When talking about Don Yenko, we usually think about the 1969 Camaro that he created through Chevrolet's COPO ordering process. And that's alright because the Yenko Camaro is an incredible beast, perhaps just as exciting as the other COPO version, the much rarer 1969 ZL1. But Don Yenko also meddled with other Chevrolet nameplates.
He set up a performance shop for Chevrolet vehicles in 1957 and became famous in the mid-1960s thanks to The Stinger, which was a beefed-up Corvair. He also modified Chevelles and Novas in the late 1960s, usually fitting them with the same L-72 engine found in the Yenko Camaro. And I'm here to talk about the Chevelle because it's one of the rarest Yenko supercars out there.
Granted, no Yenko car is actually common, but while the Camaro was built in 201 units and Stinger production reached about 185 examples, only 99 Chevelles left the shop with the COPO-ordered L-72 V8. And fewer than 50 are known to still exist, so finding a Yenko Chevelle in 2022 is not only difficult but also very expensive.
How expensive, you ask? Well, a restored example with a replacement trim tag was auctioned off for $275,000 in March 2021. An original tag wouldn't have probably turned it into a $300K+ classic, but unrestored and unmolested survivors are usually valued at more than $400,000. The Yenko Chevelle you're about to see below is one of those extremely valuable muscle cars.
Filmed by YouTube's "DezzysSpeedShop" in what appears to be a large car garage, this 1969 Yenko looks like it just left Don's shop. It's unclear whether it's just an unmolested survivor or a restored vehicle, but it looks stunning from just about every angle. And it still rocks its original 427-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) L-72 V8 under the hood. And not only it sounds fantastic, but it's so clean you could eat off the engine block.
We don't get any info on this car, but it sure looks a lot like the 1969 Yenko that crossed the block at Kissimmee in 2017. The car had an estimate of $275,000 to $375,000 but failed to sell, with a high bid of $240,000.
If it is indeed that car, it's one of the finest in existence because at the time of the auction it was a two-owner Yenko with only 1,200 original miles (1,931 km) on the odometer. Our host suggests that the car may be worth a whopping $500,000. It sounds like a lot of cash for a Chevelle, but considering how classic car prices went wild over the past couple of years, I wouldn't be surprised if someone actually paid a half-million bucks to take it home. Would you?
Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer. Full profile
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