Eventually, the dealership sold this car in the Pittsburgh region, and though its new owner raced it hard, it was never tubbed nor had the frame subconnected. He had kept all the original pieces he had taken out when he converted it to a race car, and stored them away. In 1987, Cliff Ernst had a chance to become the second owner of the car, which he frankly states had been "raced hard and put away wet."
The first owner wanted to keep the L88 engine that was in the car, but his neighbor had the original L72 engine from this Camaro in his Chevelle. A deal was made and the gold Yenko, plus its original engine and components, were shipped to Tennessee. After treating the car to a body-off restoration the following year, it became a treasured part of his spectacular collection of muscle. Longtime enthusiasts may remember this from the Oct. 1993 issue of Super Chevy.
"I own, or have owned, 21 Yenkos over the years," says Cliff with a trademark grin. "Without question this gold one is my all-time favorite."
Fast forward into the new century. Chuck Huber and Paul Cupp at Musclecar CPRx Restorations in Monoca, Pennsylvania, had already done one of the cars in Cliff's collection, and he knew that the amount of detail and authenticity on modern restorations was greater than ever. So in late 2004, the gold Yenko was on its way back to Pennsylvania for a full makeover.
"When we got it, the car had a nice older restoration on it, but it was not quite up to today's standards," says Huber. "The car itself is numbers-matching, it still has the original interior in it, and the engine, rebuilt in the 1980s, and only has a few miles on it. We did rebuild the transmission, blueprinted the differential, and made sure all the details were correct. We put an N.O.S. gas tank in it, replaced the rear quarters since the lips had been rolled for race-tire clearance, and found all the right date-coded parts for the engine and accessories. We also located a set of N.O.S. Doug Thorley headers like they had used in the road test, a correct Lakewood bellhousing, and a reconditioned the Hurst shifter and linkage."
Like everything Musclecar CPRx does, details like paint and assembly marks were carefully added back to the car. The carb was sent out and recolored to look new, and every tab, paper strip, and notation that would have been on it when it rolled off the assembly line at Norwood during the second week of January 1969 is back on it. The crowning achievement on any Olympic Gold car is good paint, and CPRx had spray gun artist Ken Zekeli do that. Chuck admits that painting the car correctly was tough.
The Forge Invitational Musclecar Show was hosted in Nashville for 2005 (it will be in Chattanooga this year, go to www.detroithorsepower.com/theforge.htm for more info), and Huber and Cupp personally delivered the car to Cliff after 10 months of work. Indeed, the hour that our photos were shot was the first time that Ed Hedrick (who had come out to the Music City for the car's debut), or anyone but the CPRx crew and Cliff himself had seen it.
"I was really pleased with the way it was restored to current high standards," says Cliff. "All the correct date-coded parts are in place, the details are perfect on the components, and the overall parts fitment is very impressive. I am extremely happy with it."
"I had seen Cliff's car with its older restoration earlier," agrees Hedrick, "and I thought it was great then. So, when I saw it this time, I just couldn't believe it; this thing is like a crown jewel. Every seam, every piece of molding, every inch of it is literally perfect. The job that Chuck and Paul did was just unbelievable."
Now complete again, this newest gold standard will continue to shine in the midst of the Ernst collection, and maintain a special place in recalling just what was hot back in the summer of '69...
Tech Specs
Vehicle: 1969 COPO Yenko Camaro
Owner: Cliff Ernst, Nashville, TN
Color: Olympic Gold
Engine: COPO 9561 L72 427" with NOS Doug Thorley headers
Transmission: M21 with dealer-installed Lakewood bellhousing
Differential: 12-bolt Posi-Traction with 4:10 gearing
Interior: Black vinyl with SYC graphics
Wheels: 15x7 Atlas cast mags
Tires: F70x15 Goodyear Wide Tread GT
Dealer options: headers, bellhousing, graphics, tach, wheels, tires
Best ET: 11:94 (by Ed Hedrick, SS&DI 7/69)
Restored by: Musclecar CPRX, Monoca, PA