Another COPO Camaro Found

[Mr70]

In the November 2003 issue of Chevy Rumble Magazine,on the newsatnds now,is a small picture and article on page 9.
It briefly talks about how the 1969 Wally Booth/Dick Arons/Gordy Foust Red COPO Camaro 9561 was recently found in full Darg Race trim in a collection in Florida,along with other Hi-po parts.
It also states that Matt Murphy owns this car today.
They have a nice picture of Gordy standing next to it in all it's Glory..
The article is to short,can anyone give more details?

[bkhpah]

The car is not a COPO. It was a SS 396 car that was converted to a 427. They had a COPO ordered, but it did not show up in time. The car is a 01B. Once again we have a Chevy Fumble...BKH

[T Billigen]

Man that is some real detective work! You can't sneak anything by on this site! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/scholar.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/scholar.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/3gears.gif

[Unreal]

Next month, Chevy Rumble is doing a spread on my Yenko clone. They determined that my car was originally an air conditioned double COPO. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif

[matt murphy]

Hey that blurb was printed by Chevy Rumble, and I had no idea that they were doing that. They got the info wrong on most of that little article. It was not a COPO . . . it was not affiliated with Wally Booth either. Gordy Foust had this picture and gave it to the writer at Chevy Rumble and they got their info mixed up.

The car was a 396/375hp, garnet red, 4-speed, radio delete, 4:10 gear, Berger Camaro that was used since Dicks COPO car did not get built in time. Berger Chevy gave it to Dick Arons in return for primary sponsorship, and Gordy Foust went to pick it up in Feb. 1969. Gordy and Rich Maskins ripped the car apart at Dicks shop in Detroit and set it up as a SS/E Drag Car. Dick took the original engine out and added a 427 short block to the original heads and intake, and those parts are still with the car today. Something else that was neat on this car was the Motion Performance stickers on the windows. Dick said that he was sponsored by Joel as well. Funny thing about these guys is that they all want to see this car restored and none of them are asking for money to restore it that way. It kind of makes me think that Dick Harrell would probably want to see his old cars restored that way. I am not putting words into his mouth, but I was disappointed to see how the '68 Kirby Funny Car turned out on this site.

Brian (Supercar Restorations) and I are talking about doing a restoration on this car this winter. Dick Arons wants to build the original engine back to 1969 specs for the car as well. Gordy Foust and Dick Arons, and maybe a few others I hope will get a chance to run it at certain events next year. It will be at the Chevy Vette Fest in a few weeks for people to see before we take it back to 1969 specs. Mainly we are going to get rid of the tubed rear end, repaint the car, etc. The paint and some of the painted on decals are original right now. It has 209 miles on the odometer. It is a cool car and I am looking forward to showing it next year. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/3gears.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/3gears.gif

[Mr70]

Brian & Matt
Thanks for clearing this up.I am not very Camaro COPO Literate,but felt something was not right in that article.I am glad you filled in the blanks.
I look forward to seeing this Awesome Camaro at Chicago VetteFest Nov. 21-22-23.Got my Applicaton confirmed today. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
Rick

[bkhpah]

I got to drive the Arons Camaro at York US 30 show. There is something special about all the cars we get to work on, but the old drag race cars are very neat. There was a lot of history made with cars like those. I also was able to get some seat time in the Harrell Funny Car. Sitting in that seat with zoomies and a blower in front of you is amazing. The late 60's cars had to be a hand full. Scary cars to be sure...BKH /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worship.gif

[CWilliams]

Matt- Post us up some pictures if possible.

[NEW]

There is a little picture of it in the December issue of Super Chevy, in the feature covering Camaro Superfest, this summer!

NEW

NEAT CAR!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif

[Stefano]

I believe there is a vintage picture of Matt's car in the book 'Drag Racing The Family Sedan'.

[scuncio]

Freakin' MAGAZINES! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Very Cool car Matt!

[Supercar_Kid]

Here's a pic of Matt Murphy's L-78 that I took at the York US 30 Musclecar Madness show this summer. It's a little blurry, but it's the best I've got. Awesome car. Berger L-78 (http://members.aol.com/erikbarr/MurphyBerger.jpg)

[camarojoe]

Maybe this one's a little better... from the Camaro Superfest in July.

[MotownMadman]

Matt,
Is this the same Arons car we talked about on the phone about 5 months ago you were going after, or is that one still out on the loose? I Believe you had said the one you were on to was a B and A car, this the same one without Booth? Congrads on the addition to your ever growing herd of horsepower, and thanks again for the other stuff.
Motown /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif

[matt murphy]

Motown,

This is the same car. I don't remember saying anything about it being an A or B car, but I didn't know much about it when we talked back then. I had a picture of this car from the 1969 Dallas Spring Nationals, that I bought two years ago, and thought it was a cool car then, but to find the car in almost the exact same condition was a treat. Gordy Foust won the event in SS/E that weekend (which I found out when he came to see the car at our shop) and it also went on to win three other events that I have found out so far. I have quite a few pictures of it, but they are all too big to put in an attachment here. I will work on a link to them shortly.

To explain the pictures in the two attachments, the first one was after I got it and had time to put the original Berger Decals on the door with Dicks name on the fender. Berger's old parts Manager, Jim Leukins reprinted them for me since he said that he helped Dick Arons with the car and parts in 1969. The second picture was pretty much like I found the car, minus the Florida mold and mildew. After taking the second owners stickers off the car, I found some more original painted on items that he covered with stickers. One, in particular was the Mechanics name, Rich Maskins. Rich went on to start a company called DART Cylinder heads, and still runs it today. I met him at the US Nationals this year at Indy and he was pretty excited to hear that the car was still together. He also wants me to let him know if we get it back to running form. He said he drove it a bit back then.

Also, there is a small picture of it (and a 1967 Camaro twin to it, in color and design) at the US Nationals in 1969, in the book, "Super Stock . . . Drag Racing The Family Sedan." Not sure how it did there. Brian found me a bunch of articles on the car and Dick Arons, as well as, the original "For Sale" ad that Dick put in the Nov. 21st and 28th, 1969 National Dragster magazine. Asking $4,600.00 for it. I took the car in a trailor to Dick Arons shop after the Superfest and showed it to him. I was surprised to find him and his shop still around, but was glad I did because he had quite a few pictures if it that he gave to me. I think it would be great to see Dick and Gordy make a few passes with it next year. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/3gears.gif

The second owner was Dick Wolverton, who raced it from the early 70's until 1986, and every year at the Gator Nationals from 1973 until it's last race in 1986. It sat in his car port in FL from 1986 until I got it back in June. Dennis Barker at Berger Chevy told me about it and I owe this find to him /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif (that's a root beer cheer dennis). It is at Berger Chevy right now, or at least parked with a few of their other specialty cars in storage waiting for the Vette Fest.

I plan on showing it and racing it a lot, since it has a neat Drag Racing history to it, as well as some pretty cool Camaro legend Sponsors in Berger and Motion (it is not a Motion car, sorry Dave, HAHA). I think Dick said that their best time with the car was around 10:74 at 127 mph. Dick Wolverton pulled out the original engine setup (put it on an engine stand, and it came with the car) and had Booth/Arons Racing Engines build him a 396/325hp engine to race in SS/HA sometime around late 1972, which is still in the car now. Ironically, from the early photos, it had 427 emblems in place of the 396 fender emblems. I found the original 427 emblems in the glove box. Dick put the 396 ones on it when he put a 396 in it in 1972 or so. It is an animal with the built 396 in it, and can't wait to see it lift the front tires again with the 427 back under the hood. Stay tuned for more photos and articles and a link coming soon. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flag.gif

[Charles]

Is this the Super Stock Camaro that Odus Rigsby and Bob Hall were involved with? Was a Maroon color the Arons "team cars color"? Wally Booth seemed to like "Green" cars! Thanks.