1969 Chevrolet Nova Yenko/SC: Fastest and Rarest of All Yenko Vehicles

Summary

One seriously rare Nova: Only 37 Super Novas were sold through Don Yenko's dealership, with only about 7–10 known to survive today.

Don Yenko wasn't messing around: He took the already stout Nova SS 396 and decided it needed a 427 big-block. Because apparently 396 cubic inches wasn't enough.

Even Yenko called it lethal: Don himself described the cars as “lethal and barely legal at best” and called it the craziest project he ever did.

The recipe was nasty: L72 427, roughly 450 horsepower, 780-cfm Holley carburetor, aluminum intake, Muncie M21 four-speed, Positraction, and serious F41 suspension.

It could stop, too: Heavy-duty power front discs, rear drums, and upgraded suspension helped keep all that big-block insanity under control.

Quick for 1969—and quick by any standard: The Super Nova was estimated to hit 0–60 mph in about 4.7–5.1 seconds, run the quarter-mile in the 11s, and reach roughly 120 mph.

It didn't look crazy: Yenko kept the exterior relatively understated, adding his famous decals, emblems, a Stewart-Warner tach, and optional Torque Thrust wheels.

Want one today? Bring money: A real Super Nova is extremely valuable, and replicas or fakes can look convincing enough to separate an unsuspecting buyer from a very large pile of cash.

Do your homework: If you find one for sale, verify the documentation, specifications, and history with a Yenko/Nova expert before handing over the check.

Bottom line: The Super Nova was Don Yenko taking a compact Chevy and stuffing it full of big-block attitude. It may have looked like a mild-mannered Nova, but underneath was a 427-powered street-legal lunatic.

1969 Chevrolet Nova 427 Yenko/SC — Super Nova

The 1969 Chevrolet Nova 427 Yenko/SC, also known as the Super Nova, is said to be the rarest and fastest Yenko vehicle ever built. With only 37 of these bad boys sold through Don Yenko's dealership, there are only about 7–10 known to still exist today.

Taking The Nova SS To The Next Level

Mr. Yenko used the Nova SS as the starting point for his conversion because it was already equipped with a lot of high-performance parts he could use for the project. And not to say that the '69 Nova SS with the 396 cu-in engine wasn't already a pretty stout vehicle, but Don Yenko always loved to push the envelope.

The only problem Don had with these 427 Yenko/SC projects was that, in his own words, “These cars are lethal and barely legal at best.”

He went on to say, “It's the craziest project I ever did.”

And when the guy who built it tells you it's crazy, you might want to pay attention.

Problems With Insurance Companies

Since the Nova was labeled a compact car, it was almost impossible to get your Super Nova insured. Insurance companies were already a little shy about insuring the Nova when it had the 396 engine, but putting a beefed-up L72 427 into a car classified as a compact—and then adding even more performance goodies—left insurance companies feeling pretty uncomfortable about taking on the risk.

What insurance companies saw was that street racing was becoming more and more popular and dangerous, and all that extra performance could give drivers even more incentive to push the limits.

And oddly enough, although the Nova was labeled a compact car, it actually weighed about 50 pounds more than the ’69 Yenko/SC Camaros. The Camaros had fewer problems with insurance companies because they were classified as sports/muscle cars.

In the end, as far as anyone knows, there were no Yenko fatalities.

The Super Nova Go-Fast Recipe 

It starts with yanking out the 396 cu-in engine and replacing it with an L72 427 cu-in big-block that would produce an estimated 450 horsepower.

The original 396 heads were used on the 427, helping produce an 11.0:1 compression ratio. Also added was an aluminum intake manifold, a 780-cfm Holley four-barrel carburetor, and an AC Delco single-point ignition system.

Add in a little extra high-performance tuning, and the heart of the Super Nova was ready to pound the pavement and embarrass competitors.

Slamming gears was easy with the Muncie M21 four-speed transmission. Making it even more fun was the Positraction rear end, available with either 3.55 or 4.10 gears.

Keeping all that power and asphalt under control was an F41 heavy-duty front and rear suspension with an 11/16-inch-diameter front anti-sway bar.

And when it was time to put the brakes on after some serious pedal-to-the-metal action, a Delco-Moraine heavy-duty master cylinder activated the 11-inch power front disc brakes and 9½-inch power rear drum brakes. 

How Did The Super Nova Perform?

It performed like an out-of-control monster.

The Nova could reportedly get from 0–60 mph in roughly 4.7–5.1 seconds while tearing down the quarter-mile with estimated 11-second passes and reaching a top speed of about 120 mph.

For a compact car from 1969, that's one hell of a recipe.

Visual Hop Ups For The Nova

There isn't a whole lot to talk about here—and that was intentional.

Don wanted to keep the Nova looking pretty modest. His classic Yenko decals were placed on the exterior, with Yenko emblems both inside and out.

A Stewart-Warner tachometer was installed for hard-driving accuracy, and it looked pretty damn cool, too.

For wheels, 14-inch wheels were standard with dog-dish hubcaps, while some cars came with 14-inch Torque Thrust wheels.

Coming Across One Of These Rare Novas For Sale

First, if it is a true Super Nova, you should be prepared to have a lot of money on hand.

Second, make sure it's real.

These cars aren't exactly impossible to replicate, and if you don't know what you're looking at, you could lose a fortune.

That's not to say a true Nova SS 396 isn't a nice car to own or invest in, but they aren't nearly as valuable as a true '69 Yenko/SC Nova.

There are plenty of little details that can tip you off to an impostor, so make sure you have a Nova expert—or a trustworthy set of factory specifications and documentation—you can cross-reference with the car.

Don't just take someone's word for it.

Happy Hunting!

1969 Corvette "AstroVette" Stingray Apollo-Themed

 

This Corvette you're looking at was built specifically for the Astronaut Alan L. Bean. There were only two others made just like this for two other Astronauts, Richard Gordan Jr. and Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr. All three men were shipped into orbit on the Apollo 12 Mission in the second Lunar Module to land on the Moon.

NASA and General Motors

In the '60s and early '70s, NASA astronauts were like rock stars in America. Reaching the Moon before Russia was something America did that helped bring a divided country together after the controversial Vietnam War.

GM president, Ed Cole, saw the potential of linking the NASA program to the GM brand for product growth. GM already gave astronaut Alan Shepard, the very first man to break his way into space, a new white 1962 Corvette with a custom space-age interior—and had also done business with astronaut legends like Niel Armstrong and high-performance enthusiast, Gus Grissom.

Of course, it's hard to imagine GM giving away Corvettes, but Cole's decision to do so, according to his widow, Dollie (Chairman of the National Corvette Museum and Vice Chairman of the National Air & Space Museum), made sense to Cole. "The astronauts were incredibly visible," she says. "And good publicity is good publicity." But putting astronauts in Corvettes wasn't just for publicity. "Who more worthy than guys who represent our country?" says Dollie. "They were literally risking their lives. Space travel today isn't 'ho hum', but people perceive it that way. There were so many unknowns then. The cars were a way of saying 'Thank you.'"

Executive GM Lease Program For NASA 

Eventually, GM would see big benefits from being affiliated with NASA, so they went ahead and started an executive lease program for NASA employees. If you qualified for the lease program, you could lease a GM vehicle for $1 for one year. According to astronaut Alan Bean, most qualifying employees chose Corvettes, making it an interesting sight to see when you drove past the Space Center and looked in the parking lot. 

Those Who Fly Together, Drive Together

All three astronauts that boarded the Lunar Module for the Apollo 12 Mission were very close, and all were car guys in their own respect. They became good friends with Jim Rathman, a Chevrolet and Cadillac dealership owner who was also known for winning the 1960 Indy 500. 

Jim's dealership was located in Melbourne, FL, and its close proximity to the Space Center is what made the friendship between the three astronauts and others in NASA like Niel Armstrong possible. With "Pete" Conrad Jr., Gordan Jr., and Bean successfully completing the Apollo 12 mission, they all decided they should get matching Corvettes with some special visual upgrades to distinctively separate them from the rest of the Corvette owners and lessees.

Rare Riverside Gold Corvette Color

It just so happened, in 1969, Corvette was offering a one-time-only Riverside gold exterior color for the Stingray. The three astronauts joined forces with friend and dealership owner, Jim Rathman, who helped aid in getting all three gold Corvettes to his dealership.

No one really knows where the black "Wings" were painted on the Riverside gold base paint, but it wasn't at the factory or at Ratham's dealership. As the story goes, the three astronauts took a lot of time to decide on what design they wanted to go with before settling on the black "Wings." 

Ratham decided to get his friend involved, Alex Tremulis. Tremulis was an industrial designer who held automotive design positions at Cord Automobile, Duesenberg, General Motors, Tucker Car Corporation, and Ford Motor Company before later establishing a consulting firm.

Tremulis and Ratham both did have a hands-on part in the design. Ratham placed the white stripe that separates the black and the gold colors, and Tremulis designed and painted the special red, white, and blue logos on the fender. 

The Special Red, White, and Blue Emblems and The Meaning

The red, white, and blue emblem represent what you would think - America, the American flag, and NASA. Each emblem had a different set of initials drawn out on a certain color of the emblem representing the Corvette owner's rank during the Apollo 12 Mission. Bean’s LMP initials were placed on the blue tag signifying him as the Lunar Module Pilot. Pete’s initials of CDR were on the red tag of the emblem, which stood for Commander, and Dick’s initials of CMP, for Command Module Pilot were drawn on the white tag of the emblem. 

The colors the initials were painted on also represented the color each astronaut used to label their belongings during the Apollo 12 Mission.

Corvette "AstroVette" Spec.

• 427 CU.-IN. Big Block L36 

• 4-Speed Manual Transmission

• 490 Horsepower - 460 lb.-ft. of Torque

• Four-Barrel Rochester Carbrator

• Hydraulic Four-Wheel Disc Brakes

• Fully Independent Suspension

• Optional Side Exhaust Selected But Not Installed

• Performance: 0-60 mph 6.0 Seconds; Quarter-Mile 14.3 at 93 MPH

• One-Year-Only Riverside Gold

• Special Steel Wheel Covers

• Curb Weight: 3450 lbs.

Where Are The Iconic "AstroVette" Stingrays Now?

Out of the three 1969 Stingray "AstroVette" Corvettes that were delivered to the Ratham dealership for the crew of the Appollo 12 Mission, only one is known to exist. 

Alan Bean's Corvette is the last AstroVette that is known to exist. It was turned in after the $1, 1-year lease was up. In 1971, it showed up in Austin, TX on a GMAC car lot. It went up for auction, where a space enthusiast by the name of Danny Reed put his bid in. He initially lost the auction, but the original winner could not come up with the money, and Danny eventually won the "AstroVette."

Making the "AstroVette" Perfect

The Stingray "AstroVette" was put on track to be restored to its original state to save its integrity, which meant no full restoration. Danny Reed worked with many Corvette experts throughout the process to get it back to its original look - the way it would have looked when it came right off the assembly line with overspray in the correct spots and everything. 

The National Corvette Restoration Society (NCRS) has given it many awards at some of the most prestigious Corvette car shows in the world. 

It has been on display at NASA events, the National Corvette Museum, the Kansas Cosmosphere, Flordia Space Center, Johnson Space Center, Houston Space Center, in Washinton, and many other worthy places. 

Alan Bean has since been reunited many times with his now-famous "AstroVette." Bean has become a painter since his days of walking on the Moon. A lot of his painting work has to do with space and his moonwalking, as he writes, “Our time on the Moon ended much too quickly and, in the years since then, I have created paintings to try to capture the feeling of our Apollo 12 mission, as well as all the other Apollo missions, too. It’s my hope that these paintings will help other people share in the great adventure." 

How to Tell If You Found One of The Lost "AstroVette" Stingrays?

Just like all rare cars, there are some imposters out there, but there is a way to tell if you found a real "AstroVette." Only these three Corvettes in the lease program were special ordered and registered in the lessee's name. This featured Corvette has a tank sticker that says, “Courtesy car delivered to Alan L. Bean.” If found, the other two would have a similar tank sticker with the corresponding astronaut's name - Richard Gordan Jr or Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr. All other Corvettes for the NASA executive lease program were put in the military's name.

There is nothing like a little Corvette and NASA history! The $1, 1-year executive lease program for the astronauts ended in 1971. Whether or not it was because the Space Program became less popular and the executive lease program was less worth it from an advertising standpoint, I'm not sure. But there was a time there for a while when being an astronaut was better than being a Hollywood star or a pro-athlete.    

1965 Corvette 427 Big-Block "Muscle Car Era" Begins

Corvette 427 Big-Block

Back in 1965, Chevrolet decided to get innovative and give the public something they had been craving—a small sports car with a huge motor. Corvette would be the first sports car to drop a big-block motor into a sports car, and consumers were intrigued and loved it.

Making the 396 Bigger 

Chevrolet created a feasible 427 cu.-in. motor for the Vette by taking the already powerful Chevrolet 396 cu.-in. motor and machining the bore and stretching the stroke of the block to a larger 427 cu.-in. This is the same way the legendary Chevrolet 327 cu.-in. engine came about. The Corvette's original 289 block was bored and stroked to a 327. 

Big Block Hood

427 Big-Block Engines Were Available in Two Versions: 

• L36 390 horsepower  
• L72 425 horsepower 

Both engines were available choices given to consumers when ordering a Vette, and both engines performed sensationally depending on what kind of fun you were looking to have. 

The Extra Cost for the 427 Big-Block

• The lower output L36: $185.00 Extra 
• The higher output L72: $350.00 Extra

What Came With The High Output L72

The extra cost for the L72 would get you a better-structured motor that included: 

• Four-bolt mains
• Larger oil fitting ports 
• Impact-extruded aluminum pistons (11.0:1) compression 
• More aggressive solid lifter camshaft
• Larger rectangular port cylinder heads 
• Aluminum intake
• Holly 780 CFM carburetor
• Free-flowing exhaust manifolds
• And a K66 transistorized ignition to help complement the other higher output parts. 

Although the L72 was rated at a massive 425 hp, it was a well-known fact the actual horsepower output was well above that publicized rating. The reason for Chevrolet's deception on horsepower numbers was to avoid unwanted backlash from the safety legislation. 

A Pleasing Power-to-Weight Ratio 

The 427 big-block Chevrolet motors were a tight fit for the Corvette, but the power-to-weight ratio was very pleasing for speed freaks. Plus, the much cooler big-block hood that came with the Corvette to make room for clearance, told people what was under the hood. Chevrolet would spend about six more years using a big-block powerplant as an option for Corvette consumers. 

All Good Things Must Come to an End!

After 1972, the change to bring about more fuel-efficient cars would change what kind of powerplants all muscle cars would receive. This new change would eventually spawn the end of an era, the "Muscle Car" era. 

Small-block 350s de-tuned and ready to do poor performance was what the American car enthusiast would have to put up with for power through the mid-'70s and '80s. In the late '80s and early '90s, change for more power started up again, and since then, there hasn't been much reason to complain. 

The scary acronym EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection) has become a household name for all vehicle enthusiasts, and boosted and nitrous applications seem to run much better tuned by a computer than by backyard mechanics and their outdated techniques.