Driving the Holy Grail Camaro - This 1969 Chevrolet Camaro COPO ZL1 Tribute is a 550HP Sledgehammer

(video notes at bottom)

The story of the COPO Camaros is an interesting one. GM, somewhat bizarrely, had decreed that none of their cars (except the Corvette) less than full-size would have an engine greater than 400ci - and this dead in the middle of the muscle car craze. Chrysler was putting HEMIs in Dodge Darts and Chargers, and Ford was running 427s and 428s in their Mustangs. Given that, Camaros just weren't competitive on the streets or, more importantly, in the NHRA Super Stock class.

For dealers like Don Yenko and Fred Gibb who raced competitively and had a customer base doing the same, this simply wouldn't do. So they conspired with Vince Piggins, the head of GM's performance and supply division, to order a series of car in an unusual way - using the COPO (Central Office Production Order) program instead of the consumer level RPO (Regular Production Order) system. COPO was intended to be used by fleet services for special order vehicles that needed different equipment - taxi companies, police departments, roadwork companies, etc. By doing this, they were able to get some incredible factory-built race cars past the powers-that-be at GM.

Of those, the ZL1 is the top dog. It was ordered with the all-aluminum 427 big block that had been built for Bruce McLaren's Chaparral Can-Am race car, with Aluminum Heads and Block from the Winters Foundry, all tuned for maximum performance. Add a specially tuned Holley 4-bbl, a Muncie M22 (Rock Crusher) 4-speed, a 12-bolt POSI rear with heat-treated gears, and a special suspension, and you had the makings of the quickest production car ever built by GM, and one that is even competitive with today's technological supercars (at least in a straight line). Rated at a deceptive 425HP, they in fact produced something closer to 550HP, and would rip off a 13 second quarter mile in factory trim. Add headers and slicks at the back, and they would dip in to the 11s. This made them intensely competitive in several NHRA classes, but also made them intensely expensive with a ticker price over $7000 (by comparison, a loaded Cadillac Eldorado at the time came in at about $6700). And this for a "stripper" with no gauge package, no center console, and steel wheels with dog-dish hubcaps.

As a result of the high price, Gibb wasn't able to sell the 50 or so cars he ordered (that number was need for homologation purposes). He pleaded with GM to distribute them around to other dealers, and they complied - the last ZL1 was sold in 1971, and many of the dealers removed the engines for other purposes to make the cars more affordable.

How times change. Now the remaining cars of the 69 1969 ZL1 Camaros built have become the Holy Grail of Collectors, with prime examples running up and over $1 million. This 1969 tribute car was put together by an incredibly skilled and dedicated professional car restorer as his own project. He painstakingly sourced original parts over the course of 6 years, and gave the car a frame-off rotisserie restoration. Real ZL1 Winters Heads and Intake, a Real ZL1-issued Holley Carburetor, and every other part on the car being true OEM with not a single reproduction part. He once drove 6 hours to get the correct alternator bracket, and paid $400 for a water pump pulley easily sourced for $40. The Carb took years to find, and was purchased for more than $5K before being professionally rebuilt by Holley. Even the Delco Horns are originals he has professionally restored.

All in all, you will not find a more faithful or original ZL1 tribute, and your friends will never know it's not the $1 million variety - everywhere you look at this car, the dedication bordering on obsession is evident, and it looks, runs, and drives as new.

Full review and test drive by Bill. This car will soon come available on Bring a Trailer, and depending on its success there, will otherwise be offered at Mecum Kissimmee in late August.

1. I keep saying Fred "Gibbs," which is driving me crazy. Fred "Gibb" was the dealer who ordered the cars. I blame the 300SL and Daytona for distracting my brain.

2. At 5:15, I misstate that Don Yenko's cars had aluminum block 427s, when I meant to say iron.