what does copo mean

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Norm;
The COPO ordering system was the method used by various customers to order 'fleet' vehicles. The customers were usually municipalities (police cars, township vehicles), taxi companies, ect... These companies simply wanted some special equipment, options combination, or even a color change for a bunch of vehicles. Fred Gibb in Laharpe, IL figured why not use this method to order special equipment that makes the cars go faster! (sort of like a fleet order of factory built/warrantied race cars). The only stipulation was that the COPO request needed to use existing GM parts, and had to be approved by the engineering dept. Fred Gibb used this method to order 50 L78 Novas with the TH400 trans, which was a special trans in '68. Obviously, dropping a Corvette L72 427 engine into a '69 Camaro or '69 Chevelle was fairly easy, as was an LT1 350 into a '70 Nova, so they were approved but not advertised by GM. Many of the COPO cars went to Yenko Chev. who then added his finishing touches and sold them through his dealer network.

I believe the COPO secret got out in '69 via Jim Mattison who was dating Berger's daughter?? Any truth to that??
M