1962 COPO Impala 409? First COPO?

[JoeC]

I have heard that some of the Impalas were built using the COPO system. The 63 Impala was built using RPO Z-11 so I guess there was no need to use the COPO system in 63 but I found this information on an Impala web site:
In addition to the 57 1963 Z-11 Impalas sold, "there were about 20 C.O.P.O. 1962 Impala's built mid to late in the year with aluminum front ends and equipped with 409's. These 409's had special features like the Z-11 intake manifold, special camshaft, heads, etc. There were also 18 extra sets of aluminum front ends made for that year and sold to race car drivers".
If this is true, the 62 Impala would be an early use of the COPO system to build high performance cars. There may have been some Corvettes built before 1962 using the COPO system. Anyone know when the first high performance COPO car was built?

[bowtie3168]

I was speaking with the owner of Dave Stricker's 1962 Bel Air "The Old Reliable" during last year's "York US 30 Reunion". I am not sure if the '62s had the aluminum nose installed at the dealership or if they were installed at the factory. The '62 is owned by a gentleman from Ohio and he bought the car at a swap meet in the early 1980s with the help of Dave Stricker himself! Unfortunatley Dave Strickler died of a heart attack while mowing his lawn in 1984.

Andrew

[sixtiesmuscle]

'62 Belair is an expert on this stuff, but, if memory serves me, no the '62 Z11 "package" was only available over the counter, so, would have been dealer installed, or, sold to basically anyone who wanted it. The story is that No '62s got aluminum front ends from the factory. Since Chevy wanted to sell Impalas & Super Sports, but, most racers put the aluminum on Belairs & Bicaynes in '62, Chevy decided to build the '63 Z11s as the only way to get the aluminum components. That, at least is the story I've heard many time over the years.

[Belair62]

I don't know if any 62's officially left the factory with aluminum.It has always been said that it was an over the counter,service parts type of program. I wouldn't doubt if there was a few though since Pontiac was pumping them out in aluminum in 62 from your friendly Pontiac dealer and even had some 61 aluminum parts.This is an interesting subject,maybe Jim Mattison would have some insight..

[JoeC]

In the 1998 MCR interview, Jim did mention that the 1962 409s may have been done using the COPO system but he was not there at the time. He worked in the Fleet and Special Order Dept. from 67 to 72.

[bowtie3168]

BelAir62,
Have you seen Arnie "The Farmer" Beswick's video about the history of his life? There is alot of great info on it. There is a great deal of "Super Duty" info. One of the many things that I learned was that Arnie's '64 GTO 2dr sedan came with a 421 SD and an aluminum nose. I know that I will be questioned on this but the video states it.

Andrew

[Fast67VelleN2O]

Verne,
How many original 1962 aluminum front ends are still around would you say?

-Matt

[Verne_Frantz]

I'm aware of 9 of them, most on Belairs though. (not factory)

Verne [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

[dvss1]

I bought a pair of 62 aluminum fenders out at carlisle in the spring 2009

[novadude]

Weird that they would have all been Super Sports. Add weight with bucket seats and console and pull it out by making the fenders light. Seems strange, but I guess the marketing types wanted to see the SS trim on the racetracks?