STICK vs. AUTOMATIC
Earlier, when I made the statement "
automatic cars are worth more", I was referring to the low production cars, such as the COPOs. There were way too many L-78s and LS-6s were produced to justify this statement, but I believe the COPOs and Yenkos prove my point. Around 1/3 of the COPO cars that Yenko recieved were automatics, and this just about holds true with production figures. This is easily understood if you are looking to purchase one of these rare cars, as the automatic cars are
rarer, and the price reflects accordingly. When we went to buy a '69 Yenko Camaro, we went to a private collection in Nashville, TN, which contained about 20 '69 Yenkos at the time,
less than a 1/3 of these cars were automatics. Naturally, the prices of the automatics were higher. Was the owner of these cars
wrong for pricing the automatics higher than the 4 speed cars? I don't think so!
Here's just an example why:
Take a look at the picture below. This was taken from the January '99 issue of Super Chevy:
ortrackm.missouri.org/~yenko/PAGE1.jpg
That's me driving the Yellow Yenko. Notice the tire smoke on the Orange Yenko? Its hard to see in the picture, but I saw it in person, and have a video of it, and there was a
lot more where that came from. I'm not even mentioning the fact that he red lighted! Agreed, the red light was due partly to driver error. Now notice my car. No smoke, the rear end is squatting, and I'm fixing to easily run off and leave the other car. I ran an 8.8 1/8 mile, which roughly converts to mid-to-low 13s. All this on Polyglas tires, only the second time I've
ever drove the car,
but I had an automatic. This enabled me to launch much easier and more consistent. Both of these cars were setup
exactly the same....
stock! Automatics are just easier to drive, therefore they produce quicker and more consistent ETs, and are what people who keep there cars stock
but drive them are looking for.
Just look around and try to buy one of each, an
automatic and a
4 speed, both cars in comparable condition, and see what you come up with. I think you might be surprised.
------------------
Rob Clary
'70 LS-6 Chevelle
Team Chevelle Gold Member #85
Interested in
COPOs,
Yenkos or
other dealer built muscle cars then go here:
ortrackm.missouri.org/~yenko
[This message has been edited by Chevy454 (edited 06-17-99).]