Donald "Don" Frank Yenko (May 27, 1927March 5, 1987) was an American car dealer and

racecar driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

best known for creating the Yenko Camaro, a high-performance version of the

Chevrolet Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro sha ...

Biography

Early life

Yenko grew up in

Bentleyville, Pennsylvania Bentleyville is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States and has been part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area since 1950. The population was 2,349 at the 2020 census. History A post office called Bentleyville has been in ope ...

to parents of Ukrainian origin. He learned to fly an airplane at age 16 and went on to serve in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, before attending the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. While a student at Penn State, Yenko started the school's first flying club, was president of the debating club, and a member of the

Kappa Delta Rho Kappa Delta Rho (), commonly known as KDR, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was established at Middlebury College in 1905. It has chartered 84 chapters, 35 of which are active, in the United States, primarily in the Midwest and Mi ...

fraternity.

Career

In the 1950s and 1970s, Yenko gained international acclaim for racing Corvettes in regional races as well as prestigious endurance contests including

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

. He was a four-time

Sports Car Club of America The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting Autocross, Rallycross, HPDE, Time Trial, Road Racing, RoadRally, and Hill Climbs in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs ...

national driving champion. In 1957, Yenko set up a performance shop for

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

vehicles at the family's Chevrolet dealership in

Canonsburg, Pennsylvania Canonsburg is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, southwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 9,735 at the 2020 census. Canonsburg was laid out by Colonel John Canon in 1789 and incorporated in 180 ...

. The customers could either order high performance parts or have their car modified by Yenko's mechanics. The first popular aftermarket car made by Yenko came in 1965, in the form of a modified version of the

Chevrolet Corvair The Chevrolet Corvair is a Rear-engine design, rear-engined, Chevrolet Turbo-Air 6 engine, air-cooled compact car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet over two generations between 1960 and 1969. A response to the Volkswagen Beetle, it was of ...

. Named "The Stinger", these Corvairs were modified with a variety of different body accessories, engine upgrades that produced outputs of up to 240 hp, as well as upgrades in steering, transmissions, suspension, and positraction differentials. A total of 185 Stingers are believed to have been built between 1965 and 1967. In 1967, when Chevrolet began selling the Camaro, Yenko began to modify SS Camaros by replacing the original L-78 396 in³ (6.5 L) engine with a

Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a line of American two-door, two-seater sports cars manufactured and marketed by General Motors under the Chevrolet marque since 1953. Throughout eight generations, indicated sequentially as C1 to C8, the Corvette is not ...

's L-72 427 in³ (7.0 L) and upgrade the rear axle and suspensions. He also modified other Chevrolet vehicles like Chevelle and

Nova A nova ( novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. All observed novae involve white ...

by fitting them with L-72 engines. This limited series of cars sometimes began to take the name "sYc" (standing for Yenko Super Car), after the graphics found on the hoods and head rests. The 1970s saw the decline in muscle cars due to higher

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

premiums and tighter

emission Emission may refer to: Chemical products * Emission of air pollutants, notably: ** Flue gas, gas exiting to the atmosphere via a flue ** Exhaust gas, flue gas generated by fuel combustion ** Emission of greenhouse gases, which absorb and emit rad ...

rules. Yenko shrewdly countered by placing his unique touch on the 1970 Nova. Instead of placing a big block 427 c.i. in his special Nova he convinced GM to put a very potent small block 350 c.i. (360 h.p.) that the new Z-28 Camaro and LT1 Corvette shared. Additionally, the new "Yenko Deuce", as it was known, had extensive suspension, transmission, and rear axle upgrades along with some very lively stripes, badges, and interior decals. A bit later in the decade, Yenko began to modify the

Chevrolet Vega The Chevrolet Vega is a Subcompact car, subcompact automobile manufactured and marketed by General Motors, GM's Chevrolet division from 1970 until 1977. Available in two-door hatchback, notchback, station wagon, wagon, and sedan delivery body st ...

with spoilers, turbochargers, and design graphics, dubbing it the "Yenko Stinger II". Due to difficulties with

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

certification, he only sold the modified Vega without a turbocharger. Instead, the turbocharger sold separately at the Yenko dealership. In 1972, Yenko stopped selling modified cars and began publishing a performance parts catalog from cosmetic modification to engine modification. One of his notable products was the ZL-1 engine, which he produced under permission from Chevrolet. In 1981, Yenko made his last modification, the Turbo Z Camaro. He added a turbocharger to 350 in³ (5.7 L) engine. In addition to Chevrolet, Yenko dealerships included

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

Subaru is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first largest aut ...

and

Saab Saab or SAAB may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Saab AB, a Swedish aircraft, aerospace and defence company, still known as SAAB, and together with subsidiaries as Saab Group ** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab ...

Death

Yenko, along with his three passengers, died on March 5, 1987 while bringing his Cessna 210 in for a landing near Charleston,

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. The landing was hard, causing the aircraft to bounce and Yenko to lose control. It then hit a dirt bank, fell into a ravine and crashed. He was 59 years old.Famous People Who Died in Aviation Accidents - 1980s
(planecrashinfo.com)

Notes

External links