1969 copo l88 convertible

[Lee Stewart]

The Only COPO L88 Known To Exist

https://www.mecum.com/lots/SC0522-50...8-convertible/

[Tracker1]

4.56 COPO axle order. I wonder if the intention was drag racing at first and then usage evolved into road racing....

[useless tony]

I am confused by this ad ....

I have heard that COPO means either Central Office Production Order or Central Office Purchase Order but that doesn't really matter as that isn't the confusing part. My understanding was that in 1969, Chevrolet would not sell Camaros with an engine larger than 400 cu in so several dealers got together and order a bunch of Camaros through the COPO "fleet" program. This allowed the dealers to put in a large order for Camaros with 427 engines. I have also heard of COPO Chevelles as this would allow a relatively large volume purchase of 427 Chevelles when the "factory" only offered the 396 as the largest engine.

That being said, IF the above is correct, COPO means "large fleet order" yet I have only ever heard of COPO Chevelles and COPO Camaros. If there is such a thing as a COPO Corvette, shouldn't there be a large number of them too, in order to satisfy the fleet order requirement?

I always assumed an L88 Corvette was simply a car that was available to order directly from a dealer (or maybe specifically from a "performance" dealer who knew how to find the possibly well hidden order code) and the low number of cars built simply reflects the low number of Corvettes ordered with the L88 engine.

If I am correct (and it doesn't appear that I am), how is it possible that a dealer ended up ordering a "fleet of one" L88 Corvette? I may be wrong but I seem to recall reading that a "fleet order" had to be a minimum of 50 cars, which is why several dealers got together to put in a COPO order of 427 Camaros.

What am I missing?

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by useless tony

I have heard that COPO means either Central Office Production Order or Central Office Purchase Order ?

Central Office Production Order

Originally Posted by useless tony

That being said, IF the above is correct, COPO means "large fleet order"

It doesn't have to be "large". Not sure how you made that jump.

The COPO process existed well before all these performance vehicles were ordered. Its original intent, and major usage, was to configure special vehicles outside the production process. Normally this would be nondescript vehicles like special order taxi cabs, or some quantity of vehicles in a particular color or with regular option content removed.

The idea to co-opt the COPO process to create high performance dealer packages came later.

Also - often the production volume quantities were a constrain by race sanctioning bodies; ie - there needed to be 50 production vehicles in order to allow entry in a certain race class.

Jim Mattison, more famously known as the creator and owner of Pontiac Historic Services, did this job when he worked at Chevrolet.

K

[useless tony]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Central Office Production Order. It doesn't have to be "large". Not sure how you made that jump.

I jumped to the assumption that COPO meant large volume because it is my understanding that a GM dealer wasn't able to put in an order for a 427 Camaro or Chevelle due to the ban on anything larger than 400 in a Camaro or Chevelle. The way around the issue, allegedly, was to order enough vehicles in order to qualify the order as a "fleet" purchase and apparently "fleet" purchases could be ordered with any engine available. The "order enough" vehicles is why I assumed a volume buy was required. That is also why I understand that a few dealers got together and ordered as a group, so they could order the required number.

Believe me, I am not claiming I know what I am talking about

The COPO fleet order makes those cars special (in my mind) simply because not every dealer could or would want to place a large order. That being said, the apparent fact (or possibility) that a certain trans or rear gear may have required a COPO order isn't special in my eyes if any dealer could have placed that order.

Ticking a box on a different order form (the COPO form) in order to get 4.88 gears, something that (it sounds like) any dealer could have done just isn't the same (again, to me) as a dealer or a couple of dealers getting together to pull the wool over GM's eyes, go against company policy, and order something GM said it won't allow.

COPO ordered 4.88's isn't special if that was simply the process needed in order to get that ratio. The gear ratio itself may be worth talking about if it is one of three (or whatever) to get the ratio but that it had to be ordered through COPO ... meh ... not seeing it as special

Please keep in mind, this is just my opinion and I have already admitted to not knowing what I am talking about

[TimG]

Does anyone know the VIN of this car?

[Drew Papsun]

Originally Posted by TimG

Does anyone know the VIN of this car?

Hello Tim,
The VIN is 194679S722688 to answer your question.
Best Regards,
Drew Papsun
203-286-6024

[TimG]

I believe this car is a non J56 brake L88, that is why it is one of one and a COPO. J56 brakes were manditory on L88's.

[BCreekDave]

The build sheet seems to indicate the COPO was the M22 trans? Was the standard trans for the L88 an M21? That seems strange.

[carnut4life]

I'm confused too Tony. It looks to me like the tank sticker says the COPO is listed after the ZR1 option as "COPO TRANS M22"