Sometimes a car will scream for attention from several blocks away. Such was the case with this Yenko Malibu.
Much has been written over time about Don Yenko, his Chevrolet dealership, and his modified Camaros, Novas, Chevelles, and Corvairs.
He quit modifying cars in 1972 due to concerns about federal safety regulations. So what is this?
It was born as a 1980 Chevrolet Malibu. What lurks under the hood was not able to be determined, although the hood is stock.
Being found in an iffy part of town, I did not venture too close nor dawdle too long.
Google searches for this creature yielded extremely little, leading to the conclusion it was the recipient of a lot of work and creativity.
I reckon if you want to plagiarize cool old cars, may as well pick one of the best…
My arm hurts looking at this. My 16 year old daughter still likes to play “punchbuggy” in the car. Any yellow car or any VW bug (old or new) merits a punch on the arm. The first to spot it is the punch-or. A yellow VW bug has been escalated to 5 punches. She can really bring it, too.
She and I are staying pretty even. I suggested this morning that we move up to championship level – white car punchbuggy! She prefers to stay with the original version. Probably a good thing.
that’s just a malibu with a repro Camaro Yenko stripe, done none too well I might add…
Thats more of a Yanko than a Yenko.
Rights to use the “Yenko” name and graphics were leased to Dan Folsom Chevrolet in Franklin, Indiana for 1980-1981. They modified about 100 Camaros which received an 7.2 liter (454 ci) powerplant, THM400 3 speed transmission, suspension upgrades, and of course, the graphics. All these cars were subsequently re-sold to other Chevrolet dealers, mostly in the midwest. They modified only a handful of Malibu coupes (no record of sedan or wagon conversions). If this is the legitimate 7.2 liter 450 hp car it is very, very rare indeed.
The former Yenko dealership is now Sun Chevrolet on Route 19 in McMurray, PA, a few miles away from the original Canonsburg location. I did a live broadcast there several years ago and found the smoking gun in the form of old Yenko newspaper ads framed and placed back in the office area. Upon asking, the person replied that, yes indeed, Yenko was located there from 1972 ’til they sold the dealership in 1982.
The Yenko family, Don’s children, sold Hondas in that same general area for the better part of three decades but gave it up a few years ago. Don Yenko himself perished in a small plane crash in 1987.
The Wikipedia pic linked here is of the original Canonsburg location:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yenko_Chevrolet
A couple weeks ago I spotted a new Camaro with Yenko/SC stripes at the local Kwik-King and had to ask the owner about it. She replied that she’d bought it at a local Pittsburgh area dealership (I think it was Kenny Ross in Irwin).
I just did some googlizing and found that General Marketing Capital Incorporated (GMCI) has bought the rights to the Yenko name. The stripes on the car linked here look identical to the one I saw at Kwik-King. The grill, however, looks different.
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/29/officially-rendered-2010-yenko-camaro/
Thanks for the update Chas. Used to watch his product compete. I want to say it was the late sixties but time blurs. At any rate I was enthralled with his little nova titled “the duece”. Same lines as my 68 but with a 350 (I think).
Jack the opening to this article wasn’t fair. I got up this morning convinced that I had not succumbed to senesis. When I saw the article I thought I had been wrong. Well, all’s well that ends well. Thing is, it ain’t over yet. I think this car is pretty clever. It’s my guess that most folks won’t catch that it’s fake till they read your article.
The yellow Malibu is what pulled me in…all I could see was the back of it from a goodly distance. When researching this, l I did find a re-creation of another ’80 Malibu “Yenko” someone else did with a turbo V6 and in gray.
I also discovered the Iraqi Taxi Malibu in the process.
I saw one of those (the Iraqi Taxi) come up on an ebay a year or two ago. Blue with tan vinyl interior, 4 speed and high capacity A/C. It was low mileage and in impeccable shape, so naturally it was too expensive, but a cool car nonetheless.
The Yenko Deuce was a Nova (NOT an SS) with the rip-roaring solid-lifter LT-1 from the Z-28, 360HP. They were only available with power disc brakes and a 4-speed manual, and A/C was not offered. IIRC, you could get 4.56 gears and a Detroit Locker off the option list.
I love the little “Bu” almost as much as I do the Colonnade cars.
This color dosen’t work too well on either. For me at least. I’ve seen a few “Yenko” Malibus done up in Charcoal and in Green Poly that looked pretty sweet though.
I didn’t know that Don Yenko’s true last stand was in 81 with the Turbo Z28. They were mid 14 second cars too. Not too shabby for a “malaise” 350 and no electronics.
Minor correction: Yenko also sold a modified Vega, the Stinger II.
From wikipedia: “In 1971 Yenko sold the Chevrolet Vega Yenko Stinger II with a modified Vega aluminum-block 2.3 inline 4 with a turbocharger and 155 hp. Chevy did not take the hint on its marketing potential as neither the Yenko-requested higher-compression engine blocks nor factory equipped turbo engines were ever built. The Stinger II was offered from Yenko Chevrolet through 1973.”
I now own this EXACT car. Email me at jbiermann05@gmail.com if you want to see it in person.
Jake, do you have a brother, cousin, or nephew named Todd?
Here is the Wikipedia link of the Yenko cars made.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yenko_Chevrolet#History
I hope this helps out with the older Yenko muscle cars. Even
the 1981 Camaro Turbo Z. Though Yenko never
released the horsepower specs and they are non-existent
on the Interwebz, we can take a nice stab and say it’s
somewhere in the 210- to 225-horsepower range. Any of
the newer Yenko’s like the Malibu you were talking about
are up to you to find out about.. Hope this helped..
Nine almost ten years later, it’s for sale on fb marketplace, still in Missouri.