Longtime customer Rick Nelson of MuscleCar Restoration & Design purchased this 1969 Chevelle Yenko survivor from the original owner’s estate in November 2017, which kicked off a 19-month total restoration for this beautiful Yenko.
No expense was spared to bring this Chevelle back to showroom condition, as it had sat in pieces for approximately 47 years following a frontal collision.
One of seven Garnet Red Yenko Chevelles sold at V.V. Cooke of Louisville, KY, this example retains the numbers matching 427ci/450hp big block and Muncie M21 transmission, which has been refreshed/rebuilt to stock specifications and currently produces 478hp.
Since the restoration has been completed, this 1969 has been featured as the cover car for Muscle Car Review twice, with plans to be featured in several more magazines in the future. Rick will be showing the car across the country at various events and shows as well.
Rick has recently provided additional details to the story of this 1969 Yenko’s restoration. We’ll let him tell the story this time:
November 6, 2017 I received a call about restoring this car or finding a buyer for it. After going over the costs it was decided they would sell the car and we became the new owners. The original Yenko Chevelle had sat in the original owner’s garage after being in a frontal accident in 1970 and sitting for 47 years waiting to be rediscovered.
We then took it through a 19 month, 2200 hour no expense spared nut and bolt restoration at our shop, MuscleCar Restoration and Design. One of the highlights of the car are the extremely rare original YH wheels and GoodYear Wide Tread GT F70x15 tires. The car was delivered new to Yenko Chevrolet and then sold to V.V. Cooke Chevrolet in Louisville, KY where it has spent most of its life.
We brought the car home from its original home on November 30, 2017 and started on the lengthy restoration shortly after that and once we had as much information as we could get on the car. It was finished on June 4, 2019 after a 19 month and 2200 hour restoration. The 1969 Chevelle was restored exactly as Chevrolet had built it 50 years prior including primer and paint application, inspection marks and oversprays.
The car is the only car in the history of Muscle Car Review magazine to be on their cover twice. On its first outing in November of 2019 to the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals, the car scored an almost perfect score of 999. One of the neatest pieces about the car was it was born on the same day as I was per the NCRS records.
The favorite part about owning this car is its rarity. Only 99 were built with an estimated 24 still remaining. It will likely go down as our highest caliber restoration performed in 44 years of restoration work.
