*2025 Sneak Peek
1967 Yenko Stinger
2025 Yenko Stinger Invitational Participant
Owner: Gregory Lehman, Illinois
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MCACN Commemorates the Launch of YENKO Supercars With STINGER Invitational
While Yenko may be the most recognized of the 60's Supercar dealers, you may not know that Don Yenkos first major foray into modifying and selling what we now refer to as Dealer Supercars was not with a Camaro. You see, Don was an active SCCA racer and he loved to mix it up on the track. His racing days date back to the 50's when he could often be found at the races. He even customized his own 1949 Chevy convertible, which he loved to use for family outings. His big break came in 1961, when he made the cover of Today's Motorsports magazine with his #1 Gulf Racing Team Corvette. This is the car that he drove to victory over Bob Johnson in the B/Production class.
Chris Shade 1966 Chevrolet Yenko Stinger YS076
Of course, when the all new Camaro was introduced, Don knew he had a winner and he also knew he could take it to the next level. But did you know that it was actually the Corvair that launched what would become an incredible chapter in Muscle Car history? You see, according to our good friend Bob Dunahugh, Don put the order into GM for the first 100 COPO Stingers on Oct 28th 1965, with a target date for delivery starting Nov 30th 1965. Why? because AACA rules stated that all cars had to be completed for their inspection prior to January 1 of 1966 to qualify to compete in the 1966 race season. The rest, as they say, was history in the making!
Bob Dunahugh has been deeply immersed in Yenko history for many years, and in fact owns four of the Stingers. He is coordinating a stellar group of these cars along with many of the people that were there "back in the day" to share the stories. Yes, Bob is bringing in all four of his Stingers; a white '66, the one and only red '66, a blue '67 and the white '69, which was also a Goodyear tire test vehicle. You may have seen these cars on the cover and inside of Hemmings Muscle Machines and also the outstanding COPO book penned by Matt Avery. (Note; Matt will also be joining us with his books!).
This is just the start, as Bob is deep into coordinating what may be the most in depth display of these cars ever gathered under one roof. Bob has extended the invitation to many of the key players who will be joining us to tell the story of who, how and why these cars came to be Saturday and Sunday in an open to everyone "round table" discussion. What could be better than hearing the stories directly from the source and seeing the real-deal cars that started a Dealer Supercar phenomenon? I can assure you, you will never find a more passionate and knowledgeable group of enthusiasts, and they love using these cars for exactly what Don built them for, with many being raced to this day in a variety of events. Bob's goal is to have every variation in the group and he has nearly all of them already confirmed.
Thanks go out to Bob, along with all of the others who are jumping in to be a part of what is sure to be yet another historic event at the MCACN show. As we always say, the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals show is a whole lot more than just a bunch of great cars!
Paul Drake 1966 Chevrolet Yenko Stinger
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March 18-22, 2025
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