69 COPO White with Blue ** Pics**

[ORIGLS6]

Joel, pull into a show in a plain Black '70 Chevelle, no cowl induction, no stripes, bench seat, column shift, Malibu door panel badges and SS 454 on the fenders. Talk about exciting the "experts"! You wouldn't believe some of the stories. Used to upset me a little.....now I just sit back and grin.
Like you, I know it's real but I've quit trying to defend it. Those in the know, know........and the rest probably never will.

[TimG]

I too had a great time at the VF. Pat, it was great to see you again. Loved seeing your cars, thank you again for dinner. You have a great family.

[JBB]

Hi Pat. I wanted to go to the Chevy Vette fest, but couldn't make it. (Stefano, sorry for driving you nuts about going, then I didn't show!). There sure was not a definitive answer for so many cars being built, and who knows what hapened on the assembly line. (case in point- a 69 Z/28 in restoration found two marijuana cigarettes under the jute padding of the original carpet). You also have to deal with the jealous parties in this hobby, who are generally pissed at anyone who has something they don't. Pat, keep the faith! Chris, how did #38 pan out? call me or let me know. Stefano, what is the new car listed on you post? call me and let me know....Merry Christmas....Joel

[Belair62]

Joel,that 69 Z /28 with the joints in it was being built for Charley...he has been looking for it 33 years...

[PATRICKJOINER]

Joel;

Thanks again for the kind words. My faith in the 'hobby' is steady. I agree, some folks are either jealous or ignorant. The folks that are not jealous or who do know what they are talking about are very pleasant to talk with & get to know. Great story about the joints. On one of my other Camaros during the resto. process a suspected build sheet was discovered, turned out to be a twinkee wraper! You never know. Bottom line, I've got a great car with history that is almost impossible to replace. I understand that the ZL1 that Lamar raced, (now owned by Reggie) is going to the Barrett Jackson next month. It will be interesting to see what that car sells or gets bid up to, looks like Reggie has a reserve on it. When Lamar sold these cars some years back, he got 250K for the ZL1 & 110K for the COPO.

[JBB]

Yeah that is about it. If it is the real deal, the sky is the limit on the price. I myself like cars with original documentation, as you can verify all kinds of dealer codes and manifests with dealers that are still in existence or contact Chevrolet themselves for help. The big thing that I think people forget about in this hobby and specifically with High Perf Muscle cars of any make is that these cars were driven to thier limits, more so if they were drag raced professionally or not. Does anyone here think the young man in 69 who would soon be going over to Viet Nam would be concerned with number matching authenticity? Hell no, he ran the car because he might not come back. All this concern with number matching and such is nonsense, but if you want to bring the car back to its assembly line state that is cool, but we can't be sure even then because they wouldn't shut down the assembly line because I didn't get the right alternator or you didn't get the right radiator some 33 years later when we go over the car. I will not tolerate a clone/fraud, as that is willful misrepresentation of a car, and who is to know about a clone 150 years from now. That is a beautiful COPO keep digging for info.........Happy New Year....Joel/ILCamaroClub

[PATRICKJOINER]

Joel;

I agree, most of these cars were defintely raced, that's what they were made for. Discovering the history & putting it together for everyone to see is half the story of these cars. This car has very well know history but to hear Lamar tell of how the car(s) were sold is just great! This white COPO was raced professionally by one of the great names of the day & he's still with us today to tell about it! Not only that but the car was GIVEN to him by Chevy with the help of Vince Piggins!! How much better can it get? That, plus it is restored by the man who raced the car. That being said, I was fortunate enough to be able to purchase an even rarer piece of Chevy muscle car history, & the sellers of that car recognized this COPO as a unique opportunity, so we made a deal.

[JBB]

Thanks for the reply Pat, E-mail me your phone # and we will bench race after the Holiday.........Joel