SEPTEMBER 2019 43 Standard equipment on
these L78 Novas were the
code XT 14x7-inch stamped-
steel two-piece wheels and
Chevrolet-insignia dog dish
hubcaps shod with E70-14
Firestone Super Sport
bias-ply rubber. Nose-to-tail side stripes,
a twin-stripe hood arrow,
and a pair of very subtle
plastic Yenko fender badges
distinguish the Yenko/SC
Nova. They weren’t flashy
cars, but they weren’t sleep-
ers, either. You’d know there
was something special next
to you at the stoplight. All Yenko 427 or 396 Novas came from the factory with standard black vinyl bench seat
interiors and rubber floor mats. Yenko interior upgrades included sYc signature headrests, a
Stewart-Warner 8,000-rpm tachometer, and an underdash instrument trio consisting of amp,
oil pressure, and water temp gauges.
true Plain Janes. Other options included
the aforementioned aftermarket five-spoke
aluminum wheels and a black vinyl top.
These cars traditionally came equipped
with the base Chevy II/Nova bench-seat
interior, rubber floor mats instead of car-
peting, and a two-spoke factory steering
wheel. Yenko added a Stewart-Warner
Model 1970 8,000-rpm tachometer. A
three-gauge Stewart-Warner underdash
instrument cluster—with oil pressure, wa-
ter temperature, and amperage—was an
option.
The Yenko/SC 427 Nova was definitely
not a car for amateurs. “That was the wild-
est thing we ever did,” confided the late
Don Yenko. Others were less complimen-
tary, calling the SC 427 Nova “almost lethal,
a real beast!” Actual testing of a dealer-
doctored 1969 Yenko/SC 427 Nova Phase
III (with a Yenko super-tune, headers, and
quite possibly drag slicks) yielded zero
to 60 times of 5.1 seconds with a top-end
speed of 120 mph. Surely one would have
to think twice about giving a car like this
to their child as a high school or college
graduation present, yet some parents did.Parked in a Pasture
Iowan Dennis Albaugh’s Yenko/SC 427
Nova was sold new through one of Yenko
Sportscars’ incorporated dealers, V.V.
Cooke Chevrolet in Louisville, Kentucky.
At this juncture, the names of the original
owner or owners are not as clearly defined
as we would like (with existing paperwork
being the hard evidence), but Albaugh cu-
rator Andy Snetselaar says with a degree
of certainty that Albany, Indiana, resident
Michael Turner appears to have been one
of the first to own the Yenko up to 1976.
Next, Laconia, Indiana’s Jerry Withers ac-
quired the SC and kept the car until 1985.
Elizabeth, Indiana’s David Milliner was the
third owner on record. He bought the big-
block Nova to street race and did so for the
next five years with intense drive and dedi-
cation—so much so that by July 1990, Lou-isville, Kentucky’s Mitch Moore found the
SC ridden hard and put away wet in a cow
pasture, complete with an ailing engine.
Moore purchased the Yenko only to flip
it to Greensboro, North Carolina, restorer
Randy Miller a mere five months later. After
performing a total restoration, Miller sold
the Nova to fellow Greensboro resident
Kevin Hand (2001), who kept the Yenko
for a total of three years before selling it
to a collector in Phoenix, Dave Christen-
holtz, in 2004. Christenholtz kept the Rally
Green machine for two years. Ownership
changed hands again in 2006 when Long
Beach, California, collector Greg Joseph ac-
quired the car. In 2011, he sold the Yenko to
Mountain Lake, New Jersey, collector Dave
Nicoll, who kept the car three years prior to
selling it to Albaugh in 2014.
Obviously, this Yenko has been well trav-
eled, but it’s likely to stop here or at least
take a (very) lengthy breather, because this
Rally Green Yenko/SC 427 Nova happens to
be one of Albaugh’s favorite cars.