The muscle crowd these days must be living right. But the Chevy muscle crowd, with a backward glancing eye to the sixties, must be positively ecstatic. Danbury recently released a real winner in their Yenko Camaro so what a treat it is to drive this Yenko Nova up to it and park beside it. Time for celebration in the streets. In fact, back in the sixties and early seventies, that’s just what this little green puppy was doing; celebrating in the street and perhaps even more responsibly, on the strip.

A serendipitous departure from DM’s previously issued black Nova SS 396, this metallic Rallye Green Nova is a 427 Yenko/SC and comes off looking wholly different and although brighter, is somehow meaner and nastier appearing than its black-bombshell brethren. Maybe it is that properly bad attitude. A snarling 427 big block can give a car the sort of indigestion that comes from eating up other cars of the day. Sharing many of the “go-fast” pieces found in DM’s “good stuff” parts bin that highlighted the SS 396, the Yenko goes, yet, a step further. Add some sYc (A poetic license spelling of Yenko Sports Car) stripe markings and badgings and seat-top testimonials, then throw in a sinister black vinyl roof and you have the beginnings of an untamed street tiger.

Yenko used some five-spoke mags. Good grief, DM couldn’t have duplicated them better if they did them in 1:1. These have to be seen in person to be fully appreciated. The rims of the wheels themselves are metallic while the center spokes are perfect magnesium simulations. The disk brakes can be seen through the spokes. The lug nuts are chrome and so is the center cap, with a red, white and blue Yenko insignia. Speaking of Yenko badgings, they’re in miniature abundance on the car. On either front fender, at the rear portion and on the rear center valance, you will find the “Yenko” banner and shield in patriotic colors. On the fenders and trunk lid, you will also see an incredibly reproduced chrome metal foiled, “Nova” emblem and chrome foiled, “427” emblem up front. The use of metal is found on rear window frame bottoms and door sills, extending antenna and astounding chassis brake lines, some covered in flexi-coil and rear leaf suspension bracket mount points.

Before we look internally I have to confide that I, and maybe you, take the fit and finish for granted on these DM works of model art. I swear they keep getting better. The paint is perfectly scaled, metallic-wise; smooth, even and shiny and the fit of doors, trunk and hood seem laser-cut. Of course the doors are mounted on internal hinges but even the door and trunk lock buttons are separately fashioned pieces. The door locks, atop the door panels, have faultlessly shaped buttons but also have the button-bottom surrounds that go with them. The dash and separate tach, the steering wheel, shift handle and fabric belts all add to the realism and a big, “thanks” goes out to DM for replicating working sunvisors too. Certainly not expected but surely a welcome extra feature on a 2-door hard top.

The trunk, as you’d expect for a Yenko muscle machine, is Spartan. The splatter-paint floor has been reproduced efficiently, and the jack and tools are under the spare. The jack stand, with a metal center spud, holds it to the floor. It is removable and hard to reposition, especially if you have the fumble-fingers commonly plaguing us aging gents, but well worth the effort that the sight affords.

Under the hood. Ah, that wondrous breath of scale fresh air. Behemoth engine, incredible plumbing, detail everywhere you look and the absolute mastery of material usage, yeah, that’s DM at their best. The state of scissors-springs hood hinges has never, and I mean never, looked finer than on this model. I swear they seem improved since the advent of the Nova SS396! But check out the power brake unit and master cylinder assembly. This is model-craft at its very best. Again, material usage, at its finest.

There’s vinyl tubing entering the gold-painted power unit, a metal hold-down clip fastening the master cylinder top, flexi-coil tubing simulating the brake line and a separate metal fluid line. The air cleaner uses metal wire mesh as a filter retainer, there is a tiny dipstick, small cabling for the battery, medium tubing for the windshield washer and standard plug wiring. The heater hoses, replete with GM ID numbers, look for all the world like real ones. There is a small fuel hose leading to the carbs, metal carb linkage and the correct blue return throttle spring and perfect miniature labeling. This engine ranks right up there with the very finest engine bays of any car I have ever seen or reviewed – period. Flat out, this is nothing short of a museum piece. Thrillometer readings near the pinnacle at a staggering 9.997 on this baby!

-Tony Perrone