The Yenko that Harrell Built

             

The Yenko that Harrell Built

by Patrick Krook
Photography: Geoff Stunkard / quartermilestones.com

Super Chevy Magazine called this car, YS-739, "one of the rarest and most valuable Yenko Super Camaros in existence." 

      Much has been written about this Yenko.  Super Chevy Magazine called this car, YS-739, "one of the rarest and most valuable Yenko Super Camaros in existence." The car is published in 11 other nationally circulated magazines; most recently featured in the book "Camaro" by David Newhardt, released January 2013.  According to Don Yenko's wife, Hope, "Carroll Shelby was on person Don really looked up to. In fact, Don wanted to become the Carroll Shelby of General Motors products." Carroll had first approached Chevrolet about building a special edition Corvette in the early 1950's, but he just didn't speak their language. Don had witnessed the success with the Shelby Cobra and the Shelby GT350 Mustang. Learning of the upcoming big block powered '67 Shelby GT500, Don figured he could do the same, albeit on a smaller scale.

"Imagine if Jimi Hendrix designed a guitar for you and Leo Fender built it. What could beat that?"

'67 Yenko and the '67 Shelby GT500 share some significant parallels. Both were upfitted by the tuner with performance engines not normally available on the model. Each was hand converted and race prepped by racing legends. While Mustang was on its first refresh, Camaro was an entirely new model in 1967. Don Yenko had already been tuning street cars and begun racing 427 powered Corvettes by 1967. He enlisted the help of "Mr. Chevrolet" himself, Dick Harrell, to convert the first 20 or so 396 equipped Camaros into Corvette 427 powered fire-breathing "Super Camaro 450's". When Don received an order from western area of his network of authorized Chevy dealerships, he would then order all the parts necessary for the up fit through his own dealership and have them sent to the Dick Harrell Speed Shop for installation.  This one was ordered through Burt Chevrolet in Englewood, CO.

Before the speed shop got their hands on it, this Camaro started life as an "SS " packaged, 396/375hp (4K- code), 4spd Muncie M21, 12 bolt posi (4.10), Butternut Yellow, Black standard interior.  The Harrell paperwork shows the labor for converting the car to a 450 Super Camaro installing: L72 427c.i. engine assembly, Stewart Warner gauges, M/T headers, R/C bell housing, Autolite spark plug wires, and the Traction Master Traction bars. So, if the car was a 427 Corvette powered pony car, why was it called the "Super Camaro 450"? Well, 450's were manual shift cars (automatics received the "410" moniker) to denoting the NHRA horsepower rating for each model. Actual horsepower was on the order of 500+ horsepower.

Like the early rear trunk battery '65 Shelby GT350's, the early Yenko Camaros were setup by professional racers for the general public to go racing right out of the box. Dick Harrell spent the 1960's taking the NHRA & AHRA by storm, not just as a driver, but also as mechanic and crew chief. In early 1967 when you bought a Yenko Super Camaro 450, you were getting "Mr. Chevrolet" as your personal mechanic. Imagine if Jimi Hendrix designed a guitar for you and Leo Fender built it. What could beat that?

Changes in 1968 production moved exclusively to Yenko's dealerships. In many ways, '68 was a simplified product, a cost cutting effort much the same as the AO Smith built '68 Shelby GT500 was as compared to the '67 hand built in California by Shelby American. Yenko would order L78 396 equipped cars, then the dealership would simply substitute the 396 for the 427 short block, swapping over the original heads, intake manifold, carb, and accessories. Harrell was no longer part of the organization and dealership mechanics were paid $140 for each conversion, working as quickly as possible to complete one per day. In addition to the Corvette L72 Motor, also gone for '68 was the fiberglass "stinger" hood.

"This car is extremely rare with very few, less than 20, known to exist. Of those only 4 are documented to be converted by Dick "Mr. Chevrolet" Harrell." 

Don Yenko was not as mindful of branding as Carroll Shelby was. For 1967 he did incorporate Corvette styling into the Super Camaro with a specially made fiberglass "stinger" hood found on the 427 big block model along with the appropriate 427 fender call outs and a single "Yenko" shield floating in the grill. A full compliment of Yenko badges, stripes and head rest decals wouldn't appear until 1969 when the Yenko S/C evolved into a sticker package for the COPO. While 1969 was the styling nexus for Camaro, the '67 Super Camaro was the most historically significant Yenko. Hand built, race bred, and game changing, akin to the coveted '65 GT350R models. Not only did the '67's force GM to re-evaluate their engine offerings, it lead directly to the COPO program that lead to thousands of 427 powered Camaros to compete on drag strips and the streets all across America. The Yenko S/C went from standing for "Super Camaro" to standing for an enlite class of American muscle, the "Super Car".

YS-739 was purchased by the owner in July 2008 and finished the restoration in June 2009. The work is photo documented, showing she still wears her original quarter panels, roof, and floor pans. NOS sheet metal used where replacement was needed. Any and all components are correct date coded with factory part numbers. The original paperwork documenting the car includes 2 copies of parts order from Yenko, labor invoice from Harrell, and invoice from Yenko selling the car to Burt Chevrolet, Englewood, CO; this is stapled to the yellow and pink Yenko work orders.

This restoration was completed to the highest standards, concours by any measure. Awards include:

• American Camaro Assoc. "Legends Certification"

• MCACN Day Two Concours "Diamond Award" 992-1000 pts.

• "Gold Spinner Concours" 998-1000 pts.

• Good Guys "Muscle Car of the Year Finalist" Kansas City Sept/2009 and Loveland, Co June/2010

• Super Chevy Show /Denver "Gold Class" and "Best Paint" both 2010 and 2011

The car has appeared in 11 different magazine issues and featured in April/2010 issue of "Muscle Car Enthusiast". The car also lends its legacy to David Newhardt's latest hardcover release, "Camaro" on the shelves since January 2013.  If that weren't enough, the car has been "Certified Original" by Larry Christensen, a well-known Camaro judge and restorer, with complete inspection report both before and after restoration. This car is extremely rare with very few, less than 20, known to exist. Of those only 4 are documented to be converted by Dick "Mr. Chevrolet" Harrell. Especially collectible with the documentation, restoration quality, and judging credentials this car has. This is one of the most well documented '67 Yenkos known; most others don't have the full complement of paperwork like this, let alone the judging pedigree.

There is no doubt that this Super Camaro has it all, impeccably restored, remarkably rare, and certainly iconic. So what did Carroll Shelby think of Don Yenko? Bob McClurg asked the man himself for his book 'Yenko',"Don Yenko was a damned good race car driver!...I admired Don Yenko...I always enjoyed sitting around and talking with him. It's really sad that the guy dies so early in life because he was so darned talented."

Find What Drives You...10 Years Later

The proud new owner of 1970 Challenger R/T HEMI, one of three
documented Shaker hood 4speeds, during 2009 Mopars at the Strip.

Being 15 years old for me brought with it a long walk, 3 miles each way in the dark to work a back to back close, then open shifts at my local McDonald's. Like most teenagers, I longed for a car, mostly to turn four hours of walking between shifts into 5 minutes of driving. But it was those daily journeys that lit my fire for muscle cars.  About two-thirds of the way to work on a long stretch of road between neighborhoods, was a small gray house with a detached garage that opened with a single panel overhead door. Inside and parked around the yard, loitering like barn cats were '67 – '70 Mercury Cougars. No matter the time of night or how early in the morning I walked by, the light in that garage was on usually accompanied by sounds of the Steve Miller Band eliminating from speakers too small for such a large space. One day I was walking by after an open shift and hear the same music bleeding into the street from the open garage. So, I decided to walk in. The trajectory of my life changed.

The gray house and garage were owned by a Ford mechanic that spent most waking off hours restoring his old Cougars. I found out that he had been wrenching on them since he was a boy my age at the time. He taught me how to evaluate a good car and spot problems. I brought my first car, a '79 Mercury Capri to him and he showed me how to maintain it.  He even taught me how to do an alignment with little more than pickle bar, some chalk and a tape measure. That is where I learned, not just desire to own a cool muscle car, but the ideal of being the current caretaker of these vintage vehicles.

Photographing a collection of Shelby's in front of the Eiffel Tower
Paris, France 2010

From there I had rescued, wrenched, and driven everything from vintage Mopars, to Mustangs, and GTO's. Each car was an learning experience, and not always a positive one. There is little in this world worse than being taken advantage of with something you are passionate about.

I started Show Your Auto LLC in 2003 after a career as an Executive Recruiter within the Information Technology sector during the "tech-boom" that began in the mid-90's. The subsequent “dot-bomb” bust lead me to downsize my life, selling our first house and liquidating my modest car collection. As an I.T. Recruiter and Consultant, I taught companies to use best practices in marketing and selection so they could build high-performance teams in mission critical business units. My greatest personal satisfaction in my recruiting career was finding the people who were both talented and passionate about their work.

Myself and Sheikh Ali Abulla Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa (to my right),
his family and a pair of Englishmen, Robert (far right) and
Gerrad (far left).

Starting Show Your Auto was an opportunity for me to the same for myself, to marry his skills honed in the business world with my God given passion for automobiles which began in the gray garage with the big overhead door. The problem, however, was that I was busted flat, living in a four flat apartment, and underemployed. My uncle heard of my plans to bootstrap an online automobile brokerage and offered to help by giving me a 1967 Buick Wildcat, that was brown and rust. There was only one condition, I could not keep it. Selling the car for $750, that was the seed money I used to start www.ShowYourAuto.com.

Since then, my work has taken me around the world. I've driven a Shelby collection through the street s of Paris, sold cars to Arab Royalty, and handled the sale of some of the rarest muscle cars ever to have been produced. What I've learned from that Ford mechanic as a young man still holds true today. To pursue and purchase a rare collectable car is not merely a buying choice, or even just an investment decision, this is about fulfilling a heart's desire. If you're like me and so many that I've meant along the journey, it is one that has been there since you were a boy. 2013 will be the 10^th anniversary of my business www.ShowYourAuto.com and the best is yet to come.

Will the Real Carroll Shelby Please Stand Up?

In 2007, this exquisite statue of Carroll Shelby was unveiled of him during the glory days, smiling at lap times the Cobras were turning on his stop watch.

Carroll Shelby as a figure has inspired controversy, consternation, subterfuge, and sometimes outright frustration.  Whether you met Mr. Shelby in the courtroom or the racetrack, anyone who he set his cross-hairs on tends to see him like this.  I met him over breakfast. 

There is always a schism that requires reconciliation between the man and the icon when you get to know a legend.  It was January 2007, right in the midst of a civil war between SAAC and the newly constituted Team Shelby.   I was invited to private breakfast ahead of the evening’s festivities, commemorating a statue in Carroll’s honor during the annual Shelby American Collection benefit dinner located in Boulder, Colorado.  I had made a considerable donation to the effort, but was upset by all that was being said and done on both sides of the battle line.  At that breakfast, I was all of a sudden faced with squaring all the judgments, allegations, and bad blood in the fight of over the Shelby Brand with a direct and personal meeting with the man himself, sharing a meal with him and the members of his original race team that made the brand something worth fighting over. 

I have met several people with “celebrity” status over the years, enough to know when they’ve let it go to their head.  They become the imagined image in people’s minds rather than remember that it is the people’s appreciation for what they do that has launched them into the limelight.  Personal interactions with people of little note (as I was that morning, dining with the actual team Shelby), are typically met with aloof indifference.   Carroll went out of his was to make my acquaintance, inviting me to sit with him after the meal and began to chat with me.  After a while, he pulled out a knife and demanded money. 

It was a commemorative pocket knife, purchased just for the original team members during the event.  He asked for a penny in return as he tossed the blade across the table to me.  I must have looked bewildered, because I friend who was with me explained that you never give a knife away without some token payment because then it will sever the relationship.  I was honored. 

I learned that morning that Carroll Hall Shelby wasn’t the larger-than-life benevolent racing demigod that I grew up hearing stories about.  I also learned that he wasn’t the self-serving son-of-bitch that would sue you as quick as look at you.  Carroll the man was, in many ways, a regular guy with faults and foibles who did extraordinary things for the industry and hobby he loved.  Lucky for all of us who are dedicated fanatics of the American Muscle Car he trained his hawkish gaze on a former employer when is first uttered that now famous phrase “Ferrari's ass is mine!” 

This is an ugly picture, particularly if you don't know what you are looking at. This is the engine bay of SFM5R002 or "002", the very first Shelby GT350 “R” Model completed. Lee Iacocca approached Shelby to further prepare and campaign the Mustang as a B production SCCA racer. The idea was to boost an already successful seller with a winning race program. Boy did the Shelby team deliver, Ken Miles and Jerry Titus pulled down seven 1st place wins. Ford sold 680,989 Mustangs during the 1965 Model year.

I invite you to forget everything you think you know about the now iconic 427 Cobra, the quarter-million dollar '67 Shelby GT500, or the multimillion-dollar GT40.  The chicken farmer’s legacy isn’t measured by much his old projects trade for today between private collectors.  I also invite you to forgive the controversies that Shelby was so adept at creating for himself and focus on the things he did to speak the hearts of millions who love automotive performance.

When Ford and Team Shelby threw down the gauntlet at Enzo Ferrari's feet they were the undisputed Royal Family of Motorsports.  Think of Carroll's famous phrase as The Declaration of Independence for the road racing world and Ferrari was King George.  Before that Seminole moment, the everyman had no place on the road course.  European aristocracy crowded out all previous attempts by American manufacturers to make a credible run at international road racing.

Ford wanted to build the “Total Performance” image.  What were the tools offered for the effort?  In the beginning an outmoded British chassis first designed in 1953 featuring a transverse rear leaf spring suspension and worm and sector steering, a small block motor sourced from Ford's compact economy line up, a small “secretary’s car”, and a pat on the bottom to go create a race program. 

It took a man with a belly full of grit, a swagger stick taller than a telephone pole, and a pair of cajones the size of his home state to pull it off.  Shelby was that man.  One can argue that his gun sights have been focused on the wrong target from time to time, but he was more than the son-of-a-bitch we needed at the time.  He began by inspiring just a few.  The members of the Shelby American racing team were young men who were passionate about cars and racing.  We don’t venerate Shelby for his race driving career, by the time Ford came calling, his driving career was behind him.   Carroll assembled and lead a motley group to do more than any of them thought possible. 


These were regular guys all doing what they loved.  The day he sold me that knife, was the day they recognized that same thing within me. 

A few of the men who made it happen, left to right: GT350 Driver Tom Yeager, R&D Director Phil Remington, GT350 Project Engineer Chuck Cantwell, and Museum Supporter Roger Willbanks enjoy a pre-dinner reception. 

Mr. Shelby has been given credit for many a man's accomplishments over the years and perhaps he was sometimes too polite to refuse it.  But this isn't about THE man or any one man.  This is about what the Shelby American race team accomplished.  I have seen him honor the team that created his legacy and also the place that has done the best job preserving it. 

Headed up by Steve Volk, the Shelby American Museum Collection in Boulder Colorado is a charitably funded, all volunteer organization that houses nearly every significant Shelby Cobra, Shelby Mustang, Daytona Coupe, and even GT40 race cars known to exist.  The museum doesn't just house the cars, it tells the story.  It was on Saturday December 1^st of 2007 that I witnessed O'l Shel himself say “None of this would be anything without this bunch of guys right here.  There wouldn't be a legacy to remember without all of them...”   Starting to weep, Carroll turned to address Steve Volk, the Co-Founder of the museum, “...and I can't think of a more worthy man to carry that legacy forward. Thank you.”  I'll tell you one thing, the old croc's tears were genuine.

The rest of the night we were treated to stories and recollections from Phil Remmington, Allen Grant, Chuck Cantwell, Lew Spenser, Bob Bondurant and others.  The cars, the accomplishments, and the team that put American racing on the international stage were all right there.  We may take for granted the enormity of the American performance today; to hear how it became so assures you of one thing: It was a messy, uncertain adventure getting there.  The evening was crowned the only way a Shelby event could, with the roar and revving of Cobra Daytona's and GT40's filling the air with the fumes of race fuel.  I have never seen so many tie and gown clad people hoot and holler over the staccato of a 427 before.  These people ARE Shelby’s legacy.   

Check out our photo gallery of more views of the Shelby American Museum with detailed captions:

Shelby American Museum 2007 Charity Dinner, a set on Flickr.

Fashback Automania 2011, Simply Cartastic

Automania /n/- (See Also: Cartastic)

By ~Patrick Krook

Automania2011_WM13, a photo by ShowYourAuto!com on Flickr.

Show Your Auto VIP display at Automania 2011!

If you've been to large car shows, you'd agree that most of the time it isn't about the venue. Even the biggest car shows are relegated to the county fairgrounds or in the inside of some large warehouse complex. Likewise, most small town cruise-ins are tiny affairs, a hundred or so cars- mostly Sunday drivers, lining a block or two of an historic main street. Sioux Falls, South Dakota is a city, majestic buildings hewn from Sioux Quartzite, the architecture is iconic, and so is Automania.

Automania is a phenomenon that occurs every June when a big city hosts a small town cruise-in where even Ridler Award winners sit parked curbside next to hometown vintage muscle still owned by the original purchaser. It is a confluence of the main street show and the largest concours gatherings. In 2011, nearly 1,500 cars lined the streets of Sioux Falls including one of most every Hurst performance model ever made all the way from Chicago. Four ultra-rare muscle cars arrived from Colorado, including one of only three 1970 fours speed Hemi Challengers factory equipped with a Shaker hood. A 1971 440 SIX PACK GTX also also made the journey from the Wellborn Muscle Car Museum located in Alexander City, AL. This is much more than a local street show.

Automania2011_WM20, a photo by ShowYourAuto!com on Flickr.

Drawing more than 1,000 collector quality automobiles of every stripe and era is a a feat withing itself, but Automania is much more than that. Perhaps what makes this show stand out amongst all others is the people. At national events held at fairgrounds, you are usually catering to a crowd of fellow owners, all of whom adhere to an unwritten code of respect for each others' rides. Street shows attract general public and to the dread of most owners- the risk of damage to their prized possessions. Over 70,000 people flooded the streets of down town Sioux Falls, representing over half the local population, without incident. Sioux Falls, known as the Best Little City in America, is also a true car guy town as well. Local classic and collector cars lined not just the main drag, but most every side street from mid-day, well into the night. The flood of people was restrained, polite, respectful, but most of all- appreciative of all the cars and their owners for bringing them out to display. Crowd wrangling is less of an issue when dealing with courteous folks who understand the virtue of self-control.

Automania2011_WM10, a photo by ShowYourAuto!com on Flickr.

As the sun set a live band played in front State Theater, rocking out to the backdrop of letters blinking S-T-A-T-E on the marquee. As twilight set in, the neon signs began to glow outside the local restaurants, playing off the jewel tone of a sapphire sky. The Paramount's sign glimmered green while enthusiasts relaxed “al frisco” style, enjoying the company of a 1969 Camaro. Further down the block, folks basked the warm glow of neon red Manerva's storefront banner, savoring gourmet food served street side. The 50's were reborn outside the Phillips Diner, the sky shifting to a turquoise blue as if to acknowledge the time travel of the city's business district. A '56 Pickup, a '49 Mercury, and a custom '38 four door sedan hung out as a '57 Ford Fairlane Skyliner retractable hardtop went top down, inviting in the evening breeze. Inside the period shift is complete with stainless, chrome, and overstuffed booths. The food at the Phillips is classic Americana with a sophisticated twist of careful presentation.

Every side street revealed another scene cut from yet different age of American automobilia. Down one block 1930's hot rods flanked by pin-up girls, each emulating their favorite Vargus print or doing their best Betty Page impression. Round the next corner and you are greeted by rows of '60 and 70's muscle gathered under puddle lights, an automotive version of Edward Hopper's Nighthawks. The 1969 Daytona played the roll of Bogart, the Baldwin-Motion Camaro, James Dean. Down the next alley 427 Shelby Cobra roadsters hold court along with a 429 powered 1970 Torino Cobra, almost never seen, especially equipped with Ram Air shaker and 4speed top loader transmission. The crowds persisted well into the night, cars not rolling for home until 11pm.

Automania2011_WM7, a photo by ShowYourAuto!com on Flickr.

If that were the show, it would be a noteworthy gathering. The fun, however continued the next day with private garage tours. It is a testament to the quality of a community when private collectors are willing show their cars a public of tens of thousands. Opening your private collection for public tour is a testament to the level of trust people share in Sioux Falls. Day two of Automania entailed a private garage tour of about a dozen of the most established local collectors and car related businesses. The hospitality and warm welcome was tremendous at each location. Strolling through the personal garages lent insight into how each person relates to the car hobby. On tour we were treated to the entire collection of American powered European exotics, 1950's and '60's lead sleds, a collection of resto-modded Impalas. We saw walls and walls of automotive art- even a hot-rodded coffee table, not mention the two headed cow. The most impressive business tour was Dakota Digital gauge works. It was a first hand look at the entire process from design to production and order fulfillment. Begun in the founder's garage, Dakota Digital is a modern facility that demonstrates that small scale manufacturing is still viable in the United States. They are able to produce and distribute internationally a full catalog of parts as well as fulfill custom orders to fit an individual builder's need. Sturdevant's Auto Parts hosted a barbecue pork tenderloin lunch in their 105,000 square foot S.A.E. Warehouse. We enjoyed really good food, sharing company with genuine car guys. Perhaps there is a reason that Sioux Falls only has a 5% unemployment rate.

The final day of Automania 2011 paid homage to the gods of commerce with an indoor auction by Silver. Offerings ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous. No matter your taste or budget, it was a buyer's market. If you were inspired by the street scene of Friday night and wanted to join it next year, the auction was the perfect place to grab some sweet wheels at an even sweeter price. Whether you were where there for the street show, the live music, the excellent food from downtown restaurants, the hospitality local collectors, or stayed to take advantage of an auction steal, one and all can agree Automania is the epitome of cartastic.

Show Your Auto sponsors Automania! 2011 in Sioux Falls, SD, a set on Flickr.