[JoeC]

I almost didn't use the term "COPO" because the magazines have blown up the term into a name for hi po 427 and LT1 cars that gets people over-excided but really there were a lot of "COPO" cars and trucks made for fleet and special orders that could not be built as RPO. It is unfortunate that Chevy didn’t keep better records of all the special vehicles they built but it would have been a huge record-keeping task.
The non Pace cars with dash on trim tags may be some type of special fleet order but nothing to do with racing. I read that some of the zones would get dealers together and order a fleet of cars with colors or options that were not available with RPO. They would run some type of local promotional campaign to sell the cars and build showroom traffic. I remember reading about special zone orders not only GM but others auto co.
Chevy took the 67 Pace car program very seriously. Looking through the GM documentation they mention the Central Office a few times. They even had a “Central Office Headquarters Room” at the Speedway Motel and set up a blanket purchase order so any cost to the Indy zones can be “ rebilled to Chevrolet Central Office Merchandising Department”. I would love to see those bills going by stories I have read about race car drivers and promo cars.
There is no mention of clear coat cars in these docs but I read somewhere else that the cars used at the speedway had factory clear coat. Maybe because of the sandblasting effect of running around the Indy track at high speed? Not sure about that but you know there must have been some hi speed runs in the Camaro L78s.