1968 Chevrolet Camaro sYc Yenko 427 Super Camaro

Approaching the height of the muscle car era, General Motors was holding back. The rebellious enthusiasts cried for power, but GM wasn't sure its clientele was mature enough. Leave it to Don Yenko to come along like some grandparent and spoil the grandchildren making the parents, and the law, a little perturbed.

Owning a GM dealership in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, Don Yenko had the inside track as to what General Motors really had available or not. Most everyone knew Chevrolet had the L72 engine, but it was only made available in the Corvette. The muscle car lovers were left a little cheated with the 350 cubic inch engine. Yenko would remedy the situation by order L72 engines and doing the updates at his own shop in Canonsburg.

Word would quickly spread. Pandora's Box had been open and there was very little Chevrolet could do about it. The popularity would be such that Yenko would order more Camaros for 1968 so that he could perform the L72 conversion. Approximately 64 examples of the Yenko Super Camaro would be produced. The popularity would be such that Chevrolet would collaborate with Yenko to create the COPO Camaros. Now the project would be a corporate effort leaving the 64 produced in 1968 as some of the only pure Yenko Super Camaros.

Chassis 124378N413680 would be one of those 'pure' Yenko Super Camaros. Documents indicate the car had been delivered to Yenko Chevrolet on the 20th of April in 1968. Some time later, the car would be sold to Sight Chevrolet in Kansas City where it would be received by its first owner, Brian Boutwell.

Boutwell would retain the Yenko Camaro until the mid-1990s when William Dyer came to own the brute. A restoration would be conducted that would help turn the car into an award winner, including a Gold Award at the Camaro Nationals. Sporting redline tires, Fathom Blue paint, Pontiac rally wheels and the easily-recognizable Yenko vented hood, the 1968 Yenko Camaro remains all that a muscle car is supposed to be.

The 1968 Chevrolet Yenko Super Camaro would be offered to the public through Gooding & Company's Arizona sale in 2015. Having a little more than 54,000 miles and still sporting its massive 450 horse V-8 engine with single Holley carburetor, the car garnered estimates ranging from between $425,000 and $525,000 prior to the auction.

By Jeremy McMullen