Greetings WebRides faithful, for all those wondering what happened to the MCotW last week allow me to explain. Last week I had intended to post the newest installment of MCotW when AT&T decided to take a s*** on my plans. You see, apparently when AT&T asked my dad if he wanted to bundle our internet and phone services together with no interruption in service they really meant to ask if they could f*** up our entire week with phone calls attempting to get the internet turned on. After countless hours on the phone and another few spent in anger management classes the internet got turned on this last weekend and after spending a few days in SLO moving into a new apartment I am back and ready to deliver one hell of a muscle car, the 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle sYc or Yenko Chevelle. Now this wasn’t any ordinary Chevelle SS396 mind you, getting your hands on one of these beasts in 1969 meant you had to know a few tricks up your sleeve. Hit the jump. Now.

If you cruised up next to one of these cars at a stoplight back in 1969 and you thought you could smoke it in your GTO Judge Ram Air III, you would be making a gross error because there was no 375 horse 396 sitting between those fenders. If you paid close attention you may have noticed the sYc emblems on each headrest as well as the subtle decals and emblems that read: Yenko. As the mighty L72 melts the Polyglass tires and the bow-tie rockets past you, you may begin to question whether it was a good idea to underestimate what you thought to be a run of the mill Chevelle.

That mistake is one that I am sure was made by at least more than one person who was unaware what Don Yenko was doing to a select group of Camaro’s, Chevelle’s and Nova’s back in the late 1960’s. Yenko, a former racecar driver and Chevrolet dealer in Pennsylvania had a serious need for speed and was looking for a way to creep around the General Motors engine ban that limited the displacement in mid-sized cars to 400 cubic inches. The tried and true 396 motor was constantly being beaten by Mustang and Barracuda alike and Yenko was fed up with it. He went around the ban by placing select customer orders through the Chevrolet central office (known as a COPO’s, Central Office Production Orders) in order to get the L-72 code Corvette 427 dropped between the fenders of a Camaro, Chevelle or Nova. With the mighty 427 weighing down the front ends of these cars, Yenko added his own graphics including signature headrests, emblems and decals. Now some of you may be asking me: Why pick the Chevelle out of those three models? The answer is 99, and although at first one may be confused, allow me to explain. The Chevelle only received Yenko treatment for the 1969 model year, and only 99 of them were ever made, making them far more rare than a Camaro or Nova (there were less Nova’s made in total but they were still produced over a two year period). It is important to note that other dealers such as Baldwin Chevrolet placed COPO for Chevelles and over 200 427 Chevelle’s were built in total, however Yenko only built 99 and I like him more. So there.

The 7.0 L 427 that sat between the fenders made serious power, and by serious I mean a s*** ton of power. Rated at 425 horsepower and 460 pound feet of torque, the Yenko Chevelle could move. And by move I mean zero to sixty in 5 seconds which was no easy task for such a heavy car. Quarter mile times clocked in at 13.3 seconds at 108 miles per hour, a full 1.2 seconds faster than a standard SS with the 396. Transmission choices were limited to a close ratio Muncie 4-speed or the stout 400 Turbo Hydromatic 3-speed auto. Power went out the drive shaft to the 12 bolt rear end sporting 4.10 gears to handle all that power.

So the next time you catch a glimpse of a 1969 Chevelle, look a little closer because there may be a monster lurking under the hood. Big_Blocker signing off.