The 1969 Yenko Chevrolet Camaro 427 was the delicious conversion of muscle car need and a factory’s desire to please.
To Ford fans, Carroll Shelby is the high-priest of performance. Chevy loyalists revere a Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, car dealer named Don Yenko. Yenko had a deserved reputation for driving, building, and selling dominating Chevrolets, starting in ’65 with well-crafted super Corvairs. He advanced to installing 427-cid Corvette V-8s in ’67 and ’68 Camaros, performing 118 of the transplants. These $4,200 ponys ran in the low 13s right off his shop floor.

The Cyclone Spoiler II design featured a stretched, tapered nose and flush-mounted grille. It also had re-rolled rocker panels that allowed the car to be lowered without violating NASCAR’s ride-height requirements. Two trim packages were available: the Dan Gurney Special in Wimbledon White and Presidential Blue and the Cale Yarborough Specials (as seen on this car) in Candy Apple Red over Wimbledon White. Both were named after Mercury’s best NASCAR drivers of the time.

The short-lived Plymouth Road Runner Superbird was a highly modified version of the Plymouth Road Runner with well known graphics and horn. It was the factory’s follow up stock car racing design for the 1970 season to the Dodge Charger Daytona of 1969, and incorporated many engineering changes and modifications (both minor and major) garnered from the Daytona’s season in competition on the track. The car’s primary rival was the Ford Torino Talladega, which in itself was a direct response to the Mopar aero car. It has also been speculated one major motivating factors in the production of the car was to lure Richard Petty back to Plymouth. Both of the Mopar aero cars famously featured a protruding, aerodynamic nosecone, a high-mounted rear wing and, in the case of the Superbird, the same horn which mimicked the Road Runner cartoon character.