When did you first discover C.O.P.O. cars

[Keith Tedford]

I found out about the COPO car availability in early calander year 1969. A friend worked in the Oshawa main office, and he told us about these cars. His brother went to Beare Motors and they had no clue as to what he was talking about. Given the COPO code, they checked with GM and, Yes, you could order one. John ordered his right away but didn't get it until about July. The dealer got one in from another dealer and Ken got his later in July. Mine was dealer ordered and I bought off of Beare Motors' lot in the middle of August. Several dealers like Belmont, and Central Chev in London knew about these cars as well. How they got the information is anyone's guess. Perhaps GM informed the more performance oriented dealers. Nurse Chev-Olds in Whitby, Ontario sold a red COPO Camaro in '69 but was destroyed in an accident within about a year. I believe it was the UOP Shadow CanAm cars that used the Nurse shop on the CanAm weekends at Mosport.