1966 Chevrolet Yenko Stinger Corvair

It sounds kind of like a Christmas tune when it comes to Yenko modified cars..."You know Ca-ma-ro's...and Nov-a's...and Cor-vette's and Che-velle's...but do you re-call...the most odd-est...Yenk-o...of...all?" It was a Chevrolet Corvair. And I know what you're thinking..."Wait...a Corvair? You mean the little economy car with the rear engine?" A "Yenko?"

Don Yenko was a race car driver best known for creating the Yenko Camaro, a high performance version of Chevrolet's Camaro. Back in 1957, Yenko set up a performance shop for Chevrolet cars. The customers could either order high performance parts or have their car modified by Yenko's mechanics.

In the mid 60s, Don Yenko saw what Carroll Shelby had done with the Ford Mustang, and decided that he could do the same with a Chevrolet product. Not having a large choice of base cars to choose from, Don settled on the Corvair. In late 1965, Don convinced GM to build, ship and finance him, 100 specially built Central Office Production Order (COPO) 1966 Corvairs. They were equipped with 140 HP engines, 4-speed transaxles and fast steering. The cars would be known as "Yenko Stingers", "Stinger" being a name Chevrolet had licensed, but allowed Don Yenko to use.

When the cars arrived at the dealership, they had a bunch of items added by Yenko, including a combination fiberglass rear deck lid/spoiler, bold racing stripes running over the trunk, top and rear deck lid, fiberglass "sail" panels replacing the rear side glass and a carpeted piece of wood in place of the rear seat. This was necessary since the cars would be raced in a class for 2 seater vehicles. Customers could chose from one of four different Yenko engine options, from the Stage I engine (with 160hp), up to the all out race Stage IV engine that put out over 240hp from the flat Corvair opposed 6 cylinder engine.

Soon Stingers began dominating the SCCA D-production class, with Jerry Thompson winning a national championship in 1967 in a Stinger. Yenko Stingers prices ranged from $ 2,600.00 up to about $ 3,100.00 for the hottest Stage IV cars. Yenko Stingers can be identified by a metal tag attached to the driver's side door jam, engraved with a Yenko assigned serial number, such as YS97. Even though Yenko only produced about 130 "Stingers" in total, there are many more Corvair's that carry a Yenko tag. For many years the SCCA required all Corvair's had to have this tag, available only from Yenko Sportscars, Inc., to be eligible to race in SCCA competition.

Knowing how hard it would be to sell 100 cars from just one location, Don Yenko created a network of Chevrolet dealers across the country to help distribute the Stinger. Most of these early Yenko Corvair's went to Chicago, where they were distributed by Span, Inc. for Yenko Sportscars. This distribution plan was working well until 1966, when, Consumer Advocate Ralph Nader released his expose on the Corvair, "Unsafe at any Speed." (Actor Ernie Novak was killed in a Corvair, and now the book went into much detail explaining how unsafe the Chevrolet Corvair was.)

For obvious reasons, this bad publicity eventually lead to the demise of the Yenko Stinger and the Corvair program. Approximately 25 Stingers were produced in 1967, with a couple of more produced in later years. Chevrolet stopped production of the Corvair in 1969, though they sold leftover 1969's as 1970 models. A few survivors remain today.

And I'll bet you never even knew the Yenko Stinger Corvair even existed, did you? Well...now you do.