Can anyone shed light on the official definition of a "COPO"?
Central Office Production Order.
If you wanted a fleet [at least 50 I believe] of cars with non-normative options or equipment a request was placed with Chevy's Central Office in Detroit. If Engineering approved it a number was assigned and the cars got built. Mostly used for police, fire, commercial vehicles. Non-RPO paint also used this process.
Most famously used for back-door hot rods such as the ZL-1 & L-72 Camaro. Someone who would know told me GM management was quite upset when they learned the process was used to circumvent corporate policy regarding engine size limitations for certain car lines.
Can you go into more specific information with regards to "Non-RPO" paint. Would "Special Paint" delete fall into this category?
Non-RPO paint is any color OR stripe color not listed as regular production. Central Office had to approve all non-RPO paint but those cars are not thought of as COPOs. Technically you could order any GM color except some of the Cadillac metallics. A few Z/28s have been found with non-RPO stripe colors such as Le Mans blue/black and Cortez Silver/white. These are not always - - paint. Stripes could also be deleted.
A few weeks ago it was revealed that there was a special COPO stripe. Don't know much about it just now but it appears to be available on ducted hood cars. It may be a single Z/28 stripe on the hood and upper grille panel.
Thank you William...with so much "stuff" out there on the web your explanation is by far the best!
William
I am very interested, if you could post, of the copo stripe. Possibly elaborate more as to the size and placement
Thank you
What exists is this photo from an old issue of The Camaro Enthusiast. The owner of the car was adamant that this was a factory stripe.
(http://i598.photobucket.com/albums/tt65/JJZ109/image001-3.png)
A few weeks ago someone posted a COPO window sticker. The last line reads PAINT STRIPE-HOOD. The COPO # was obliterated and we are hoping for a better copy. There is a poor photo of the car from the side [burgundy] but it does appear the top of the hood is white.
I have seen that kind of stripe before. I just can't remember where. It's been a few years since High School.
I have a stripe that is almost exactly that. It runs down the trunk as well, but not on the roof
There was some discussion a long time ago on this site regarding a similar stripe. I don't recall if a photo was posted or not. Someone was looking for info regarding a single stripe centered on the hood, also not a Baldwin car.
William...if a car comes from the factory w/o stripe's would it show up as - - on the cowl or is the only way of knowing on a build sheet? In other words what is the difference between one - and --?
Explained here: http://www.camaros.org/numbers.shtml#ExteriorColors:S:SpecialPaint
William
Do you have any more information on the burgundy car?
It was a double [triple?] COPO RS out of Courtesy Chev in Ohio. Still exists but has been raced for 40 years.
COPO was also used to get a Camaro built with a non-standard (non-RPO) option.
An example is in 1968 4:56 rear gear was a RPO G82 in 1969 you had to get 4:56 gears using COPO 9511
Quote from: JoeC on September 21, 2010, 08:16:06 AM
COPO was also used to get a Camaro built with a non-standard (non-RPO) option.
An example is in 1968 4:56 rear gear was a RPO G82 in 1969 you had to get 4:56 gears using COPO 9511
I find this last statement about '69 very interesting. I took my rearend apart to rebuild it and found 456 gears in it. They are GM gears stamped 6/69 and my car was built first week of July. My POP says my gears should be 331. The car is a L48. Could these be COPO gears or what happened?
If it was ordered that way, the POP should show it. Possibly someone swapped an axle. Check the axle code on the front of the passenger side tube. I know I swapped a couple of boneyard axles back in the day. Fast cheap way to get a posi, or to fix a blown rear.
Some gears were dealer installed. I had a 1970 SS396 Nova with original dealer new car paperwork showing they installed 4:10 gears
IIRC, Nova's had very limited gear choices. Hence the dealer install.
It's a numbers matching car so the rear end is the correct one for the car. I guess I'll have to go with dealer install. The only original paper work I have is the POP and owner's manual.