At a local Cars & Coffee show a while back, we noticed a rather slick-looking 1969 Chevy El Camino tucked into the back corner of the lot.
While it’s tough to overlook the Chevy’s spotless Aztec Gold paint job, what really caught our eye was the Yenko-inspired stripe running along its beltline. But as we drew-in close, rather than seeing “Yenko/SC” embedded into the stripe, we realized it said “Las Vegas” instead.
Suffice it to say, we had to track down the owner to get the scoop on this high-rolling Ute.
If you’re not familiar with the Yenko provenance, read this: Here’s a Quick History of Don Yenko & the Cars That Bear His Name
“It was made for a raffle at the Hard Rock Casino in Vegas,” its owner Pete tells us.
The giveaway happened sometime in the late 1990s he says—though Pete wasn’t the original winner, he purchased the car about a decade later. “I’ve owned it since 2008,” he explains.
He continues by describing a bit about the contest and how the El Camino lived out west for several years before leaving Las Vegas and moving to The Buckeye State.
Pete’s not rolling the dice on this one, and is keeping the Chevy pretty darn near stock. “I don’t want to mess with it,” he smiles.
During his ownership, he’s made only minor changes—like swapping out the Chevy Rally wheels for a set of classic Baby Moons. For years, Pete tells us he’s resisted the urge to make popular modern upgrades like an EFI conversion or an LS swap. “An old car should feel like an old car,” he quips.
The only other conspicuous mods are an aftermarket tach, a vintage Grant steering wheel, and a very apropos dice-knob shifter on the column.
Under the hood is the original Chevy 350 coupled to a trusty TH350. A louvered air cleaner ups the ante with some extra chrome.
Again, Pete explains that he played his hand conservatively here—mentioning that, once you start increasing engine power, you’re taking a gamble if you don’t upgrade the brakes and the suspension to match.
Instead, Pete’s holding this El Camino close to his vest, taking a risk-averse approach and just preserving its originality with easily reversible mods.
Yet despite being such a stickler for maintaining this particular El Camino’s provenance, Pete isn’t new to the whole hotrod or custom scene.
Indeed, this certainly isn’t his first classic car and he also describes plenty of experience tinkering and upgrading motorcycles (including a handful of three-wheel Harley-Davidson trike conversions).
But Pete says he’s just keeping this El Camino clean and as original as possible—and although it’s traded the gleaming neon of Sin City for a quiet life in the midwest, we’re willing to bet his classic Chevy Ute still spends plenty of time in the spotlight.
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