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Viva Lost Vegas: The strange tale of the Yenko Stinger
If you ever find yourself staring in disbelief at “Yenko” badges on a Chevrolet Vega, don’t panic. There’s no need for an eye exam. In fact, consider yourself lucky—you’ve just seen something of a unicorn.
Yenko, the Canonsburg, Pa., dealership famous for high-powered Camaros, Chevelles, and Novas, also offered a version of Chevy’s economy-car Vega in 1971 and ’72. Building 200 in each of those years, the Vega was Yenko’s most prolific model. Yet it is among the rarest of Yenkos today. Only 11 are accounted for.
In the late 1960s, Yenko Chevrolet was among a number of dealers swapping L72 427-cublic-inch big-block V-8s into Camaros. In 1969, Don Yenko used GM’s Central Office Production Order system (COPO) to have the 425-horsepower 427s installed at the factory. Other dealers did the same. The following year, Yenko used COPO to order 175 Novas equipped with the Corvette’s high-performance LT1 small-block V-8, calling that model the “Deuce.”
Yenko, a former road racer, also used the COPO system to get a Corvair equipped with choice bits from the factory, and then he further modified it at the dealership for street use and SCCA road racing. Calling it the Stinger, he built 115 from 1966–69.
Corvair successor
Yenko saw potential in Chevy’s next small car, the 1971 Vega. The hatchback model had a sporty look, and its chassis was fairly sophisticated, with its live rear axle on a four-link coil-spring suspension, rather than leaf springs as on Ford’s Pinto.
Yenko’s attempt to build a Vega into a competitive road racer exposed its Achilles heel—the underpowered and underdeveloped 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine. Sensing a market for a compact performance car in the European mold, Yenko tried to convince Chevy to build a turbocharged engine for his new Stinger. (The Corvair had offered a turbo engine until 1966, but the original Yenko Stingers didn’t use it.)
Chevy resisted but agreed to build a “COPO 9C2AA2 Special Vega Engine” for Yenko’s fleet order. The “special” part was simply a set of forged alloy plated pistons made to handle the added pressure from a Schwitzer turbocharger that Yenko planned to install at the dealership. He dropped that plan when the EPA required a 50,000-mile durability test for any intake or exhaust system modifications. Instead, Yenko listed the turbo on an extensive list of optional performance upgrades, priced at $575 (about $3,500 in today’s dollars). The customer had to install the turbo, however.
From slug to slugger
Yenko built a Vega Stinger turbo prototype that impressed automotive media with low 15-second quarter-mile performance, validating the claimed 155 horsepower. (The stock Vega engine was rated at 110 hp and ran the quarter mile in a glacial 19 seconds at 70 mph.) Chevy built the first 200 COPO Vegas for Yenko in June 1971. All had the Vega’s optional GT package (RPO Z29), which combined suspension, wheel, and cosmetic upgrades. Yenko also specified the optional four-speed manual transmission and Positraction axle with a 3.36:1 ratio. The 1972 cars also added the optional heavy duty radiator.
https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/Articles/2017/08/03/yenko-stinger
If you ever find yourself staring in disbelief at “Yenko” badges on a Chevrolet Vega, don’t panic. There’s no need for an eye exam. In fact, consider yourself lucky—you’ve just seen something of a unicorn.
Yenko, the Canonsburg, Pa., dealership famous for high-powered Camaros, Chevelles, and Novas, also offered a version of Chevy’s economy-car Vega in 1971 and ’72. Building 200 in each of those years, the Vega was Yenko’s most prolific model. Yet it is among the rarest of Yenkos today. Only 11 are accounted for.
In the late 1960s, Yenko Chevrolet was among a number of dealers swapping L72 427-cublic-inch big-block V-8s into Camaros. In 1969, Don Yenko used GM’s Central Office Production Order system (COPO) to have the 425-horsepower 427s installed at the factory. Other dealers did the same. The following year, Yenko used COPO to order 175 Novas equipped with the Corvette’s high-performance LT1 small-block V-8, calling that model the “Deuce.”
Yenko, a former road racer, also used the COPO system to get a Corvair equipped with choice bits from the factory, and then he further modified it at the dealership for street use and SCCA road racing. Calling it the Stinger, he built 115 from 1966–69.
Corvair successor
Yenko saw potential in Chevy’s next small car, the 1971 Vega. The hatchback model had a sporty look, and its chassis was fairly sophisticated, with its live rear axle on a four-link coil-spring suspension, rather than leaf springs as on Ford’s Pinto.
Yenko’s attempt to build a Vega into a competitive road racer exposed its Achilles heel—the underpowered and underdeveloped 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine. Sensing a market for a compact performance car in the European mold, Yenko tried to convince Chevy to build a turbocharged engine for his new Stinger. (The Corvair had offered a turbo engine until 1966, but the original Yenko Stingers didn’t use it.)
Chevy resisted but agreed to build a “COPO 9C2AA2 Special Vega Engine” for Yenko’s fleet order. The “special” part was simply a set of forged alloy plated pistons made to handle the added pressure from a Schwitzer turbocharger that Yenko planned to install at the dealership. He dropped that plan when the EPA required a 50,000-mile durability test for any intake or exhaust system modifications. Instead, Yenko listed the turbo on an extensive list of optional performance upgrades, priced at $575 (about $3,500 in today’s dollars). The customer had to install the turbo, however.
From slug to slugger
Yenko built a Vega Stinger turbo prototype that impressed automotive media with low 15-second quarter-mile performance, validating the claimed 155 horsepower. (The stock Vega engine was rated at 110 hp and ran the quarter mile in a glacial 19 seconds at 70 mph.) Chevy built the first 200 COPO Vegas for Yenko in June 1971. All had the Vega’s optional GT package (RPO Z29), which combined suspension, wheel, and cosmetic upgrades. Yenko also specified the optional four-speed manual transmission and Positraction axle with a 3.36:1 ratio. The 1972 cars also added the optional heavy duty radiator.
https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/Articles/2017/08/03/yenko-stinger
