Like most good homologation specials, the 1966-1969 Yenko Stinger was born of a desire to skirt rules. In the case of the Corvair with an attitude adjustment issue, it came after Don Yenko came to the decision that in order to stomp Mark Donohue’s Mustang in SCCA racing, he had to change something up. When the SCCA wouldn’t certify the Corvair as a sports car (there was a backseat, therefore it was a sedan), Yenko decided to build his own setup. That was fine, but the SCCA required that he build a 100-car homologation run before January 1st, 1966. Using the 140-horsepower Corsa as the base, Yenko got to work….the cars were delivered at the beginning of December, 1965 and with the exception of Christmas day, it was an all-hands-on-deck affair to get the program finished.
Every Stinger got a rear-seat delete, chassis modifications and suspension upgrades that made the cars stiffer and more suited for handling. They also got Cadillac master cylinders for better braking. But under the hood, that’s where the fun came in four different flavors. Stage I bumped the power up twenty horsepower and among minor upgrades, added a fan belt tensioner to help keep the fan belt on it’s funky routing. Stage II brought the power up to 190 horsepower, Stage III up to 220 horsepower, and Stage IV, 240 horsepower, meant for track-only exercise.
This particular Stinger is a 1966 example that raced in SCCA through the 1970s before it wound up doing time in both Jay Leno’s and Tim Allen’s collections. YS-043 is a Stage III car and still looks as wicked as ever, hunkered down over 13″ wheels. Some might be sad that there isn’t the big-block thump of later Yenko efforts. Truth be told, though, some time on a road course in a car like this would change minds quickly. Yenko knew what he was doing when he placed that COPO order in 1965.
These were cool cars….everything but the ” floaties” covering the roll bars. Ditch them if you go to the track.
I’d drive it … just to piss off a rice burner
My Yenko Stinger , YS 037 is a race winner in SVRA , several other Stingers actively race in Vintage events.
Beautiful cars!
Jay Leno never owned this Stinger
As the owner of YS063, an original body stinger, I can tell you these cars are high up on the list of fun to drive cars Add today\’s .sticky tires, AWESOME!