Ohio COPO Dealers

[Stefano]

It seems that Ohio would certainly take the number one spot for total COPO selling dealers. Considering Chevelles, Camaros, ZL1s and Yenkos, by my count there were approx. 20 dealers selling these COPOs.

The Norwood Camaro plant seems to have generated quite a few interested customers, very similar to the Tonowanda plant and the Canadian COPOs.

Just my observations, what do you guys think?

[whitetop]

Stefano
Not sure the plants location had anything to do with the large number of Copo dealers in Ohio. Ohio has always been noted as a state with lots of car enthusiast. The large number of Copo dealers in Ohio may possibly be exemplified through what happens in other forms of autosports in Ohio.
Before the NSRA moved the Street Rod Nationals to Louisville(supposedly because they are buying the fairgrounds there), Columbus Ohio always had the most cars and holds the attendance records to this day.
A very common catch phrase back in the '60's car mags was the term "Ohio Gassers" in refering to the vast amounts of gassers that originated from Ohio.

It also should be noted that two of the largest speed shops in the world originated and are located in Ohio. Jegs originated in the '60's and Summit stared in the early '70's.

California may have more cars because the population is so much larger (The LA area and surrouinding basin probably have more people than the entire state of Ohio) but Ohio has more cars on a per capita basis.

My question to you is are most of the Copo dealers on the eastern side of the state? The eastern side of the state had a large industrial steel/ coal base in the '60's & '70's. Any area that had a large steel/coal base back then had more musclecars per capita whether you are talking about the Ohio Valley or Pittsburgh( Mon Valley etc) Eastern PA (Allentown area/Stanton)or some of the areas in Indiana (Gary??). The blue collar workers who were making the high wages back then were the ones who were into hotrodding and buying the musclecars.
Dave







[Edited by whitetop (05-09-2002 at 01:09 PM).]

[Stefano]

Dave,
I agree with your statements. But, it was the combination of the demand (Racers and Hot Rodders, including special deals to family of GM employees) and the direct Knowledge maintained by the employees and line workers, who walked into dealerships and educated them about ordering these cars (Supply).
GM did not directly inform Dealers that these COPOs were even available.
Maybe Jim Mattison can chime in as he certainly educated at least one Ohio dealer on how to order these special cars.

[T Billigen]

I think most of the "hot cars" cars were sold in eastern Ohio and western Pa. because of what you said, a lot of the baby boomers had good jobs in the steel mills and the availability to the many drag strips in the area. From where I lived in Pa. I could go to seven different strips! Youngstown was a big seller of muscle cars also. Marv Minneman Chevy and Stackhouse Olds sponsored cars back in the 60s as well as other dealerships in the area. In my opinion this area was the biggest "hot bed" of COPO and muscle cars in the country!

[whitetop]

T Billigen
I agree with your comment about the Ohio Valley being the hotbed of musclecars. I met a retired Chrysler Zone rep many years ago from my area and he told me about the sheer numbers of rare Chysler musclecars (440 six paks, Hemi's) that were purchased in the Ohio Valley Region which I would included north of Youngstown down past Wheeling and eastward to the Pittsburgh area. His term was they used to call it the "Hot Rod Valley" beacause of th amount of musclecars purchased. I grew up in the valley and have lived in 3 other parts of the country and nothing compares to the numbers of cars in this area. The car numbers in this area are still high today even after many of the cars have been sold (or rusted out- also the emmissions from the mills were horrendous to the cars)to other parts of the country because of the depressed economy this area experienced back in the late '70's and '80's or the guys who owned them moved away and took the the cars with them.

I remember a speed shop in Cadiz Ohio (Coultraps)that was directly in line between Columbus and Pittsburgh. When you walked in the door you pulled a numbered ticket to be waited on. This is from a shop that was out in the middle of nowhere and the closest town Cadiz had a population of 4-5K. The place had 8-9 bays that installed the parts you bought if desired. I talked with Tom Coultrap several years ago and he said it was common for guys to bring in a brand new car in the morning and he would install headers, carb intake wheels etc. and they would pick it up later that day or the next. Again, most were coal miners or steel employees with money in hand.

I know what you mean about the numbers and interest in the Youngstown area. I had some relatives that lived in the Warren Ohio area near Youngstown. My cousin bought a new '70 SS Chevelle(all white stripe delete) and raced it at many of the strips in the area you mention. I went with him in '74-75 to one small strip right across the river in Sharon Pa? Something with Beaver in the name?

Stefano I disrespectfully disagree on the impact employees may have had on the selling of the Copo's. I'm sure it had an impact but if you look at all the mags of the period the Zl-1's and Copos were plastered everywhere in ads, road test etc. Many dealers had ads in Hot Rod or the New York based publications for these cars. The cars were no real big secret back then. There were probably many dealers in the dark just like today.
Dave





[Edited by whitetop (05-09-2002 at 06:35 PM).]

[T Billigen]

White Top, do you remember a Mopar that was Called the "iron horse" I think it was a 69 GTX? The strips near Sharon were Skyline, Meander, and Sunset, I don't recall any with the word "Beaver" in them?

[whitetop]

T
Would not have had the chance to remember the GTX. I was not from the area, just visiting and was only about 12 years old at the time. My cousins car had aluminum slots and was all white. Probably has 40-50 trophies in his house from those days. Next time I visit I'm going to get pics. Was there a town named Beaver in that area? Maybe they were not going to go to Beaver but were trying to go get some beaver... I don't know.
Dave



[Edited by whitetop (05-09-2002 at 07:02 PM).]

[JoeC]

Byrne Brothers in NY ran ads in 1969 for COPO cars but back then they called them "factory 425 hp Camaros and Chevelles". In the drag racing articles they were called "425 hp Camaros"

[68l30]

Currently Northeast Ohio has 155+ Car Clubs,284 advertised local shows thru Oct 2002,and 8 or more car cruise-ins every night of the week.The cruise-ins average at least 50 cars per show earily in the week at small shows and 750+on the weekends/larger cruise-ins.I don't know about the rest of the country,I have lived in Cleveland all my life,but I doubt anyone can compare what goes on here to the rest of the WORLD.We have a local paper just for us cruisers,Cruisin'Times www.cruisintimes.org just to keep up with it.With numbers like this it's no wonder lot's of hi-po cars were sold.I've been to street races in Cleveland in the 90's that had 100+ cars every Fri/Sat night.You had one starter and a line of cars staged behind him.Always a mix of old and new muscle even tubbed race cars....

Steve

[Edited by 68l30 (05-09-2002 at 07:27 PM).]

[Edited by 68l30 (05-09-2002 at 07:29 PM).]

[68l30]

Dave,no problem!I just thought I'd chime in on the current state of affairs around here.I feel to many people in the area (Northeast Ohio) don't appreciate what we have here.It's not until I talk to others from different parts of the country,Southern California inc,that I realize what we have to enjoy!

Steve