someone didn't put something together back in the day but there was no "official" Yenko car..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN454Monte Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 Thanks Dave, guess we'll see what the true owner has to claim if he contacts me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared Richey Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I've seen several Yenko Montes on ebay and on the internet. I had an idea one time of building one myself. My final paint idea ain't complete yet for the red car, so who knows... Of course all the ones I've seen were painted up that way. Or maybe, the car was sold through Yenko, and the owner asked the dealership to paint Yenko stripes on the car, I'm sure they would have done this if thats what the customer wanted... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slacker Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Maybe Yenko made all those convertible Monte's too.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Peters Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Maybe Yenko made all those convertible Monte's too.. This is a great possibility for the next Quote of the Week. Very funny. Regarding the dealer painting the stripes on for a customer... From what I heard they would not do that unelss the entire package was installed. A Clone is a Clone is a Clone. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared Richey Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 From what I remember of Don Yenko, he was not against mod'ing any car, but his staple was putting huge power in a small/light car to make the "car that should have been made in the factory". I don't believe that the Monte would fit that bill. (small / light, just aint something you would use to describe a Monte.) But a Chevelle is a "Heavy Chevy" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Mau Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 ...to make the "car that should have been made in the factory". This was what Yenko did, and I think that his only special intermediate offering was the '69 427 Yenko Chevelle. Through '69, GM had a policy where they wouldn't install an engine larger than 400 CI into a regular-production intermediate-sized car. So, using the COPO (Central Office Production Order) program, he was able to order the cars with 427s, and then added his additional equipment to complete his "Yenko Super Car" package - (YSC, or, as the acronym logotype appeared on the headrests; "SYC"). For '70, GM threw their "no larger than 400 CI in an intermediate" policy out the window, and gave us the 454-powered Chevelle/El Camino/Monte Carlo and 455-powered Pontiac GTO, 455-powered Olds 442 and 455-powered Buick GS. They were essentially factory-producing in '70 what Don Yenko had done in '69, so I don't think he ever produced any special '70 & newer intermediate-sized cars. Every Yenko Chevelle I've ever seen is a '69 with a 427 in it. I've never seen or heard of a '70 Yenko Chevelle - let alone a Monte Carlo. As far as that red "Yenko-look" Monte Carlo, I'm interested in knowing more about it. It sounds cool, but I would guess that's all it is, though; simply a "Yenko-look" phantom car that was built by an owner as a "what if?" car. I don't think that Yenko ever replaced factory emblems with his Yenko badges, but placed them on the cars in addition to the factory emblems. I seriously doubt he would've replaced the "Monte Carlo" script on the sail panel with his "YENKO" badge, but would have put it down low on the front fender above the rocker panel and also placed one next to the "Monte Carlo" script on the rear - if he had built such a car in the first place. Drag racer Dick Harrell built a '70 Monte Carlo SS454 LS-6 car at his Harrell Performance shop, though! Just my two cents-worth. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allchevy Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 What made Yenko so special? He modified what the factory put out correct? Was he the only dealer that done this? I understand they bring alot more money. But from what I've seen the same things could have been done by anybody who bought a new chevy in those days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 What made Yenko so special? The fact that you could actually order a COPO Yenko car directly from Chevrolet... Not many dealers, if any, cut a deal like this! (Dick Harrell, Fred Gibb...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN454Monte Posted September 29, 2009 Author Share Posted September 29, 2009 *Update* I've got the true owners E-mail now, and I am waiting on his reply. It will be interesting to see what he has to say, I am trying to get him to come here and join the forums.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allchevy Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 So Yenko had some kind of contract with GM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyDavey Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 So Yenko had some kind of contract with GM? don't think they had a contract Don, just a good relationship with their zone manager.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allchevy Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 So did GM limit these contracts to only one dealership or were there more than just Yenko? And why didn't GM see this as a way of making an even more rare beast that they could have proffited from. GM did make some limited HP vehicles over the years that are sought after today. Namely Corvette! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montefrazer Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Yenko was a dealer and figured out that he could order limited runs of cars that GM didn't normally build through the COPO system. The system was generally used to order cars for fleet buyers that wanted them all the same or to all have special features. This way he didn't have to order high performance engines and replace the stock ones on the cars before he sold them. They were delivered with those engines. There were other dealers doing similar things. Baldwin-Motion and Fred Gibb for Chevy, Royal for Pontiac, Grand Spalding for Dodge, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montefrazer Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 And why didn't GM see this as a way of making an even more rare beast that they could have proffited from. GM did make some limited HP vehicles over the years that are sought after today. Namely Corvette! GM wasn't interested in special runs of 50-100 cars. They were interested in runs of 100,000 and up. All the COPO cars had to be pulled from and line and be specially built. Not how they made money back then or today. Even the special high performance Corvettes and LS 6 Chevelles were planned to sell enough to cover the cost of building and selling them. Some models were built just to qualify for racing rules. A set amount of cars had to be available to the general buyers to qualify as a production car and not just a factory race car. This is why the Z-28, Trans AM, Dodge Daytona, Pymouth Superbird, to name a few, got built. Some sold well and became regular models and some were one year wonders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allchevy Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 I thought it might be something like the callaway corvette product. That brings alot of top dollar. That's make sence. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Peters Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Yenko is still a dealership here in the Western Pennsylvania area but they are now also selling rice..... No longer turning out these beauties, espically in fried rice. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allbowtie Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 I spent a weekend with a friend of mine at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Mich, back in 1969. Went to Berger Chevrolet and saw a aluminum big block Camaro in the showroom for a sticker price of over $6K. Little did I know then what today would be. Also, there was a Pontiac dealer in Cincinnati that stuffed 428ci motors into GTOs as a dealer option like the Yenkos. Went to an all Pontiac show years ago & stumbled into the rare 428 GTO and learned something of its history. But, memory has faded somewhat, but I do remember number of 428 GTO I saw at that show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyMonte Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 I spent a weekend with a friend of mine at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Mich, back in 1969. Went to Berger Chevrolet and saw a aluminum big block Camaro in the showroom for a sticker price of over $6K. Little did I know then what today would be. Also, there was a Pontiac dealer in Cincinnati that stuffed 428ci motors into GTOs as a dealer option like the Yenkos. Went to an all Pontiac show years ago & stumbled into the rare 428 GTO and learned something of its history. But, memory has faded somewhat, but I do remember number of 428 GTO I saw at that show. I switched out the engine in my 65 GTO way back then to a 421, tri power and all, it looked to the untrained eye like the 389 but fooled them all when the time came. [not going to say light to light]it's illegal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyMonte Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Roger Penske had a Chevy dealership in Philadelphia in the 60's 70's he had all the good stuff there in the showroom LS 6'S in any model they were available in, Z28's what color do you want? He was well respected by GM and got what ever he wanted from them I felt like a kid in a candy store when I went in there If I only knew then what I know now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyDavey Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 ah it was Dana Chev for one out here, even saw a 427 '66 Chevelle there......that's where I got my 396/425 4spd Impala.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allbowtie Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Dave--this first time I saw the 396/425hp Impala when it was introduced in 1965, I was in love. I saw one in a parade then and thought it was the baddest thing at the time. I took my driver's test in my Dad's new 1965 Impala (283 cube family car). Parallel park one of them big cars, which I still do today. Cracks me up when I watch people try to parallel park in today's smaller cars. Can't do it or has a hard time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.