#195 **I'VE GOT MAIL** 6-19-2021 Saturday

The arrival of this Brochure was really exciting, as it features something different, unique, and very limited.  By the late 60s, the Muscle Car craze was hitting the peak of its furious pace.  Any automaker unwilling to mix up a cocktail of street-legal dynamite lost not only image-boosting bragging rights, but also sales to those fanatics for whom only the hottest most explosive cars would do.  General Motors Chevrolet division had an impressive number of exciting cars on hand to entice acceleration-addicted buyers; SS models to satisfy the majority of Bow-Tie lovers.  But "most" was "not" all. 

While it was great to swagger around town with those magic "396" numbers on your hood or fenders, it would be pure magic to ride around with a 427 under the hood instead.  Chevy, of course, had just such an engine available in their Corvette and full-size Chevy.  But it also had an official corporate policy banning this engine in any of its mid-size cars...including the Camaro. 

So some enterprising dealers, including Don Yenko and Fred Gibb, approached Chevrolet with the proposal that a limited number of Camaros be factory-equipped with the 427 and other speed-goodies.  And GM's special production engineer, Vince Piggins, made that happen with a "Central Office Production Order" (COPO).  The resulting COPO Camaro sported the coveted 1.72 iron-block 427-cid, 425 horsepower V-8 with a single four-barrel carb.  Most featured four-speed sticks, although some automatics were produced.  While less than a thousand of these brutes (priced from $3,500-$4,500) actually made it to dealerships, the incredibly fast '69 COPO Camaro was instrumental in Chevrolet's division to produce "official" big-block beasts the following model year.  

Danbury Mint presents a car that General Motors kept a secret...and you had to be "in the know" to get one!  But not so with DM's model, it's now available with no hassle! 

The 1969 Chevrolet COPO CAMARO