Lost Muscle Car Dealerships. Duncan Scott Brown
produced was the El Camino, which managed to merge the great looks of a car with the utility of a truck. Unlike today’s SUVs and pickups, which are huge, incredibly ugly monstrosities, the El Camino was well proportioned and sleek looking. An El Camino delivered through Dana Chevrolet remained in mostly as-delivered condition with some performance upgrades made at the dealership.
Connecting to Enthusiasts
Dana made an effort to connect with enthusiasts by hosting a sports car club meeting for the “Early Times Club” on March 7, 1967, at the Hi-Performance premises. Dana Hi-Performance Center also hosted the California Corvette Association meetings. On March 8, 1967, Dana hosted the technical inspection for the Willows Spring race as well.
Early 1967 non–SS 350 Dana conversion raced at Lions Drag Strip in Wilmington, California. (Photo Courtesy Dave Fillion Collection)
Dana Chevrolet offered minor to full engine modifications to satisfy the appetite of a thrill-seeking customer. Dana would tweak your car with a dyno tune or some bolton parts from its vast parts inventory, or it could go all the way to engine swaps and race prep if you wanted to go those routes.
The parts department was well stocked with Chevrolet high-performance parts. Inventory was augmented with aftermarket pieces as well. A February 11, 1967, ad stated Dana’s position: “The only exclusive Hi-Performance Chevrolet Center in California. Specialists in Corvettes and 396 Camaros. Hi-Performance parts and service. Huge inventory. Immediate delivery.”
A father’s day ad noted that the Dana inventory was chock-full of 4-speed Vettes, Camaros, and Chevelle SSs. It stated that Dana Hi-Performance paid top dollar for used Corvettes and 4-speed sports cars. Dana also advertised in the Hot Rods section of the L.A. Times newspaper that they had a big selection of 4-speed high-performance V-8s on hand. Of course, there were also Pontiac GTOs in the used inventory.
A June 23, 1967, ad announced that the Hi-Performance Center had more than 20 Vettes in stock and that they were all 4-speed cars. They didn’t even bother buying automatic cars!
Unique Dana “Yenko Stinger”
Dana was also a distributor for the Yenko Corvair Stingers. On October 13, 1967, Dana sold a Dana COPO Corvair. This was a Yenko Stinger minus the identifying Yenko badging. This rarity is of interest to the Yenko collectors because it seems to be a oneoff oddity.
This 1967 Corvair Monza is beefed up with a Yenko-specific COPO order. Three of these COPO Corvairs were sent directly from final assembly to Dana Chevrolet. Dana was to complete the cars as Yenko Stingers to save Don Yenko shipping cost to the West Coast. Dana and Yenko’s partnership dissolved before the Corvairs showed up. Dana sold them “as is.” (Photo Courtesy Sandy Vandeberg)
The COPO order applied to this 1967 Corvair provided high-performance rear axle and hubcap delete in anticipation of custom wheel installation. The most essential part of the 1967 COPO Corvair package was the 140-ci 160-hp engine. The 140-ci engine was no longer available in Corvairs but served as the basis for the various stages of Stinger powerplants. The COPO order got this engine installed. (Photo Courtesy Sandy Vandeberg)
This November 29, 1966, article charts the progress Dana made after the November 7 announcement that it had a 427 Camaro built. By carrying the Yenko Corvair Stinger, Dana was poised to tap into the Yenko distribution system with its new Dana Camaro. It never actually happened. (Photo Courtesy Dave Fillion Collection)
Yenko supplied Dana with regularly badged Yenko Stingers and the two super dealers briefly teamed up to promote “Super Camaros.” An article dated November 29, 1966, proves that the two dealerships at the very least intended to produce 427 Camaros in a partnership. Whether they actually built any cars in partnership is not known.
Don Yenko was soon using the services of Dick Harrell’s shop to build 427 Camaros for sale through his Yenko network. Dick Harrell influenced more 427 dealer conversion Camaros than anyone else. Dana Chevrolet announced a reciprocating distribution agreement with Yenko Sportscars.
Dana Chevrolet Racing
In November 1966, Paul Dombroski, president of Dana Chevrolet, announced the dealership would sponsor Chuck Parson’s McLaren-Chevy for remaining races in Canadian-American Fall Series. The announcement also indicated the company’s participation in future racing programs under direction of partner and vice president Peyton Cramer.
The Dana racing jacket in orange matches the color of the Dana Camaro 396 drag racing promotional car. Note that Dana had retained brand consistency with its distinctive logo, which was used on the license frames and in ads. With his background at Shelby American, it’s no surprise that Peyton Cramer was keenly enthusiastic about road racing. He chose a road racer for the logo on the patch sewn on the jacket’s heart. These racing jackets were worn by the Dana Chevrolet Racing Team during the Lola and USRRC Maclaren racing campaign. (Photos Courtesy Dave Fillion Collection)
Dick Guldstrand prepped two 1967 Camaro SS 350 cars for Trans Am racing by switching them out to Z28 configuration. He gave the white car to Tom Lynch to campaign; Dick drove the blue car himself.
Dana also cosponsored a 1967 Corvette L88 427 race car for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France. Sunray Oil, which also sponsored Don Yenko, was the main sponsor for this car. Dick Guldstrand and Bob Bondurant shared the driving. Unfortunately, the Corvette didn’t finish the race. Dick was miffed because Chevrolet refused to allow him to prep the car at all. It had to be bone stock except for race safety items and lettering. The failed wrist pin in the engine that shut them down was an item that would have been rectified during Dick’s routine engine prep.
Bob Bondurant returned to pilot a McLaren for the Dana team along with Peter Revson in the 1967 Can Am races. Bob was replaced by Lothar Motschenbacher when he had a major crash in June 1967 at Watkins Glen.
A Dana 1968 Chevrolet Camaro was drag raced to raise the profile of the dealership. Dale Armstrong performed driving duties. When Dale came to work at the Dana Chevrolet Hi-Performance Center, the dealership’s involvement in the racing scene began to lose traction.
Peyton Versus Paul
Interviews with Peyton Cramer reveal his patient, long-range vision. The Dana racing team was plagued with bad luck and broken parts, but Peyton focused on the glacial progress they were making throughout the year. His years of engineering and experience racing allowed him to take a long-range view of things.
Peyton firmly believed that even though the racing hadn’t paid off immediately, over time it was good for business. He strongly believed that raising your profile was essential and racing was an excellent medium to do so. Setbacks and money hemorrhages that would fluster lesser mortals didn’t seem to make a dent in his optimism about the progress his Dana team was making.
Sadly, Peyton’s approach didn’t work out for his partner, Paul, who felt he was left in the shadows and that racing was costing too much money. Another blow came in late October 1967 when Dick Guldstrand decided to part ways with Dana Chevrolet Hi-Performance Center to pursue a business opportunity. He opened his own shop: Dick Guldstrand’s American International Racing Corporation in Culver City, California. Dick was instrumental to the success of the Trans-Am Camaros, Lolas, and US Road Racing Championship (USRRC) McLaren.
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