Manoli Katakis 
There’s 3,635 horsepower heading to the Mecum auction block between June 27-28 in Indianapolis, and it’s all coming from the supercharged LT1-based engines of no less than four modern Yenko Chevrolet Camaro muscle cars built by Specialty Vehicle Engineering. Split between one 2017 Camaro, two 2018 Camaros, and one 2019 Camaro, they’ve barely been driven, with total milage between the four coming to just 505 miles. In other words, they’re super fresh, and were all owned by collectors.
Let’s start with the 2017 Yenko Camaro. Only one of 50 produced, it comes in Mosaic Black paint, white stripes, Yenko-badged brake calipers, and Michelin Pilot Sport radials on 20-inch gunmetal finish 5-spoke wheels with “sYc” center caps. Under the hood is a supercharged LT1 V8 displacing a custom 6.8L, with CNC ported LT4 cylinder heads, and a lot more. Total output: 800 horsepower. The odometer reads 165 miles.
The pair of 2018 Yenko Camaros each carry 1,000 horsepower apiece. And the owner of the one colored in Red Hot seemed to have gotten a little enjoyment with it, as the odometer reads 254 miles. It’s number 15 of 25 produced. The darker Garnet Red 2018 Yenko Camaro has a mere 51 miles on it, and is number 16 of 25 produced. These two SVE machines are likely to fetch top dollar compared to the other two, as they’re harder to find and feature much more horsepower.
Finally, the 2019 Yenko Camaro is a Stage 1 model with 835 horsepower. Only one of 25, the build carried a $46,995 premium over the cost of the donor car. And rightfully so, as there’s a lot that’s gone into it. Like the others, it features a forged 4340 steel crankshaft, H-beam connecting rods and forged aluminum pistons within the engine. CNC-ported LT4 cylinder heads provide enhanced airflow to keep up with the upgraded fuel system and injectors feeding a high-output supercharger with optional custom white finish. And finally, a custom performance tune.
The COVID-19 crisis has shut down large events all the way into June, but it appears Mecum isn’t about to pull the plug on its Indy 2020 auction just yet. For more Yenko Camaro news, check out our write up of the 2020 model.
The 2016 was cooler. It had the same displacement as the original