1969 Chevrolet Yenko Camaro

There were Camaros, and then there were Camaros. Don Yenko called his SYC Camaro “The Mean One.” He wasn’t kidding.

As far as the Camaro cognoscenti are concerned, some of the meanest Chevrolet pony cars ever built came from a small Chevrolet dealer in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. That dealer was Yenko Chevrolet, and the SYC (Super Yenko Camaro) Camaros were legends in their own time, both on the street and  drag strip. Don Yenko was a proficient amateur racer as well as a Chevrolet dealer, and had competed in such prestigious events as the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring in covertly factory-backed Corvettes. His racing success provided him with strong ties to the factory. He had built and sold a variety of conversions at his dealership since the early 1960s, and had been doing 427 Camaro conversions since Chevrolet had introduced their pony car in 1967.