Missing COPO in Hot Rod magazine?

[Xplantdad]

[ QUOTE ]
On page 13 of the latest Hot Rod (February) there is a pic with a blurb underneath about a COPO undergoing resto at Classic Automotive Restoration Service. They are claiming it is an engineering car that was supposed to be crushed or it is one that was never registered. R.L. Polk and NICB had no record of the VIN. 140 mph speedo, M-22, Hugger Orange, BE rear.

Anyone know what they are talking about?

[/ QUOTE ]

I would think it would be this car from SEMA '09?

[Tracker1]

That's it.

[Stefano]

Interesting to see that Alan Colvin and the GM Heritage Center are verifying L72 Copo Camaros.

[1969l78]

That overspray on the intake is a little over done. My survivor car has looks nothing like that.

[MultiMopars]

Many cars that were purchased to be race cars were never titled or licensed. Many of them simply had the MSO passed to the buyer, never sending it to the state to be titled. If it was not going to be street driven there was no reason to title it.

[markjohnson]

Gotta agree about the overspray! That factory aluminum high-rise intake is a thing of beauty (at least to me!) and still out-performs most aftermarket manifolds! That overdone overspray makes that high-horse engine look like a cast iron manifold'ed 325 HP engine!

[William]

When a SHP BB with chrome rocker covers was painted the entire top of the engine was covered. There should be very little orange on either end and none along the sides.

Like so:



The exception to this is 65-67 BB Corvettes which did not have chrome rocker covers. Only the intake was covered and there was some orange overspray along the sides of the intake as they had to paint the rocker covers.

I do not believe any of the claims made about this car. Not registered until 2006? Chevy just handed someone this car with no MSO as they stated it does not come up on an NICB search. Somehow it was owned for 37 years, driven and wrecked but never registered. Sure.

[Stefano]

Not all cars will show up on an NICB report.

[Keith Tedford]

While the old pictures aren't great quality, the ones of our COPO engine and that of a friends show no obvious orange paint on the intake. Anything as bad as this one would have been obvious in our pictures. Has anyone ever seen a factory engine with that much overspray or anything remotely like it. From back in the day, I certainly don't recall anything like this.

[John Brown]

[ QUOTE ]
I do not believe any of the claims made about this car. Not registered until 2006? Chevy just handed someone this car with no MSO as they stated it does not come up on an NICB search. Somehow it was owned for 37 years, driven and wrecked but never registered. Sure.

[/ QUOTE ]

As far as the claims and the restoration (if you might even call it that) I can't believe this car either. However years ago, before used car dealers had to pay sales tax and get titles when they bought a new car from their local dealer or auction, I had several new cars still on a MSO. Would just slap a dealer plate on it and drive it just like any other used car. When it came time (maybe even 10 years later) to sell it the buyer would pay sales tax and we would get them a state issued title. Finally the states realized they were losing out on the sales tax and even more likely the insurance companys realized that we were running dealer insurance on a new car and they weren't getting their "fair share". All good things finally came to an end when they closed that loop hole, but it lasted for many, many years.