COPO?

[huggerorange]

Hello!
I'm a long-time camaro enthusiast, and the proud new owner of an orange 69 camaro.  I bought the car last week, and already have a few questions that I hope someone can help with.

Is anybody out there knowledgeable on COPO camaros? My car is hugger orange with the RS option, has the functional cowl-induction hood, and black standard interior. In the dash are a 120 mph speedo and 6,000 rpm tach, and the center console houses the gauge cluster. It's a 4-speed car, and came with the muncie, but the engine and rear-end are missing. The car has a curved-neck radiator, big-block heater box, and power disc brakes (rear drums). There is no power steering, and there are no emblems on the car indicating SS. The firewall tag has an "X11" code and a "06A" build date. The vin# is 124379N660445.

At first I thought it was a SS396 car because of the radiator and the heater box, but the x-code was not right. However, because of the tach and gauges, the hood, and the power brakes, I fugured it was still an SS, so I bought it.

When I got the car home, I looked closer at the heater box, and it does not appear to have ever been removed/replaced. (I have owned several first gen camaros over the past 20 years, and I also used to work in a body shop for a guy who restored first gen camaros exclusively, and I have taken alot of them apart) Anyway, I got on CRG and read more about the x-codes, and now I'm wondering whether my car might be a COPO.

I have read about Ed Cunneen and the resources he has. Does anyone know how to get in touch with him? Is my car a COPO?

[william]

This a fairly common question on many of the 1st gen boards. The responses are predictable-look for this, what is the body number, etc.

None of it is proof the car is a COPO. The only proof is original factory paperwork or an unquestionable, original VIN stamped engine.

Cunneen has knowledge of the cars but no one has Chevrolet build records. I believe he no longer "certifies" cars.
If you have any reason to believe the car was sold new in Canada you can get info from the Zone office there as they still have records.

Your next step is to start tracking past ownership. Maybe someone has paperwork or the motor. Long shot but worth it. There are many near perfect COPO clownes out there. No one trusts undocumented cars these days.

[bertfam]

Your car's VIN does fit into the CANADIAN COPO LIST, so yes, do what William suggested and contact the Canadian GM VINTAGE VEHICLE SERVICE.

Good luck and keep us posted...

Ed

[huggerorange]

Thanks to everyone with a reply.

I am contacting previous buyers as we speak, but so far am having no luck with old parts, paperwork or history. I'll keep trying. I did call the Canadian Vintage Vehicle Service, and although my car's vin# puts it in the same numerical neighborhood as a "bunch" of COPO 9561s, it was not sold in Canada, so no luck there.

[copo]

This car was built 71 cars before my canadian documented copo camaro.

[firstgenaddict]

What is the body number?

[KurtS]

And what is the trans code?

[huggerorange]

I mistated the facts. I thought the transmission was a muncie because it looked like a muncie when I first crawled under the car to look. I had found some info. on CRG about transmission codes, and when I took a closer look at my transmission, it's not a muncie. Looks like a borg-warner replacement.

As for the body number, I don't know where to find that. Is it on the firewall tag?

Here is what my firewall tag looks like.

      BODY BY FISHER
ST 69 12437 NOR351147 BDY
TR 711           72 72       PNT
      06A          X11

[KMOTION]

Try posting over on the Yenko website. They cover all the "supercars", Yenko, COPO, Baldwin-Motion, Dana, Berger etc and have LOTS of knowledge. Just reading some of the prior posts will answer most of your questions.

Jim

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?Cat=

[KurtS]

It's still a possible, but will be *really* hard to prove one way or the other.

What's the date on the radiator (see rad article under Reports) and the heater core?

[JoeC]

hello everyone - my first post here

Sounds like an interesting Camaro
Does it have the original grill and if so what color is it?

[huggerorange]

Hello JoeC

I believe that the grille on the car is the original, and it is hugger orange with black insert.

[JohnZ]

Only an SS would have had a black standard grille center section - see:

      http://www.camaros.org/exterior.shtml#1969Grille

[william]

John the car is an RS. All RS grilles were black except for black cars.

[JohnZ]

Oops - missed the "RS" item in the first post.