New 'Yenko' Chevrolet Camaro packs 800 horsepower

Article content

Back in 1969 – the best year for muscle cars – a Yenko Camaro was a Chevrolet Camaro that you could cleverly order through the GM’s Central Office Production Order (COPO) program with a take-no-prisoners 427 cubic-inch V8 that had been breathed upon by Don Yenko himself.

The 1969 cars were good for about 450 horsepower and now, the new 2017 Yenko Camaro nearly doubles that. 

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

New 'Yenko' Chevrolet Camaro packs 800 horsepower Back to video

The cars aren’t actually tuned by Yenko or GM, but instead by Specialty Vehicle Engineering based out of Toms River, New Jersey. SVE starts by stroking the stock 6.2-litre V8 to 6.8L before adding a hulking supercharger to top it off. The end result is 800 horsepower and 750 lb.-ft. of torque. Visually, Yenko tape stripes and modernized Torq Thrust look-alike wheels round out the package. SVE will build just 50 of the hopped up Camaros for the 2017 model year. 

Don Yenko made some of the wildest cars of the muscle car era. Up until 1970, GM had an edict that prohibited engines larger than 400 cubic inches in cars like the Nova, Chevelle and Camaro. Yenko and others had found out, however, that you could order a 427-equipped car through the COPO program.

The COPO operation was set up to accommodate things like special-order cars for cab use with rubber floor mats only in the rear, or police cars that needed performance V8 engines and four doors.

But by using the COPO program, cars were produced that went right against GM’s own ban. Soon, the Yenko lot was full of 427-powered Camaros, Chevelles and even a few Novas – which Yenko stopped building because he thought the car was “lethal.”