At Grundy Worldwide, we receive many applications to insure all types of collector cars, each day.  Often, our underwriters find interesting letters that accompany these applications and find great delight in reading them, considering that our staff is comprised of ‘car people.’  The letters that were included with Mr. Tom Zimmerman’s application to insure his 1968 Chevrolet Yenko Camaro were so interesting, that they were quickly handed over to our marketing department, with the intention of sharing the information with our newsletter readers. Below, you will find those letters. We hope you enjoy learning just a little bit more about the history behind this fascinating hobby of collector cars!

-Becky McLaughlin, Newsletter Editor

A Letter from Tom Zimmerman:

I purchased this car on June 10, 1970. I’ve included a copy of the bank statement on money borrowed (loan papers) that my parents signed for. The price was $3200.00. I borrowed $1500.00 from the bank and traded my 1965 Pontiac GTO to Blaine Treadway of Freeport, PA. According to Mr. Treadway, he had purchased the car from Yenko Chevrolet, mid-year 1969. The car was Corvette Bronze when he purchased it. He then painted the car forest green enamel; all black; and later, he painted yellow stripes over the black car. This was the color it was when I purchased it.

Approximately four weeks after I received the car, the motor overheated several times, as I was trying to get home. After an examination, I found that a set screw from an isky jam nut came out and pushed it through the internal water jacket and trashed the block. Since I had just graduated from high school, I had to wait until I could save enough money to purchase a new L-88 first design short block from Grabiack Chevrolet in New Alexandria. I had B&R Speed Supply in Oakmont balance and blueprint the short block. I had a company in Delmont, called Delmont Engineering, do the value job on the heads.  During the summer of 1970, my friend Frank Bodnar, who was an auto body man, stripped the car down to the bare metal and started to rework the body, after the primer coats, then painted it with silver pearl essence paint.  After a week, he then lined the sides of the car and painted a dark blue cobweb, outlined outside edges and faded to center with candy apple red.  Then, he dusted a candy apple gold paint over the top, and then clear-coated. He did some other graphics.  I had the car back together by November 1970.

In 1971, a good friend, by the name of Denny Finan, and I did some suspension modifications, as to Grumpy Jenkins designs, and we started racing the car… mostly at Keystone Raceway Park. We continued racing the car. The best time was 10:87 at 138 mph. In March 1972, I left for the Army for six months (Reserves). And, in October 1972, I got married. From that point, I had little time or money to put into the car. From 1974-1976, my brother asked to use the car. Before the end of 1976, he sanded the car down and was supposed to paint the car. After he got married, he didn’t have room for the car, so he brought it back in primer to my dad’s farm. It was stored in an outside wagon shed from 1976-1986.  In 1986, I purchased a new house with an unattached garage.  I hauled the car from my father’s farm to my new residence, which was approximately 18 miles away. Since I was remodeling my new home and raising my family, the car was stored in the corner of my garage, covered with a tarp.  I’ve always wanted to work on the car, but I had to finish my home and other duties. I intended to do restoration after these projects were complete.

In the summer of 2001, I read where the Carlisle, PA car show was going to feature Yenko Camaros. I went to the car show and saw the Yenkos and a lot of other cars. I was very impressed at the value of some of these cars. After talking to the Yenko Camaro owners and representatives of Auto Appraisers Group, I decided it was time to get this restoration project started.

I had the Appraisers Group people look at the car. And then, I contacted Brian Henderson from Super Car Restorations to ask him to look at the car. Brian and his partner Joe came to my home on a Saturday (mid-January 2002). They spent approximately six hours going over the car.  They found all numbers on the car to match as being original, except for the motor block and the rear axel housing. Everything else, down the alternator numbers, matched. After 10 days to two weeks later, my son, Denny Finan and I went to the restoration shop to look at Brian’s work. At this meeting, he told me the following information:

According to their information, car No. 8001 was totaled (wrecked) outside of the Yenko dealership during the early Spring of 1968 and was scrapped. That would make this car the No. 1 car for 1968.  They also said their records show the car was sent to a salesman in Atlanta, GA to market in the southeastern states.  They had his name, address and other information.  Also, their records show that two 1968 Camaros were fitted with a fiberglass trunk lid— serial numbers 8002 and 8004. They also had a magazine article that showed a 1968 Yenko Camaro, painted in Corvette Bronze, advertised in Florida. The write-up did not show the serial number, but from the location, description and timing—it must be this car.  Brian and Joe have a lot of information about the Yenko line of cars—more than anyone else I have talked to.

This project is getting very interesting, and I hope to get started mid-year, this year. I must apologize for taking so long to get this information to you, but as you probably can tell, I have had this car a couple of years—some 38 years, to be exact. I get busy and don’t give it the attention it needs. But, I hope to get started soon on the project.

Tom Zimmerman

A Note from Brian Henderson of Super Car Restorations:

This 1968 Yenko Camaro is considered, among collectors, as the ultimate 1968 Yenko. The Yenko Camaros for 1968 were hand built custom hi-performance cars, built in Canonsburg, PA, by the crew at Yenko Chevrolet. This Yenko Camaro was assigned Yenko Stock Number 8002. This is the first Yenko Camaro built by Yenko and was the developmental prototype.  This car was used by Yenko Chevrolet to promote the new 1968 Yenko Camaros to other dealers throughout the eastern United States. What makes the Yenko Camaro so important is the installation of the 427 engine.  Chevrolet would not permit this engine to be factory installed in Camaros.  But, by using Yenko as the contractor for the car, GM permitted the car to be built, paving the way for the 1969 factory-installed 427 Camaro that Yenko would be credited with the following year.  Without this car, no 1969 model year 427 Camaros would have been produced.  This is indeed a significant Camaro.  This car was used as a demonstrator car for other dealers in the Yenko Sports Car Network to place orders for their customers, in the 1968 model year.  A total of 65 1968 Yenko Camaros were shipped in 1968.  All cars ordered owe their place in history to prototype 8002. 

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