Re: Woj Phil Wojnarowski/Jim Walker1969 COPO Chevelle
 

As luck would have it, a week ago I took the COPO to a car show in Akron, Ohio on Father's Day; a gent came up to me and said that he was involved in racing this car in the mid 70's. He was best friends with the owner then and still great friends today. Well, I got the meet the third owner of the car today at an Akron area cruise-in, Denny W. He also retired from Goodyear as a manager in the aerospace division in Akron. He loved this car and regrets selling it, as everyone did. He sold it for a custom '63 Vette that he wanted to race. He bought this car around 1972 (kept it for about 3 years) and basically raced it a couple of weekends a month during the summer. He said it was a solid 12.0 second car all day long. It was reliable and consistent. He and his buddy Lloyd would take it to the track, uncork the headers, install the slicks, re-time and re-jet the engine and go to town. He raced in "D production, automatic" class.

Anyway, Lloyd, Denny's buddy, provided me with these photos today. The Venue was Dragway 42. We chatted for a good hour at the cruise-in then went to the Eagles club for a beer and more stories. It was a great day. Enjoy the photos.

PS. Near the close of the Father's Day Car Show, another gent came up to me to tell me stories of the 4th owner of the car. I contacted him last week, but have yet to meet him. More to follow...............

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...psug3z7clq.jpg


http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...pssrahrba1.jpg


http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...psr6ixf5q3.jpg


http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...ps6udht8ie.jpg


Third owner Denny, in the white ball cap, his buddy Lloyd next to him, I'm kneeling.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...pscys6vzrv.jpg


Sharing some photos of the car:

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...psptxjdtsy.jpg

Re: Woj Phil Wojnarowski/Jim Walker1969 COPO Chevelle
 

It's all coming together now:-)

Cool history!!!

Ryan

Re: Woj Phil Wojnarowski/Jim Walker1969 COPO Chevelle
 

Phil
It was great to be with you when you were handed the envelope with those pictures. Those two had some fun back then and great stories too.

Mike

Re: Woj Phil Wojnarowski/Jim Walker1969 COPO Chevelle
 

Out-<span style="font-size: 17pt"><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">FRICKIN</span></span></span>-standing Woj. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/shocked.gif[/img]!!!! That is just terrific. Glad you are meeting more new folks with your old Chevelle. Congrats! It just keeps getting better!!! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

Re: Woj Phil Wojnarowski/Jim Walker1969 COPO Chevelle
 

Congrats Phil how exciting. Is there a thread about how you took ownership of this fine 69 or previous history.

Re: Woj Phil Wojnarowski/Jim Walker1969 COPO Chevelle
 

Congrats Phil! Great investigative work on being able to track down the past owners and retrieve those vintage photos!

Van

Re: Woj Phil Wojnarowski/Jim Walker1969 COPO Chevelle
 

Congrats phil great car and story [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

Re: Woj Phil Wojnarowski/Jim Walker1969 COPO Chevelle
 

[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/youguysrock.gif[/img] [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

Re: Woj Phil Wojnarowski/Jim Walker1969 COPO Chevelle
 

That's really cool, Woj!

Re: Woj Phil Wojnarowski/Jim Walker1969 COPO Chevelle
 

Now - that's what I call a GOOD DAY [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/worship.gif[/img]

Well done Phil [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

Love all the decals on the fenders.

Dan

Re: Woj Phil Wojnarowski/Jim Walker1969 COPO Chevelle
 

Wow, it just keeps getting better! Way to go Phil, all the years are coming together. The shots at 42.... [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/worship.gif[/img]

BIG [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

Re: Woj Phil Wojnarowski/Jim Walker1969 COPO Chevelle
 

That is just too freakin' cool, Phil. Not many can say they have this much documentation of previous owners for their car. So awesome!

Cheers
Dave

Re: Woj Phil Wojnarowski/Jim Walker1969 COPO Chevelle
 

Great pics Phil, you're a lucky guy. I searched for years for old pics of my COPO (now owned by Jeff Latondress).

Re: Woj Phil Wojnarowski/Jim Walker1969 COPO Chevelle
 

Other owners have pictures too, but have not produced them. I'm trying to be persistent, without being a pest. The 4th owner said he had some stuff from the car, but his ex disposed of it. He didn't do much more than the third owner, racing on summer weekends, same track(s). These pictures are really cool to me. They capture the era pretty well. The car still retained the black contact paper on the lower rear quarters, door edge guards and mini-mud flaps that the original owner installed.

Phil

Re: Woj Phil Wojnarowski/Jim Walker1969 COPO Chevelle
 

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: mockingbird812</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Out-<span style="font-size: 17pt"><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">FRICKIN</span></span></span>-standing Woj. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/shocked.gif[/img]!!!! That is just terrific. Glad you are meeting more new folks with your old Chevelle. Congrats! It just keeps getting better!!! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img] </div></div>

x2! Unbelievably cool stories that you are finding.

Re: Woj Phil Wojnarowski/Jim Walker1969 COPO Chevelle
 

No kidding , how great to have all that history now!! Great pics

Re: Woj Phil Wojnarowski/Jim Walker1969 COPO Chevelle
 

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: m22mike</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Phil
It was great to be with you when you were handed the envelope with those pictures. Those two had some fun back then and great stories too.

Mike </div></div>

As Mike and I were talking with Denny and Lloyd, Denny (third owner) mentioned that he worked/retired from the Aerospace division of Goodyear in Akron. As it happens, Mike's father retired from there years back. Mike asked Denny if he knew his father and it ends up that he did. Small world.

I still find it interesting that these guys that street raced around Akron are still perusing local car scenes. While having a beer with Denny and Lloyd, Lloyd mentioned some horrific accidents that young drivers had back then while hot rodding around in their muscle cars.

Phil W.

Phil W.

Re: Woj Phil Wojnarowski/Jim Walker1969 COPO Chevelle
 

----Phil,,,Ask them about &quot;The Flame&quot; drive-in the next time you get together with them......Bill S

Re: Woj Phil Wojnarowski/Jim Walker1969 COPO Chevelle
 

Will do Bill. They talked about the POGO and Manners quite a bit. I'll ask about the Flame.

Phil W.

According to my NCRS report on this car, she left the assembly line 50 years ago today. Happy Birthday. And... according to the POP, it was sold 5 days later on 6/23/69. I plan to meet up with the original owner this Sunday for a pop or two. This car has created a lot of fun and good memories for all the owners along the way.

Phil W.

Happy Birthday (to your COPO) !

Happy Birthday to your COPO. It looks good to be 50! I hope I am holding up that well at that age!

That is a milestone indeed Woj! I'll bet the OO is stoked. Have a nice get together. Car doesn't look a day over Day-2!!!! (wheels look GREAT btw and my "baby" turned 50 last week!)

Sam. Happy BD to your car as well. I doubt anyone thought these cars would be so beloved after all these years. Nothing gets old with these gals. Phil Woj.

Yeah Woj, I hear you. I don’t know about you but my gal’s headlights aren’t sagging one bit! :wink:

Happy Birthday to a VERY GOOD FRIEND'S COPO!!!!!

Rich

Well, 50 years ago today, a young Jim Walker rolled into Lyle Chevrolet with his 1968 Super Bee and traded it in for a brand new 1969 Orange COPO Chevelle. He had no love for the Mopar and quickly fell for the Chevelle which he thoroughly enjoyed for the next year. A new wife and son a year later sent the Chevelle packing for new family.

I was on my way to Mike's (M22Mike) place this morning and called Jim to wish him a happy Anniversary for the 50th year since his car's purchase. Jim lives about 10 minutes from Mike. He ended up meeting me at Mike's place where the two shared memories of Goodyear Tire and Rubber, local car related subjects and Mike's current project (Jim was very impressed to say the least!!). The two gents are only a year apart and grew up in the same area. Jim and I went to lunch today, he drove and showed me around his old stomping grounds. This included a stop at the Arfon's place where the jet cars came to life. Buildings are still there. Jim used to stop there on his bike as a kid to check out their latest creations. In the attached photo, Jim is leaning against a door he peaked into the shop in as a kid. He said he was welcomed in, handed a piece of sand paper and told to start sanding the nose of one of the cars Art was working on. You couldn't stand around and watch, you had to work if you wanted to stay in the shop.

When I first me Jim, he said that he heard about Lyle Chevrolet having 427 Chevelles on a Saturday and went to the dealership on Monday and bought the car. The protectoplate from the car shows a purchase date of 6/23/1969. I looked it up on a 1969 calendar this morning, and sure enough, 6/23/1969 was a Monday. Pretty cool. The car was produced on 6/18/1969 and 5 days later was in Jim's possession.

Here's a few pix from today with Jim. He still has great memories of growing up in Akron and all the car related activities from the day. The Arfon's place has a turbine engine casing for a mail box stand. We were also accompanied by the resident cat for our stop. We had a lot of fun today in our brief visit.

Phil W.

Thanks for sharing your great day :)

Great new memories.

Dan

Indeed. Always great to read stories like this and hear the history of these cars. Thanks for sharing.

'

Stories like this are simply the best...never enough!:headbang:
:beers:
~ Pete

.

----Woj,,, Were these buildings where the Arfon's junkyard was? I went by there when I was a kid several times, but the memories are almost gone, LOL! In any event, glad you had that time with them......Bill S

Super stuff Woj. Great photos. Great story. Great get-together!!!

My wife is good friend of Art's granddaughter. Her father was killed racing flat bottom boat.

I remember when Ken bought the block from a machine shop, and then got a hit with Oh dmv. I think the owner of the Copo lived by the Canton airport (over 25 yrs ago). Protectoplate too. Last time I saw the car, was in a tight room in the basement of Ken's house. Good car.

That's just awesome, Phil! Now get down here and see the Molnar Ranch before I come up there for the Chevelle Show next month and drag you guys down here!

Looking forward to seeing that beauty again! Are you sure you want a Mopar guy driving one of those Chebelle thingies??:3gears:

Cheers
Dave

Great story and history of your car Phil. Wish I had that on mine..

I'm very lucky to have found the complete ownership history of this car. The best leads came from bringing the car to two car shows in a matter of a few weeks. The amazement of the folks seeing this car after decades of not knowing what happened to it has been priceless.

Dave, you maybe become a Chevy convert after driving one of these. We will see.

Phil

x2 :headbang:

I got a text this morning from Jim, the original owner of my COPO. He told me it was 5 years ago today that I called him to see if he was the original owner of the car I was caring for. He had been wondering for 44 + years as to the whereabouts of his old love. His text to me was, "Five years ago today, I found a new friend and an old friend". We've been great friends since.

I just wanted to give a shout out to Jim for being such a great enthusiast and participant in the history of this car.

Oddly enough, I never realized the date of our first call, 4/27, until I saw a post from Al Galdi on FB today regarding these great numbers.

Cheers!

That’s awesome Phil! Really amazing he still loves that car. You’re a great caretaker of that machine!:burnout:

Cheers:beers:
Dave

Just awesome Phil!! :biggthumpup: