Don Yenko was in the business of selling Chevrolets from his two dealerships in Pennsylvania, but he was a racer and a true performance guru at heart. Subsequently, when certain customers demanded a performance upgrade, Yenko would accommodate them right from his shop. In order to handle this end of the business, Yenko created Yenko Sports cars, which specialized in swapping powerful engines into lightweight performance cars such as the Corvair Stinger, 427-powered Camaro and Chevelle and the Yenko Nova and Deuce.
The Yenko big-block Nova was Produced in 1969 and the small-block-inspired Deuce debuted in 1970. The first-year Yenko's numbered 37, of which 28 had a 427 installed by Yenko's crew and 9 left the lot with the factory-installed 375-horse 396 powerplant. According to Yenko, the L72 427-powered Novas were the wildest cars he ever built. They were 396 cars with no SS emblems - and with the right tires and suspension setup, the finished machine was capable of reaching 60 mph in less than four seconds.
The 1970 Yenko Deuce was built, as Yenko put it, "as an insurance beater." Since legislation and the insurance industry were clamping down hard on overpowered street cars, Yenko decided to install a Corvette LT1 with 370 houses, solid-lifter cam, 12-bolt rear with 4.10:1 Positraction, F-41 suspension and a choice of manual or automatic transmission. 175 versions of the Deuce were built under COPO 9010 and offered in one of eight unique colors. Each car came stock with standard-grade black interior and a front bench seat.
And out of those Novas that rolled out of the Yenko shop that first year Nova in definitely my favorite:
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