ThE ** RAREST** C.O.P.O. Car .
 

I've heard the word C.O.P.O. for a long time, but have always wondered which one of the car's is the Rarest C.O.P.O.-- Do any of you have a idea, or thought about which one it is ? How it would be picked, would it be based on the fewest cars built, the number of engines,built or the size or type of engine , or how many of C.O.P.O.s it has. >>>>>>>>>>>>

El Camino's built for U2 chase and landing gear duty??

Images:

Yenko stinger vegas?
 

Over 400 built with les than 10 known to survive? That's around a 2% survival number.

All acedemic as far as I am concerned. Rare does not always equal desirable.
Some guy finds a 1 of 1 special order special paint Rambler in fuscia with a chartruse interior and thinks it is worth a bundle.

COPO cars include a lot of cars other than the 427 Chevelles and Camaros (including ZL1 cars), or the 70 Yenko Duece. Most of them are not all that collectible. Odd and unusual, and sometimes great conversation pieces, but that doesn't make them desirable.

ZL1 RS, what did they make, 2?

COPO ZL-1 Corvette?
At one time years ago I heard there were 2 made in 1969. Recently heard as many as 8?

The RS ZL1's -specifically the original paint Lemans Blue RS ZL1 with white interior and v-roof.... there is no question.
Then down to the other special order ZL1's - IMHO you probably start with the Daytona Yellow Berger ZL1 D80- Endura car.

Two door base Malibu police car in 1974 (undocumented).

As far as I know they made one.

K

Looked it over at GM Carlisle a couple of years ago. L-82 with steel valve covers. Undercover car!

ZL1 Corvettes were not COPOs. The engine was an RPO.

I'd say the ZL1 Camaros were the most desirable COPO's built.

Blue RS ZL-1 Camaro and/or '68 Z 'vert (if that build was summoned via COPO?).

Is that the Pete Estes car?

K

----Yes, Keith! Later to be owned by Al Maynard, who had the original paperwork stolen out of his truck at the Auburn auction never to be found. He did have copies of everything though...…...Bill S

Agree that this is academic, but the above statement is probably a consensus.

Personally I like the oddball stuff too, like the 70 Z28 COPO and LM1's (which are RPO's too). Neither of which bring much $$ over their "regular" models.

That 68 Z Vert has to be one of the most unusual stories ever. Back in the day when you could get anything done with the right incentive.


/R

Rarest "known" differs from rarest "made". Without knowing the exact true number of copos and Zl1s made with absolute certainty, there could have always been one made that would qualify that isnt known and /or doesnt exist today .

In 1998, I went out to buy a 1968 SS Chevelle. 1 owner, garage kept, low mile, orig. paint, S.Ca. car, loaded. It had Diamond pleated- puffed vinyl package tray, side panels, and a matching white 1/4 vinyl top, also puffed up. I hated it, but the widow pulled out the build sheet, and it had special instructions for all the weird stuff. There were other things, I just can't remember clearly. The original owner was a GM employee.
If she didn't have the build sheet, I would have thought it was done in TJ.

Astock, any pictures? Sounds wild.

Sorry, no.

COPO 9801, Taxicab air conditioning for 68. Not sure of the exact specifications but production was only 255.

Chuck you are wrong, they know exactly every ZL1 made

L72 COPO production was buried in the Tailfins & Bowties data. The data was obtained directly from Chevrolet in the ‘80s and reprinted in the book. All of the oft-repeated ’69 Camaro production numbers-3,675 Z11s, 20,302 Z/28s-came from this data.

The data lists 1969 Camaro production by engine size; 230, 250, 327 et cetera. No 427 engine is listed but the figures total 243,085, same as 1969 production. COPO 9560 [ZL1] & 9561 [L72] build records always list L78 for some reason but not Z27 [Camaro SS].

Ergo, both COPO 427 options are included in the L78 totals.

The L48 [300/350] was the standard Camaro SS engine; 22,339 built. Camaro SS optional 396 engines; 13,659 built. Data shows 34,932 Camaro SS produced. Adding L48 and 396 totals, 22,339 + 13,659 = 35,998.

That’s 1,066 more than Camaro SS.

There were 69 COPO 9560 Camaros built; 1,066 – 69 = 997 COPO 9561 cars.

That means the L78 total of 4,889 is inflated. Actual L78 production would be 3,823.

Where do the L89 cars fit into that? Under the L78?

What about LM1 cars?

Just thinking out loud.

/R

L89 was not an engine option. It was an aluminum cylinder head option that required ordering the L78 engine. Factory docs for those cars always list both. The L78 total includes the 311 L89 cars.

LM1s are not COPOs, it was an RPO. Not rare, 10,406 built in the 4 months of availability. It was odd in that it required an optional transmission; the MC1 HD 3-speed was the cheapest at $79 and was dropped as an option at the same time.

This would be a 'rare' triple COPO. Supposedly ordered out of Courtesy Chev, Sebring, OH. The hood stripe was a single Z/28 style stripe down the center of the hood and upper grille panel.

A ZL2 SS is also known to have the COPO stripe.

I was aware that both are RPO's, I was wondering where they fit in the production numbers you gave. Ie, the L89's bundled with the L78, along with the COPO's if I understand you correctly.

The LM1' were bundled where? In the L65 (350),L48 (ss) or L30 (327)?

Just trying to follow the thought process.

Thanks,

/R

Distinct options were tallied individually; then summed up elsewhere in the listing. There were 59,643 '69 Camaros built with 350 engines: 10,406 LM1, 22,339 L48, 26,898 L65.

Back in the day a HS bud had a new '69 Nova LM1/3-speed; another had a 383/auto/3.55 Road Runner. The Nova would put a fender on him nearly all the way down the strip. The 'runner would win but not by much. That Nova surprised more than a few people.

[QUOTE=William;1452996]This would be a 'rare' triple COPO. Supposedly ordered out of Courtesy Chev, Sebring, OH. The hood stripe was a single Z/28 style stripe down the center of the hood and upper grille panel.

]
William .....does the car exist ?

https://i.postimg.cc/FHwFdLv4/ttt.jpg

Is this what the hood stripe would have looked like?

The Tailfins & Bowties info was from Chevy computer print outs called " Passenger option production reports"

they were the production numbers given for the RPO code not for the cars built

The Fran Preve numbers were the engine codes from the Tonawanda plant not the number of cars built

The Tailfins & Bowties RPO numbers and the Fran Preve numbers come close but there are questions on the accuracy of the numbers when used to calculate the number of 427 COPO cars built.

We ran into the same thing when trying to figure out the 427 COPO Chevelle production numbers using the Tailfins & Bowties RPO numbers and the Fran Preve engine numbers

The numbers may be pretty close but I felt they were a bit high when considering all the other data

here is a pic of a page from the Tailfins & Bowties book

"they were the production numbers given for the RPO code not for the cars built'"

Huh? Please explain.


Fran Preve wrote an article "The Numbers Game" published in the April 1987 MCR. Total Camaro L72 engine production is shown as 1,015. He states:

"Remember that these numbers indicate the number of complete engines built for production and after sale use, and do not reflect actual COPO cars produced."

He mentions an error rate of about 2% relative to actual car production. That's about 20 L72 engines. Do the math.

"...when considering all the other data..." I am confident there were 997 L72 Camaros produced.

[QUOTE=Charley Lillard;1453115]I got that WS from the original owner years ago, not very conversant otherwise. He believed it became a full-time race car and was heavily modified last he knew. I didn't get a VIN. Could still exist.

The COPO striping was just like the Z/28, extending to the leading edge of the upper grille panel. This is from an ancient US Camaro Club ad. The owner of the car was looking for others.

I'm sorry Charlie. It just occurred to me you won't be able to sleep until you find one!

Ultra-rare RHD COPO?!

Rare reverse printed license plate too,along with a LH antenna,reverse stamped camaro header emblem, and opposite direction wiper arms . LOL

https://i.postimg.cc/5tWcFSZJ/yy.png

It was the only 1969 Camaro I could find that had a single hood stripe. LOL - didn't realize that the image in the photo was reversed.

That's what it would look like in your rear view mirror.

William !!!!!!!!

...you have a Fish on the line William.

I have been posting about this for over 20 years that I think the Tailfins & Bowties data and the Fran Preve numbers are high estimates for the number of COPO 427 cars built.

I feel the “700” number is more accurate since that is the number that Chevy used in the COPO service letters.

The Tailfins & Bowties data are numbers for RPO L78 and Z27 SS and I don’t see anything that indicates Chevy included the COPOs and 427 engines or that they excluded them.

To use those numbers you have to assume the COPO 427 options are included in the L78 totals and were not included in the Z27 (Camaro SS) total.

This may or may not be correct but it seems inconsistent to say Chevy considered the COPO 427 as a L78 and not an SS.
If they began as an L78, I would think they would be SS L78 before the COPO 427 conversion but we don't know how they were used in the RPO totals.

I don’t understand why people don’t use the “700” number as more accurate since that is the number that Chevy used in the COPO service letters

The Tailfins & Bowties RPO data and the Fran Preve engine numbers are both great sources of information but the “700” number is the number that Chevy used in 1969 as the number of vehicles built.

The Chevy COPO letters, that were reprinted in the COPO Connection book , said about 700 high performance vehicles were “in process” as of 7-9-69.

The 4 COPO letters document the build of the 9560 (ZL1) , 9561 (L72 Camaro) , 9562 (L72 Chevelle) and 9737 (Yenko Sportscar Conversion ). The 4 letters are dated 7-9-69 to 7-24-69 and states the total of these high performance vehicle orders are about 700.

I know some COPO 427 cars were built after 7-9-69 but I don’t think many were ordered after 7-9-69 .

The “700” number includes the 9560 (ZL1) , 9561 (L72 Camaro) , 9562 (L72 Chevelle).

This is about half of what the total is using the Tailfins & Bowties data and the Fran Preve engine numbers.

Attached a pic of the *700” number in one of the 4 Chevy COPO Letters reprinted in the COPO Connection book