Yenko is one of those words that you don’t have to explain to most classic car enthusiasts. But, did you know that Yenko ordered some cars that were never converted into Yenko super cars? That is the story with this 1969 Chevrolet Nova. It can be found here on HotRod.com in an article written by Ro McGonegal. Dennis Michalo of White Oak, Pennsylvania, purchased this unconverted 1969 Yenko Nova L78 396 new on April 4, 1969 and it’s seen an interesting history from there.
Yenko Chevrolet in Canonsburg, PA was best known for converting Chevelles and Camaros to potent street machines utilizing Chevrolet’s COPO (Central Office Production Order) program. Through the COPO program, dealers could order certain cars with the L72 427 cubic inch engine option. Unfortunately, they declined Yenko’s request to have 427’s installed into Novas at the factory, so Yenko took it upon themselves to order several bare-bones Novas with the intention of doing the conversion themselves under their “Super Car Program.” This car was one of those orders, but by request of the new owner, it was never converted.
The car was driven for less than a decade and was parked in 1978 where it sat for forty years! When it was pulled from its resting spot, it showed less than 75,000 original miles on the odometer. It is the only known example to be ordered with an automatic transmission. Usually, an automatic transmission means less value than the same car with a manual, but due to the rarity, in this case, it probably doesn’t matter. Overall, the car looks like it is in really good shape.
According to the article, this car has the following unique characteristics: It is currently the only ‘69 L78 Nova with an automatic transmission to ever surface with all the pre-existing requirements for the Super Car Program; It is 1 of only 3 documented to exist with Rallye Green paint and the only one-owner example in existence; The VIN is not on the registry; Shift lever remains on column, not converted to floor. I’m not sure what the future is for this car, but hopefully, it will be returned to its former glory.
Wow what a find!!!!!
So a guy walks in the Yenko dealership and walks out with a 396 Nova. Sounds like Don Yenko way overestimated demand for the conversion and bantered with the guy, who in the end, like many others didn’t want to pony up with the $$ for the conversion. Does any Chevy bought at Yenko’s carry a halo? I mean, it makes for an interesting story, but not really sure its more than that.
Sorry, these days there are too many “this car is super special” stories before the car gets moved onto auction down the road.
So let me see…..this has a replacement engine, not the original L78 it came with, not a Yenko L72 put in place by Yenko, has a slushbox…………..was never converted.and this makes it valuable why?
Are sure these muscle car articles are welcomed with vans and wagons Monday? Lol !
This is a super cool article about Muscle cars !
I love a good found story!
Saw one of the other Rallye Green Yenko’s parked on the street in Berkeley @ 2004/5. The 427 was exploded( still had it) by Original Owner and 350/auto in it’s place when I saw it. Knowing how rare it was I had to find the Owner who left it parked on the street. This was a Thursday noon. Came back 2hrs. later it was gone.
Leap forward @2008, I saw it at Claremont DMV parking lot. Waited for the Owner to get the scoop. Turns out his late Uncle owned it, and he got it because his older brother had no interest. It by then was/is in the Yenko registry. But, almost wasn’t.
Turns out that I wasn’t the only person who saw & knew the rarity of the car. The Local Tow Company did too. And using the LAX RULES for Towing “BLIGHTED Vehicles” took it! The Owner parked it in front of his moms house at @2pm the Saturday after I saw it. Went to LA. and came back Sunday evening. The car WAS GONE!
He was able to find by only by going to the ALL the local tow yards and looking for it. There were NO TOW records. Found late Monday afternoon and was told it was Towed for being parked over 72hrs. He informed them 72hrs. would have been 2pm. Tuesday and this was Monday. They laughed and told him they had the car and wanted to keep it if couldn’t pay the $500/tow fee and storage would accrue every day it stayed there. Well, he paid the $500 and got it back!
It was refreshed by WestCoast customs later on, when I saw him driving it regularly.
By the way this is the same Tow Yard that stole the Original Owner 4sp Judge parked near then Iceland when the Owner died. Also, the same one that stole my buddies 396/4spd. SS Chevelle. from near Claremont DMV @ 6yrs. ago.
To them, YES We Locals with Muscle/Collector Cars know WHO YOU ARE and HOW YOU DO IT! M*therF#$%er’s! They are in Berkeley!
They sound like a real bunch of basturds ! Hope they get their comeuppance in due course. The wheel finally turns.
With the way some people react these days I would imagine that the chances are pretty good that these guys will “take” the wrong person’s car one of these days. Then we will all be watching it unfold on the evening news.
It doesn’t work that way, the city has to tag it, usually after several days sitting on a street. Then the 72 hour clock starts, not before. The only exception is if the car has registration that has been expire for a significant length of time. At that point, the police have to first issue a citation, then it can be towed. Tow companies cannot just tow a car that’s been sitting on a street on their own accord.
Steve R
Steve, I love how you say that’s not how it works. What you mean to say is, that’s not how it’s supposed to work…lol
BIG difference…
Everyone knows how the system is supposed to work, but in Idaho my friends and I are aware of a large salvage yard that for years would pickup collectible muscle cars if they saw them setting and then use their dealer’s license to change the titles over to them. We found several 442s, Chevelle’s, etc that were obtained that way. I had an Uncle who purchased a car from them by paying them in full, but had to wait to pick it up. They said no problem as he lived over 300 miles away. When he came back all he had was paperwork and the car was gone. They said he picked it up. This type of story is all to true around the country and whether the system is supposed to work the way it is written, criminals do the same as all criminals do. They work around the law for their own gain.
Steve R.
You are right, thats NOT how it’s supposed to work. Yet, I lost my 69′ Superbee to a Midnight tow in 1989. Midnight on a Saturday, if the driver hadn’t honked as drove off and my brother saw the Tow Co. name. I wouldn’t have known where to look and by the time I did have to let it go because I when I did find it (no record of tow at OPD). The fees were too much. They did let me get my stuff out it though.
My 70′ 340 Swinger disappeared one night too. Found it at the back of Tow yard off San Pablo ave. They claimed they didn’t have it. Until I pointed it out to them that it was there. Had to go to OPD to get release. Couldn’t get it because Tow Co. DIDn’t report the tow. It was very enjoyable to listen to Cop asking them why they didn’t and to explain why. $250 and an hour later I got it back.
Yep, your right thats NOT HOW IT SUPPOSED TO WORK. But, it is HOW IT WORKS!
If you see a Muscle/Collector Car on a City contracted Tow Truck after 4pmish and NO Cop around. They are probably stealing it. Cause thats how it works! And Possession is 9/10th’s………. They get it in their lot it’s theirs until You prove otherwise ie: pay to get it back. If you find it.
Steve R, You have a whole lot to learn about what is the way it is supposed to be and how it truly is.I also am experienced with the Bay Area Mafia. I just happened to used to work for Mada Enterprises in Atherton, Ca. They were big in the Porn Theater business, They also had a very well known club who worked with them and several of those club members owned many different kinds of front business.s If there was anything they wanted The got it. THEY ALSO HAD SEVERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT PEOPLE WORKING WITH THEM IN THE 1980’S.
cold340t, what happened when you sued them in small claims court?
Did you win the case?
Worth litigating – after one retrieves one’s car, but definitely worth documenting and litigating.
wow.
Does everyone just pretend that Yenko was not just a Chevy dealer that sold…. I don’t know…. Chevrolet’s? I would say that about 97% of the cars they sold were NOT converted to “Yenkos”. Does that make ALL of those other regular Chevies “rare unconverted Yenkos”?
Get real.
It is a cool car on its own, but there is no need to muddy the waters about this “unconverted Yenko” BS.
Just chill, you are not the only ‘intellegent’ person on this blog let alone on the planet. We all get that.
Incorrect statement. All plain jane 69 L78 Novas in Fathom Green, Lemans Blue, Garnet Red, and Rallye Green with 731 interiors ordered by Yenko Chevrolet and on their back lot. Not another dealer or customer. The fact is most of the so called “37” were purchased as is unconverted like this car. And yes this is the only automatic to surface with iron clad docs thus far.
As a non Chevy guy would you please explain what statement is incorrect? Are you saying that Yenko was the only Chevy dealer able to order a plain jane 69 L78 Nova in those 4 colors with that interior. I take it that 731 is an interior code?
Yes hit me up at pnichols26@yshoo.com
10 project’s in yard nothing newer than 73 text me
A few years back I had the chance to see several Yenko’s in a private collection. It was one of so many unique and special vehicles to see a drool over. Whether a Nova, a Chevelle or Camaro, they all gave off a tingle when looking at them.
Add to that things like OEM 65 Impala with a 409 and so many others, it was a day to remember for a lifetime.
Now this is a great barn find !
Just the panache of being sold new by don yenko will be enough for a price increase on a car that is desirable regardless. Just imagine finding that one!
70-396″ 375hp BLOCK, 885 HEAD’S, ALL NEW VALVES 292 COMP. ROLLER LIFTERS, SPECIAL PUSHROD’S, ALL FORGED, HV. MELLING’S ALUM.FINNED VALVE COVER’S, BUILT T400 & TORQUE CONVERTER, BALANCED & BLUE PRINTED, STUD’S, MAIN & HEAD’S PRIMED, NOT FIRED, TEXT ME
With all these stories about tow companies I am reminded of the song Lincoln Park Pirates. (a song written about Lincoln Towing in Chicago in the early 70s- late 60s)
“Way hey tow them away, the Lincoln Park Pirates are we,
There’s no one so scary,
There’s no one so hairy
And we always collect our fee!”
That being said, I do know of several honest, good towing companies. I have even bought some “interesting” vehicles from them for cheap!
The car that my daughter restored (required before she was allowed to get a driver’s license) and drove all through high school and college. A 1972 gray market Audi 80 (otherwise known here as an Audi Fox that were imported here starting in 1973) that caught my eye as it had the Euro side markers, Hella H-4 headlamps, Boraini 13X6 steel wheels, Bilstein shocks, Weber carburetor, Momo steering wheel, aftermarket front and rear sway bars, and no rust! For the $100 sale price it was also delivered to the parking lot where I worked. I spent $25 for a new ignition switch and a piece for fuel line and 30 minutes later I drove it home. It pinned the speedo with no effort at all.
I won’t talk about the Datsun Roadster or the Mercury Capri. not enough time.
seat shows wear more’n odometer would indicate.
I lost a few this way (not out right steal tho) as a young ‘poor’ guy. Storage fees, other charges. If U couldn’t get back to where they were (usually miles outta state) fees cont to climb. That’n costs to repair whatever broke U down prevented ownership any more. Didn’t matter how long U wrked (or $ spent) to originally get it on the rd…gone now. http://www.wlbt.com/story/25441054/tow-truck-trouble
For the thief – the state Dept of Whatsits regulate their charges just like they regulate what the ele co can charge U 4 ur electricity. Gotta go lobby them 2 raise ur rates…but we all know how that wrks…
I’m not really sure what everyone is getting so upset over?? Because YOU didn’t find this car?
I get pretty ticked at dingbat drivers.. most of us do… however, to get super riled up over it doesn’t make them go away.. aamof, there are even more of them every day..
My point… It doesn’t matter if this plain jane Nova is just that.. The FACT is that the Yenko name DOES carry with it a boat load of selling power… If there was a plan for this car to become a Super Nova from the famous Yenko Chevrolet or whether it was simply a big block Nova, doesn’t really matter… it will sell at a high price than the same exact Nova purchased brand spanky new at Jackson Chevrolet in Middletown CT.
You all can get angry by it, but it is what it is…
How about the Ferrari 250 GTO that just sold for 44 MILLION Dollars… PLUS a 10% buyers premium… RM made 4.4 mil on that car.. and for probably the same amount of work, made less then a couple grand on several other cars in their auction… 4.4 Million for a weeks worth of work… 44 Mil for a car…? Pretty much unfathomable for most people… But it happened. It’s real… It is what it is…
RM made 8.8 mil. They get 10% from the seller as well
66, you are correct! Considering the time in dealing with seller, promotion, interviews, etc… They may have 80 real hours in on this car… 8.8 mil..not bad for 2 weeks work…lol
The 427 Camaro SC is the most talked about Yenko, high twelves we all know what those could do, the 427 Chevelle is another one of his great works of killer street machines that one could actually buy although by then maybe Chevrolet should have made the SS 427 do to the increase in weight…But the Nova, forget about it. By his own admission he realized that 427 had no business in the flimsy Nova, way way over powered. Don Yenko claimed the SC 427 Nova could run the quarter in the 11’s, do 0-60 in tick under 4 seconds on slicks of course with open headers, mind boggling performance but the car was down right dangerous, only experienced drivers could handle something like that. He worried about selling that particular set up to the public.
Of course when I learned this notoriety in my teens an witnessed a few backyard garage built 427 Nova’s absolutely tear up the drag strip I only wanted one even more! Wooowww, what a death trap! I want one of those! Kids will be kids. It doesn’t matter whether or not this Nova stayed with the somewhat lesser 396 or not, when it comes to muscle cars anything that has to do with Don Yenko will always bring huge interest and big bucks! Great post here, keep em comin’!
There is an YouTube video about this very car.
This is a rare find. I wish someone would find one for me. I just could kick myself for wreaking the 1968 blue sleeper Yenko Stinger when I took my dog, a Miniature Schnauzer, to the bake sale for the Girl Scouts. The cookies where on the floor. The dog went after the cookies, I went after the dog, & the car went after a utility pole. I stepped on the gas instead of the brake.