Questions on this 1969 Impala SS427 on eBay

[442w30]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/RARE-SS-4...ht_25399wt_1167

1. It's not a COPO, right?

2. Color should be called Monaco Orange?

Thanks!

[PeteLeathersac]

No Copo required for the L36 427/390 also the same even if the L72 427/425 as both were RPO's for '69 B-Body cars..

It's doubtful the paint required a Copo order either especially for a single/lone vehicle although if a whole bunch of vehicles were ordered at the same time and/or there was other special equipment too, a Copo's more of a possibility.

Although beautiful, it's also questionable if the Hideaways were original equipment w/ this car if truly an original 427SS..

Cool car and all but like everything else, where's the proof?!

[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]
~ Pete

[Bill Pritchard]

It's only a COPO in the sense that the paint was not a color normally available on an Impala. And since it was a special order color, it's hard to say whether they referred to it as Hugger or Monaco. There's been some discussion of the car over on the SS427 Impala website.....general consensus is that it has a lot of detail items incorrect and is overpriced. I have seen that car listed on eBay numerous times over the past 7 or 8 years.

Edit: Oops, looks like Pete was hitting the &quot;Submit&quot; button while I was still typing [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]

[442w30]

My impression was that COPO was a channel to special order a fleet of cars, like for the police department, phone company, taxi company, or a subversive hot rod program.

But it seems with anything that's out of the ordinary, such as a special-order color, sellers like to throw the COPO term around.

[mockingbird812]

may have the original prop shaft - check out the 3 witness marks of the original I.D. stripes.

[markjohnson]

I've always thought that the Hide-aways were Caprice only, and not available on Impalas in 1969.

[69hurstSC]

Are the exhaust dumps typically behind the rear tires on 69 SS Impala's? Its my understanding as well that hideaways were only available on the Caprice. Either way its a cool piece and definately fits under the catagory of &quot;rare&quot;.

[Kurt S]

A COPO required engineering approval and pricing.
This is a special order paint, aka FSO - Fleet/Special Order.

[Keith Tedford]

As an example, when GM was going to build the COPO cars, they would have to build one or more prototypes to make sure that there wouldn't be any unforseen problems on the assembly line and that the setup would work satisfactorily on the street. This would be why the COPO cars got the BE and KQ rearends. Just a little more durability. GM probably knew that the standard 4.10 gears might be borderline especially with the extra power and when a 5-50 warranty is being applied. There would be emissions considerations as well. Never as simple as it first appears althought the COPO deal was about as simple as it gets.

[Kurt S]

They didn't have to do prototypes - but they did have to make sure it works.
Consider a typical COPO - a special wheelbase truck to mount a custom bed. They would make sure the wheelbase was doable and would support the weight. And figure out the driveshafts and pricing. All on paper, all for one sale.