YENKO MODS for 1968
Tom Billigen (right) with his 9737 COPO and collector Bill Werthiem with a just-completed 427 Yenko Camaro restoration.
Tom Billigen’s restoration resulted in a great machine, but some people would have rather ended up with one of the 64 cars Don Yenko’s crew had converted that year instead. The changes Yenko made to create a 427 supercar were fairly straight-forward since the 9737 COPO package got the cars ready. The dealership pulled the steel wheels, removed the factory hood, and yanked the 396.
Pontiac rims that were part of the Firebird/GTO option replaced the original wheels and a special center cap with a ‘Y’ on it replaced the Pontiac logo. The factory Firestones were remounted on these rims.
Yenko replaced the steel hood with a fiberglass one fitted with a small forward scoop opening and installed a fiberglass deck wing (larger than one on Billigen’s car). Yenko emblems completed the ensemble.
Under the hood, an L72 427 short-block from the Tonowanda engine facility, fitted with the OE heads, intake manifold and carburetor. According to one reliable source, Yenko sold the short-blocks he removed to a local trucking company. |
Tom Billigen has not owned this car for its entire life, but he had bought it new from Kenny Ross Chevrolet in Pittsburgh, a Yenko-affiliated store. He traded his new ‘68 4-4-2 in on the car, but had no idea the bronze bullet was significant; he just liked the fact that, unlike most other Camaros, this one had a 140-mph speedo.
Most of the Yenko Camaros delivered in COPO 9737 trim were converted to 427ci engines. Only six were not converted. Tom Billigen bought this car new in 1968.
The trunk and spare. What, no beer cooler?
Of course, living at the height of the performance era meant that his new car wasn’t stock for very long. He pitched the smog parts, put 4.88:1 gears in the 12-bolt, and a friend named Bobby Williams (owner of Hi-Performance Speed Shop in Aliquippa, Pa.) helped Tom get the car ready. In A/Stock it was soon cranking off low 12s.
ADVERTISEMENT
