[William]

Don’t know about weird, but something about that was unknown for many years.

Three years ago I had the privilege of speaking with Jerry Huffman. The family dealership, Huffmans' Chevrolet, was known as a performance dealership despite being located in Farmington IL, population just over 2,000. The location was near a mine that employed many young guys, making good money. They were well-known at Chevrolet Central Office and were one of the few dealerships allocated a Z-16 Chevelle. Jerry stated that their contact at Central Office, Barney Krass, contacted them Spring of 1969. Chevrolet had decided to end the COPO at 69 units and were soliciting dealerships to place additional orders. The dealership placed orders for two cars, Silver [#66] and Orange [#67] both 4-speeds. Sixteen other dealers also placed ZL-1 Camaro orders at that time.

It wasn’t fate that 69 1969 ZL-1 Camaros were built. Huebner Chevrolet also heard the plan.

I always wondered how that was allowed to happen. Huffmans’ Chevrolet was located 60 miles E of Gibb Chevrolet in La Harpe, IL. At the time of Huffman’s orders, there were 37 unsold ZL-1 Camaros in stock at Gibb Chevrolet. I asked Jerry about that. He said they were acquainted with Gibb and aware of his ZL-1 order but assumed the cars had been sold.

#66 & #67 were delivered late in May. #67 sold first, and quickly became a PIA with multiple engine failures requiring warranty repair and eventually a new engine. Sometime later it was traded in at a different dealership, ZL-1 engine missing. Huffman’s’ re-acquired it, installed the engine from #66 and sold it. It was subsequently destroyed in an accident.

#66 received a small-block and was sold. Survives today, in mostly original condition. Incredibly, the original blocks for both cars still exist.

Might sound like a yarn, but there is reason to believe it. There is a 31-day gap in ZL-1 Camaro production. The last Gibb car, #52, was final assembled on or about March 27, 1969. #53 was final assembled on or about April 26, 1969. The body numbers for those cars are much higher of course, but in another odd wrinkle, #51 was built prior to the last Gibb order despite being ordered much later [as was #54]. It was ordered by Brooks Chevrolet for Lamar Walden, possibly one of the few ‘insiders’ at Chevy.

BTW #3 was the first ZL-1 Camaro ordered, body #211785. Legend has it that Berger Chevrolet ordered 2 COPO 9561 Camaros, later changed one order to COPO 9560. Body #211786 is an L72 COPO.