Don Yenko, Corvette road racer and Chevy dealer was a true muscle-car visionary. When the Camaro was introduced in 1967, Chevrolet didn't offer it with an engine over 400 cubic inches — putting it at a disadvantage against its more powerful competitors from Ford and Dodge. Although 375hp was nothing to sneeze at, out of a 396ci top-of-the-line Camaro L78 motor, Yenko wasn't satisfied.

He began retrofitting factory L78-equipped Camaros with the Chevy L72 (427 cid) big-block rat motor, factory-rated at 425hp, and selling them at his dealership as Yenko 427 Camaros. He built 54 of them 1967, and 64 more in 1968. With major contacts at GM, Yenko convinced Chevy to do the assembling at the factory, and thus the Yenko Camaro, now a six-figure collectable (more for the elusive ZL1 427), was born. The moral of the story? Sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands for Detroit to take notice.

1968 Chevrolet 427 Yenko COPO Camaro [Popular Mechanics]

1969 Gibb/Harrell ZL1 Camaro 427 COPO 9560 [Corvette and American Muscle]

More Camaro fun [internal]

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