1969 COPO Camaro
Those 4 letters brings up feelings of awe and wonderment among many auto enthusiasts.
Central Office Production Order
Depending on who you talk to around 1000 COPO Camaros were produced in 1969, some say a hair more, others, a hair less. They are one of the holy grail cars out there.
This is a 9561 car and is verified with it's listing on the Yenko Supercar Registry.
It was sold originally to Mrs Arnold as a present to her son David, who's entire plan for the car was to go drag racing. It was purchased through Hayes Chevrolet-Buick in New Milford, CT on the 16th of Sept. 1969.
Since then, the car has racked up just over 800 miles, nearly all of them at the long defunct Dover Drag Strip in Wingsdale, NY, just over the border from his home.
The story doesn't end there though. Seems as though the 17 year Mr. Arnold ran in 9 races and won each one... Then, he lost one... The car needed to be better, so the original iron block 427 was sold and replaced with a 427, tunnel rammed, dual quad race engine, the front clip was also sold off and replaced with all fiberglass fenders, hood and inner fenders removed. He also flared out the rear wheel wells so he could fit slicks and he went back racing. Reports are he did this for just
a couple years and parked the car, as seen in the wild 70's era paint job. It sat for several years when another CT resident bought the car and sold the engine but didn't do much else, the car was then sold on to another person in CT, all part of the same group of car guys, and then on to the current owner who started to bring her back to where she was originally. Original Dusk Blue metallic paint was sprayed on, the original blue interior (which had been removed when he installed all the fiberglass parts) was still with the car and was cleaned and reinstalled (a new carpet, steering wheel and a console (not originally in the car) were installed). The rear quarters were repaired to get back to stock and a new front clip was sourced. A running 396 was dropped in, however, when the current owner started to dig a little into the history of the car and found she came with a 427, he thought she just might be a COPO car. He found he was correct after checking the VIN against the various sources and finding it there. At that point he sourced a date correct 512 iron block 427, had it rebuilt and installed her into the car.
More particulars about the car: From the firewall back is original metal (aside from quarter panel repair), the interior is original, all the glass is original, the bumpers and trim are original, the dash is original (it still has the cut out in the speaker screen where the cable drive tach was installed), the rear bumper is in great condition and has some push truck marks in it and the push button starter and cut off switch holes are still in the lower left dash panel. The radiator (when he dropped the race engine in Mr. Arnold had the radiator neck changed for better flow) and rad. support is also original along with "frame rails", front A arms, and calipers, new springs, front and rear, were installed.
The car did not come with the stripe package or the rear spoiler, however, the current owner liked that look and had done that before finding out the COPO heritage.
Having just finished the rebuild this car is in near perfect condition. There is no rust nor was there ever, she spent most of her life in garages. She starts, runs and drives beautifully.
The 427 is attached to an M20 close ratio 4 speed and out to a date correct 12 bolt rear now running 3:73 gears, the original 12 bolt was twisted up beyond repair (the current owner did track down the original rear end and tried to buy it but for whatever reason the person wouldn't sell it to him). The tires are BFG Radial T/A's (2021) in 235/70/R15 wrapped around rally wheels sprayed in the same Dusk Blue with just the center cap.
The car has power brakes as the only real amenity.
Everything works, lights, horn, wipers, heat, blinkers.
The car is practically brand new and the mileage of 828 miles is correct.
With the current market for 100% original COPO cars over a quarter million dollars, this car is offered at $125,000.
Any questions, for many more photos and video, to schedule a time to inspect her, or to make an offer, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Thank you for the interest!
