Stingers!
The Yenko Stinger was a limited production car based on the Corvair which was built for SCCA sports car racing by a Canonsburg, Pennsylvania Chevrolet dealer named Don Yenko. In the Automobile Classes appendix of the SCCA Solo II rulebook, all years of the Corvair and the Stage I, II, and III versions of the Stinger are on the same line of in the E/SP listing. This means that any part from any year Corvair, or any of these Stingers can be interchanged.
Here's the list of what was stock on the first group of 100 Stingers, dated 16 January 1966. I have edited the list slightly to group modifications together, and added some comments in [brackets and color]. It's interesting to note that Stages II and III are solely engine modifications, you got all the body and suspension parts with every Stinger, or as a separate option.
Finally, I must also point out that although this is from a printed brochure, these cars were hand built and could be ordered pretty much any way a customer wanted. Don Yenko was, after all, in the business of selling cars and if a customer didn't really like the landau panels then the car would have had them removed or not installed at all. This list is meant as a guide for what is legal in racing, if you are looking to buy a Stinger and want to know if it's real or not, I strongly suggest you contact Charlie "Bud" Doerge and the The Yenko Sportscar Club for information.
Stage I:
- Fiberglass engine lid with spoiler and air inlets.
- Fiberglass rear pilllar landau panels.
- Stinger trim, includes stripes, dechroming, and lower body paint.
- Note from Rich Shepard: Yenko stripes are a 6" center stripe a 1" gap and a 1" stripe on each side centered on car. The stripes in the front panel can taper down to around 4" or stay straight at the 6" (depending on who painted it, Yenko used several different shops) just check some of the photos of cars from that time.
- HD suspension [Factory].
- Fast steering (3.0 turns lock to lock) [This is the factory fast box with aftermarket fast arms].
- Dual master cylinder brake system.
- Rejetted and calibrated carburators.
- Finned aluminum 7 quart oil pan.
- Tuff-trided crankshaft [Factory].
- Moraine M-400 rod and main bearings [Factory].
- Quick bleed lifters.
- Tuned exhaust headers with steel pack mufflers and chrome exhaust pipes, body cutouts for pipes.
- 4-speed close ratio transmission. [This is not the "Yenko" trans, this is the factory '66 and later box, which is indeed closer ratio than the '65 trans].
- Rear compartment paneling [Removed back seat, replaced with carpeted plywood panel].
Stage II
As above, with the following additions or changes:
- Stinger camshaft w/heavy duty springs and retainers.
- Modified cooling fan [reduced diameter].
- Pistons notched for valve clearance.
- Polished crank.
- Select fit main bearings.
- Select fit piston skirts.
- Horizontal oil control baffle.
- Deep sump oil pan pickup.
- High performance cylinder heads (10:1 compression) [milled, but not ported].
- Carburators modified for cornering [vent tubes installed].
- High capacity ignition wires.
- Lightened flywheel.
Stage III
As above, with the following additions or changes:
- Engine disassembled and penetrant checked, includes Magnaflux of connecting rods and crankshaft, Zyglo of pistons.
- Stinger super high performance cam w/double springs and hd retainers.
- Extra high performance cylinder heads (10.5:1 compression) with milled register surfaces, planed bottom fins, bored risers, enlarged and matched ports, relieved and polished passages, and performance valve grind.
- Full floating forged pistons (balanced, pin fitted, and notched for valve clearance).
- Honed cylinder barrels.
- Polished and balanced crankshaft.
- Polished and shotpeened connecting rods.
- High capacity engine breather.
- Reworked oil pump [high volume "409" conversion].
- Baffled oil pan with temp gauge fitting.
- Heavy duty oil cooler with modified plumbing.
- Extra-light balanced flywheel.
- High tension clutch pressure plate.
- Degreed balancer.
- Carburators modified for turn cut out, modified air horn and venturi [vent tubes installed, chokes removed, venturis bored larger].
- Heavy duty fuel lines.
- Tuned velocity stacks.
Options:
I've left off the parts that were regular Chevrolet options, these are the Yenko specific parts available on that first batch of 100.
- 3.89 rear axle ratio.
- Competition seat belts.
- Head rests.
- 10 gallon auxiliary fuel tank.
- Special metallic brakes including special drums.
- Power brakes.
- Heavy duty valve guides [bronze].
- Yenko roll bar.
- 13x7 steel wheels.
Additionally, Yenko released parts during the sixties as other runs of Stingers were built. I'll add these parts as I get information on them. The most significant is the closer ratio "Yenko" transmission introduced in 1967. See the RPM to speed drop chart for ratio info. More options:
- Yenko fiberglass seats, upholstered.
- Competition seat belts.
- Shoulder harness.
Stinger links.
Charlie "Bud" Doerge is writing a book which will include documentation on all known Stingers. If you have any info on a Stinger, please mail him. He also has a Stinger web page.
Gary Aube has this nice Stinger page, including a lot of great shots of Stingers. Check out the rest of his site for more great photos here!
The Yenko Sportscar Club page. Info on registering your Stinger, lots of info on the Yenko cars, photos, and more.
