Page 36 - KCRPCA Sept Oct 2018

MEMBER ADVENTURE
BOB CHARLESWORTH
I get to Kearney, NE about 3 times a year on business. Lately, I’ve made the effort to learn more about the places I get to work, than just getting the job done, just so I can head
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Sep / Oct 2018
A Hidden Gem in Nebraska
KLEARNEY AUTO MUSEUM
ike many of you world travelers, What greeted me this trip was I, too, get to travel several times something I never knew about – a 1965 a year. Many of the exotic places YENKO CORVAIR, called the Stinger.
you may have heard of; places in Kan- Yes, I said Corvair. I thought the
sas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska.
“Yenko” sticker on the car was a “joke”, as I knew of the Yenko Camaros and Yenko Novas, but a Corvair?
Don Yenko was 30 when he began racing Corvettes in 1957. His family owned a Chevrolet dealership in
Don had to produce 100 cars before January 1st, 1966, to qualify for SCCA racing. In late 1965, Don ordered 200 Corvair Corsas through the Central Office Production Order (COPO). All ermine white, with special suspension, positraction, 4 speed transmissions, quick steering and dual master brake cylinders.
The Stinger was originally going to be called the Bonanza. The Stinger name was originally to be used for the Chevelle SS, but then made available to Don by Chevrolet. The cars had all the emblems removed, a set of tri-stringers in blue, (blue and white paint scheme was the U.S.A.’s racing color for 1966), rear seats were replaced by plywood board and rubber mat. Fiberglass landau panels and a deck lid with a spoiler were
home. With the kids
“grown and gone”, my
wife loves to spend a
few extra hours at her
library “without kids”.
That means I can take
an extra hour or two
to explore. It does not
matter if I get home at
6 p.m. or 8 p.m. Yes, I
am a wild man. And
with my new found
freedom, I let the sea-
sons help me guide my
leisure activities. Last
week it was a quick
9-holes of golf. It fit the time slot per- fectly, just a 2-hour exercise even with my slow play.
Cannonsburg, PA.
This last trip to Kearney, NE, I stopped at the Classic Car Collection – located in the same building as Cabela’s on the northeast side of the city. Not much of an “entrance” to really steer people there, but it’s mostly an “on loan” display, so the cars change; very much like our local KC Auto Museum in Olathe, KS, but on a larger scale.