69 Copo Camaros sold new in Canada

[Keith Tedford]

I stopped in at Nurse quite regularly in '69. They always had something interesting on the lot. Always at least one Z/28. They even had one that they installed the track cam and cross ram setup. They even let me take the car out for a drive. Most disappointing ride I ever took. A ZL1 on the lot would have been BIG news around Oshawa. Lots of us were aware that it was available. You never know. I always stay positive about these stories because there was a time in the '80s when no one believed that there were COPO Chevelles.

[midyr]

The ZL1 was never put on the lot for sale, at least not as a ZL1. What I was told was that Eaton had powdered every motor that GM had sold him, needed a motor for the next race, the run of 430 blocks had been exhausted, and all GM could offer was the motor in a new ZL1 Camaro sitting unwanted in Detroit. The car was rushed to Nurse, the motor immediately pulled and taken away by Eaton's people. They made the race that weekend. The Camaro sat around Nurse for a while, only a hand full of inside folks knowing what it was - and, in those days, nobody caring. GM couldn't sell the cars with a motor in them, much less without one, so it became just another Camaro at that point.

[my70454ss]

So does anybody know what became of the car?

[midyr]

I have been told it is in Hamilton and the owner knows what it is, but never heard anything more than that and don't know how reliable it is. All I do know for certain is what I have related above. I can't remember for sure how many blocks I bought from Eaton, but I did get every one he had, two at least, maybe more. That was November of 1969 so it is highly likely one had originated in the Camaro, and probably one of those in the previously attached photo.

[firez]

The ZL-1 would not happen to be white would it?

[COPO PETE]

I'm guessing yellow!
Peter

[Thomas]

I have a vague recollection that someone on this site mentioned that this car is back in the US and is being restored.

[P.J.]

[. I've never tried to track down any of the cars but would gladly help anyone one who has a car on the page.

[/ QUOTE ]
great idea maybe I will post some of the vin numbers on my
micro and see if any of the numbers are out there.
PJ

[William]

Let’s approach this analytically.

All of the 19 non-Gibb ZL-1s are accounted for and only #67 no longer exists.

Of the 50 Gibb cars 34 are known to still exist, ranging from complete to basket case.

Of the remaining 16 two almost certainly no longer exist. One is titled to an insurance company after being stolen in ’72; another one is recorded as stolen/junked.

That leaves 14 with sketchy or no history. Of these 2 were still titled last time I checked but could not be verified. Two others were extensively raced and one reportedly crashed; the other is Malcom Durhams’ Strip Blazer which may still exist. Another was shipped to Australia and has been reported as destroyed. One was stolen new in CA. 5 have never shown any registration history.

That leaves the Merollis cars. Merollis Chev in Detroit received 5 Gibb ZL-1s all of which were supposedly stolen. Two were recovered; one junked, another is in restoration. What is odd is that none of the remaining 3 was titled to an insurance company. Either they were not stolen or they were recovered. If the ‘mystery’ Canadian ZL-1 came from Detroit it virtually had to be a Merollis car.

The three are:
#32 N610515 Hugger orange auto
#37 N612963 Fathom green 4 speed
#50 N620498 Le Mans blue auto

The five that have no history:
#10 N608969 Dusk blue auto…may have been DX’d to Van T Chev in VA
#19 N609530 Dusk blue 4-speed
#21 N609651 Dusk blue 4-speed…engine block found in AZ
#45 N618522 Fathom green auto…may have been DX’d to Penske Chev in PA
#48 N618902 Le mans blue 4-speed

Happy huntin’

[wwchevy]

I absolutely love William's posts. You sir are a number crunching, data analyzing genius. I really appreciate your analytical approach to different scenarios. Even though you make it sound like they weren't really stolen or have been recovered, I still look for the Merollis ZL1's everywhere I go.