1966 Yenko Stinger YS003 Stage III

This is a rare opportunity to own one of most desirable and best documented Yenko Stingers in existence. The Yenko Stinger was created by Don Yenko, who homologated it in 1966 to run in SCCA Production Class D. His team car won the 1967 SCCA Production Class D championship, with Jerry Thompson at the wheel.

In order to satisfy the SCCA’s minimum production requirement for production sports cars, Don Yenko ordered 100 Corvairs built to his specifications. This was the first time the Chevrolet used the Central Office Production Order (COPO) process to build a factory high performance car. The COPO process made it possible for Yenko to specify two options that were not Regular Production Options for the Corvair: a dual master brake cylinder and a 3.89 Positraction differential. All the Stingers were white with black interiors, and the first 100 were built in December 1965.

Once the cars were delivered to Yenko Chevrolet in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, Don Yenko further modified the Corvairs to upgrade the suspension and engine, and to do some special body treatments. This typically involved installing a vented fiberglass engine compartment lid, adding special sail panels to the ‘C” pillar, removing the rear seat, removing some exterior chrome trim, modifying the exhaust to exit through the rear valance panel, painting Nassau blue racing stripes down the center of the car, and painting the rear cove a matching blue. Many people think that every Stinger came this way, but several were done differently, to suit the buyer’s tastes. After all, Yenko had 100 cars to sell, and he did what it took to make the sale.

This car is Yenko YS-003. The Black and white photo is of Gus Shaffer racing his Stage III Stinger in 1967 without the Yenko stripes. The Stage III Stinger is the version that was built to SCCA Production Class D specifications. These are very rare and only 4 or 5 of the first 100 Stingers left Yenko Chevrolet as Stage IIIs.

YS-003 was a race car virtually all its life. The first owner was Gus Shafer, from West Virginia, who raced the car with some success in the mid-Atlantic states. He sold the car to Richard Finch, who writes about the car in his book, “How to Keep Your Car Alive.” Over the years, YS-003 was owned by a number of well-known West Coast racers, and their names appear in the SCCA Log Book. Before its retirement as a race car, YS-003 made a cameo appearance in the movie “Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo.”

Starting in 2005, YS-003 underwent a 2 ½ year rotisserie restoration at the Corvair Ranch to bring it to show condition and to return it to the way it appeared when Gus Shafer owned the car. The body is original, but it required extensive work to undo modifications made over the years to make the car more competitive as a race car and to repair some racing accident damage. The Corvair Ranch found it had to replace the right quarter panel and graft in raft in new wheel well lips, a trunk bottom, and headliner supports. All those parts were taken from original donor cars; no reproduction sheetmetal was used.

The drivetrain is correctly stamped and dated. Again, the parts are correct parts; they are not restamps. The engine has the wide bore Rochester carburetors, just the way Yenko did them. The engine was completely rebuilt and balanced. It has special order JE pistons (made to original specifications) and the correct, original Cragar aluminum oil pan. The differential has the proper 3.89 gear ratio. That is almost unheard of as the gears were discarded because it made the gearing very short. The car comes with 4 widened wheels (the original parts order shows that Gus Shafer bought 4 special widened wheels from Yenko Chevrolet), two of which are mounted on the car. Also included but not installed is an NOS front bumbper.

The documentation for the car is spectacular. There is the customer copy of the original purchase order, which is signed by Don Yenko. There are several letters from Gus Shafer about the car. There is a letter from Gus Shafer to Richard Finch discussing the sale of the car to Richard. There is the SCCA Log Book. There is an early printing of “How to Keep Your Corvair Alive.” And of course, there is a DVD of “Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo.” In addition, there are a number of pictures of the car, including one of Gus Shafer racing the YS-003. Finally, there is a Protect-O-Plate for a Yenko Stinger and signed by Yenko Chevrolet – but it is NOT the one for this car.

If you ever thought of buying a Yenko Stinger, this is the one to consider seriously. Not only is the Stinger a rare car, this one is historically significant. The Stingers were successful sports racing cars, and one even raced in Europe. This is the car that got Yenko Sportscars going. This is a very unusual opportunity.

Click on any of the lower photos for a more detailed picture.

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