CamaroFacts

Home / People / Don Yenko

1927–1987

Don Yenko

Racer and dealer behind the Yenko Super Camaro

Yellow 1969 Camaro Yenko/SC
1969 Camaro Yenko/SC (COPO) Photo: Sicnag, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; plates and faces blurred Original photograph License

Don Yenko was an SCCA national champion (B Production, 1962 and 1963) who ran performance work at his family's Chevrolet dealership in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. He made his name modifying Corvairs (the “Stinger”) before turning to Camaros in 1967, swapping in Corvette 427s.

For 1969 he worked directly with Chevrolet to get the L72 installed on the factory line via COPO. He died in a small-plane crash in 1987.

Yenko raced Corvettes in regional and endurance events, and he took over performance work at Yenko Chevrolet in 1957. The Corvair that made his name was the 1965 Yenko Stinger. His first Camaros were customer SS cars fitted with Corvette L72 427s and heavier suspension and axle hardware.

Who installed the 427?
Who installed the 427? 1967 SS: Dealer conversion; 1969 COPO: Factory installation. Yenko’s early SS conversions had engines installed outside the factory. For 1969 COPO 9561 put the L72 on Chevrolet’s assembly line. 1967 SS Dealer conversion 1969 COPO Factory installation
Yenko’s early SS conversions had engines installed outside the factory. For 1969 COPO 9561 put the L72 on Chevrolet’s assembly line. Original CamaroFacts diagram. History and sources.

The 1969 factory order, COPO 9561, produced 997 big-block Camaros in all. The Camaro Research Group credits Yenko himself with selling 198, while other accounts give 201 (171 four-speeds and 30 automatics). They were sold as Yenko Super Camaros, the "Yenko/SC" name collectors still use.

Close-up of a green Camaro fender with a Camaro script badge and a Yenko shield emblem beneath it
Yenko-badged Camaro, fender emblem detail (model year not specified in source) Photo: Lee, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License

He kept building specialty Chevrolets into the 1980s; a turbocharged 1981 "Turbo Z" Camaro was his last. The 1987 crash happened near Charleston, West Virginia, and three passengers died with him.

The Yenko name outlived him. The prototype he used to prove the COPO idea to Chevrolet sold at Mecum's Kissimmee auction on January 17, 2026, for $1.65 million hammer ($1,815,000 with premium), reported as the highest price ever paid for a Camaro; see the 1969 Yenko COPO prototype. From 2015 SVE of Toms River, New Jersey (the descendant of SLP Engineering) has built licensed modern Yenko/SC Camaros sold through Chevrolet dealers.

Did you know

  • COPO 9737 was born in 1968, a year before the famous 427 order. It was exclusive to Yenko and delivered an SS with the L78 396 (carrying its own MV engine code), a bigger front sway bar and a 140 mph speedometer, ready for his shop to swap in a 427. In 1969 it was paired with COPO 9561.
  • The COPO trick started with Corvairs, not Camaros. In 1965 Yenko used GM's special-order system to get the 100 Corsa Corvairs SCCA required before a car could run in its production classes, built on 1966 Corsas with the four-carburetor engine and painted white for SCCA's American-car colors.
  • Yenko drove Camaros in endurance races himself. He co-drove with Dick Guldstrand at the 1969 Daytona 24 Hours (a DNF), finished 10th at the 1969 Sebring 12 Hours with Grossman, and returned in 1970 for a Daytona DNF and a 17th at Sebring.
  • The Le Mans line in his story is thinner than it looks. In 1971 the Yenko-prepared Corvettes of Troy Promotions were withdrawn before the race. In 1973 John Greenwood's special Corvette, with Yenko among its listed drivers, was disqualified in practice after Yenko crashed while road-testing it on public roads following a differential change; no start is recorded for him.
  • The Camaro was one of three 1969 Yenko cars. One registry counts 99 Chevelles and 37 Novas alongside the Camaros that year, and a 1970 Nova, the Deuce with the 350 LT-1, at 175 cars (122 four-speeds, 53 automatics). The 1981 Turbo Z Camaro was just 19 cars, all automatics.
  • His best endurance result was 4th at the 1971 Daytona 24 Hours in an Owens Corning Corvette shared with Tony DeLorenzo and Mahler, and later that year he won the 200-mile race at Daytona, with Heinz sharing the Corvette. One racing database also lists regional SCCA class wins in Corvettes from 1960 to 1964 at tracks such as Watkins Glen, Connellsville, Road America and Nelson Ledges.
  • Two halls have honored him: the Corvette Hall of Fame in 2005, in its Racing category, and the Washington-Greene Sports Hall of Fame in southwestern Pennsylvania in 2022, as a special honoree.
Sources for these details

Key beats

  • SCCA B Production national champion, 1962 and 1963
  • 1969 COPO 9561: ~198–201 Yenko Super Camaros
  • Specialty builds into the 1980s (Turbo Z)