Don Yenko

Yenko Stinger

Donald "Don" Frank Yenko (born May 27, 1927 , † March 5, 1987 in Charleston (West Virginia) ) was an American racing car driver who, through the construction of the Yenko Singer Stage 1-3 Chevrolet Corvair, 2nd series and the Yenko Camaro , a tuned version of the Chevrolet Camaro , became known.

biography

In 1957, Yenko set up a tuning workshop for Chevrolet vehicles. Customers could either buy tuning parts or have their cars converted by Yenko's mechanics. 1967, when Chevrolet brought out the Camaro, Yenko built the Camaro SS to the Yenko Camaro by the original V8 engine 78 L with 6,489 cm³ displacement against the V8 engine L-72 of the Chevrolet Corvette with 6,997 cc exchanged and rear axle and chassis adjusted. He also tuned the Chevrolet models Chevelle and Nova by installing the L-72 engine.

In the 1970s, the muscle car business declined because they had to pay higher insurance premiums and emissions regulations were tightened. Yenko reacted astutely and gave the Nova from 1970 its unique style: Instead of installing the 7.0-liter V8 engine in its special version, he convinced GM, the very powerful V8 with 5,735 cc from the new Camaro Z-28 and the Corvette LT1 with 360  bhp (265 kW) to be installed. In addition, the new Yenko Deuce , as the car was now called, had a better chassis, a different transmission and an improved rear axle, as well as eye-catching rally stripes and emblems. In the late 1970s, Yenko tuned the Vega with a spoiler, a turbocharger and a special paint job. Due to difficulties with the approval by the Environmental Protection Agency , he only sold the converted Vega without a turbocharger. Instead, you could purchase the turbocharger separately in Yenko's workshop. In 1972 Yenko stopped selling tuned cars and only offered tuning parts from cosmetic conversions to engine tuning. The most notable product was the ZL-1 engine, which Yenko made with the permission of Chevrolet. In 1981 Yenko brought out his last tuning set, the Turbo Z Camaro . It was a turbocharger for the 5.7 liter V8 engine. In 1982 he sold his company Yenko Sportscars , which had belonged to the family since 1934.

Yenko died in March 1987 along with three passengers when his Cessna 210 M crashed near Charleston, West Virginia . He wanted to land the machine; but it landed too hard and was thrown back into the air, causing Yenko to lose control of the plane. It brushed against an earth wall and fell into a ravine.

statistics

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1961	Yenko Chevrolet	Chevrolet Corvette	Ben Moore				Rank 32
1962	Grady Davis	Chevrolet Corvette	Ed Lowther				failure	Clutch damage
1963	Grady Davis	Chevrolet Corvette	Ed Lowther	Dick Thompson	D. Black	M. Wyllie	failure	Engine failure
1964	Angels Aviation Racing	Ferrari 250 GTO	Ed Cantrell	Harry Heuer			failure	malfunction
1965	Ken Hablow	Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray	John Bushell				failure	lost wheel
1966	Harold Whims	Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray	David Morgan	Harold Whims			Rank 11
1967	Sunray DX Oil Co.	Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray	David Morgan				Rank 10 and class win
1968	Sunray DX Oil Company	Chevrolet Corvette	Pedro Rodríguez				failure	Engine failure
1969	Best Photo Service	Chevrolet Camaro Z / 28	Bob Grossman				Rank 10 and class win
1970	Marlbank Racing Team	Chevrolet Camaro	Bob Grossman				Rank 17
1971	Troy Promotions Inc.	Chevrolet Corvette	Tony DeLorenzo	Jerry Thompson			not classified
1972	John Greenwood Racing	Chevrolet Corvette	John Cordts				Rank 24
1973	John Greenwood Racing	Chevrolet Corvette	John Greenwood				failure	Engine failure
1975	Pedro Vazquez	Porsche 911S	Pedro Vazquez	Manuel Quintana			failure	Engine failure
1976	Richard Bostyan	Chevrolet Corvette	Richard Bostyan	Jerry Thompson			failure	malfunction
1977	Red Roof Inns Inc.	Chevrolet Monza	Jim Trueman	Jerry Thompson			failure	malfunction
1978	Bostyan Racing	Chevrolet Corvette	Richard Bostyan	Jerry Thompson			failure	Engine failure
1986	Dave Heinz Imports	Chevrolet Corvette	Dave Heinz	Steve Zwiren			failure	Gearbox damage

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd
1961	Yenko Chevrolet	Chevrolet Corvette	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	PES
			32
1962	Grady Davis	Chevrolet Corvette	DAY	SEB	SEB	MAY	TAR	BER	ONLY	LEM	TAV	CCA	RTT	ONLY	BRI	BRI	PAR
			19th		19th											DNF
1963	Grady Davis	Chevrolet Corvette	DAY	SEB	SEB	TAR	SPA	MAY	ONLY	CON	ROS	LEM	MON	WIS	TAV	FRE	CCE	RTT	OVI	ONLY	MON	MON	TDF	BRI
			DNF		DNF																			DNF
1964	Angels Aviation Racing	Ferrari 250 GTO	DAY	SEB	TAR	MON	SPA	CON	ONLY	ROS	LEM	REI	FRE	CCE	RTT	SIM	ONLY	MON	TDF	BRI	BRI	PAR
				DNF
1965	Ken Hablow	Chevrolet Corvette	DAY	SEB	BOL	MON	MON	RTT	TAR	SPA	ONLY	MUG	ROS	LEM	REI	BOZ	FRE	CCE	OVI	ONLY	BRI	BRI
			DNF	DNF
1966	Art Riley Harold Whims	Volvo P1800 Chevrolet Corvette	DAY	SEB	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	MUG	CCE	HOK	SIM	ONLY	ZEL
			DNF	11
1967	Sunray DX Oil Co.	Chevrolet Corvette	DAY	SEB	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	HOK	MUG	BRH	CCE	ZEL	OVI	ONLY
				10
1968	DX Sunray Oil Co.	Chevrolet Corvette	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	ONLY	SPA	WAT	ZEL	LEM
			25th	DNF						DNF
1969	Best Photo Serv Inc. Yenko Sports Cars Incorporation	Chevrolet Camaro	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
			DNF	10							DNF
1970	Mamie Reynolds Gregory Marlbank Racing Team	Chevrolet Camaro	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
			DNF	17th							10
1971	Owens Corning Fiberglass Troy Promotions Inc. or Costanzo Tri City Corvette Club	Chevrolet Corvette	BUA	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
				10	DNF								7th
1972	John Greenwood Racing	Chevrolet Corvette	BUA	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
				DNF	24
1973	John Greenwood Bob Grossman	Chevrolet Corvette Ferrari 365 GTB / 4	DAY	VAL	DIJ	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
			DNF									24
1975	Jerry Thompson	Chevrolet Corvette	DAY	MUG	DIJ	MON	SPA	BY	ONLY	ZEL	WAT
			19th
1977	Red Roof Inns Inc.	Chevrolet Monza	DAY	MUG	DIJ	MON	SIL	ONLY	VAL	BY	WAT	EST	LEC	MOS	IMO	SAL	BRH	HOK	VAL
			29
1978	Richard Bostyan	Chevrolet Corvette	DAY	SEB	MUG	VALLEY	DIJ	SIL	ONLY	LEM	MIS	DAY	WAT	VAL	ROD
			50	DNF
1979	Graham Shaw	Chevrolet Monza	DAY	SEB	MUG	VALLEY	DIJ	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	BY	DAY	WAT	SPA	BRH	ROA	VAL	ELS
			55
1980	Yenko Chevrolet-Honda University of Pittsburgh	Chevrolet Corvette AMC Javelin	DAY	BRH	SEB	MUG	MON	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	DAY	WAT	SPA	MOS	ROA	VAL	DIJ
			61										DNF
1981	Dave Horchler Emerald Racing	Chevrolet Corvette	DAY	SEB	MUG	MON	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	BY	DAY	WAT	SPA	MOS	ROA	BRH
																DNF

Web links

Commons : Don Yenko  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Chevy Performance was Spelled "YENKO" . musclecarcalendar.com
• Investigation of Donald Yenko's plane crash by the NTSB ( memento of July 14, 2003 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Family Search - Donald Yenko
2. ↑ Famous People Who Died in a Plane Crash - 1980s. PlaneCrashInfo.com