1969 Chevrolet Camaro COPO *CLONE*

In 1969, GM's corporate headquarters had a ban on any engine larger than 400 cubic inches in anything smaller than a full size car. This made the 396CI equipped 1969 Camaro SS as the top rung on the regular production order sheet. While the 396 was a very powerful and capable engine, some dealers wanted more. They wondered what a Camaro with a 427 would be like, and their customers were thirsty for more performance. Don Yenko, of Yenko Chevrolet had been ordering SS 396 Camaros and replacing the engines with 427s before selling them at his dealership. This had proven popular but time consuming, and he looked for a way to improve the process. The answer was found in the COPO ordering program. COPO stood for Central Office Production Order. This differed from the RPO(Regular Production Order) process as it was a special order system set up to produce one off batches of cars for police or rental fleets. Don Yenko placed an order for 201 1969 Chevrolet Camaros using this process with the 427 cubic inch 425 horsepower V-8 installed at the factory. As the word got out, other dealers figured out the process and began ordering their own COPO cars. All totaled, Chevrolet produced just over 1,000 of these factory super Camaros. These COPO Camaros were stripped down performance machines, just meant to go fast and look mean. The Camaro you see pictured above is a CLONE of those original COPO Camaro's. Under the hood is the iron block 427 cubic inch V-8 with 425hp and an exhaust note that will scare small children. All this power is routed through a close ratio 4-speed manual transmission and on to 12-bolt rear end with 4.10:1 gears. The exterior of this Camaro is finished in a gorgeous high gloss black with matching black 14x7" steelies and F70-14 tires. This combination gives the car a sinister look that is backed up by the power it produces. Brakes are front disc