Car Search Info

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

According to Cunneen's book, Malcolm's Strip Blazer has not been found - but the engine has??
M

[bowtie3168]

I ate dinner with Malcolm and his son on the friday of "The NHRA Division 1 Points Meet" last year. I asked him about his ZL1 and it had not been found. Malcolm is a great guy and is very friendly. I recommend caution while contacting him about info (on the ZL1) because some collectors (I think) tried to get some info out of him while trying to purchase the car (for themselves). Mr. Durham is a very bright and smart gentleman, and might think that you are pumping him for info.I would not want anyone to have a negative reaction to him because he might think that someone is trying to get info out of him on the car. He is great to talk to. If you get the opportunity to chat with him at a show I highly recommend it. He has always been a helpful to me with historical facts. He would like to have the car for his collection. If anybody wishes to share some info as to the car's current location I would be happy to put you in contact with him.

Andrew

[JoeC]

The Shay Nichols ZL1 was raced with a wild looking multi colored paint job and white interior. The article said it even took a first place trophy at a custom car show. It did pop up on the net at a Corvette store a wile ago. I emailed them about it and they said it was not for sale and that they had documentation that it was ZL1 #2.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

From my notes I think the Durham car was a Fathom Green, 4speed (M21), 711 interior car. It was one of the 50 Gibb cars that was returned to Norwood, and then reinvoiced to Lustine Chevrolet in Hyattsville, Maryland. I believe it was car #40.
M

[TXYenko]

Wow...you guys are great : ) The car is a California car though according to the wife. She seems to think he was the original owner, but it's been a while, and since it was a race car for the most part, she didn't pay it much mind. I should have looked under the covers at the 5 motors that were sitting on stands, but she wasn't too keen on my rooting around all the cool stuff that was in this garage. She was gonna go look for a folder that may contain more paperwork on the car, I'm hoping that will make the search a lot easier. Thanks for a great site, I'm having a ball reading all about you guys and your cars, and learning a ton along the way.

[bkhpah]

Does the car have an L or N in the VIN#. I don't think an absolute LA COPO car has been located to date. This may be one of the first if it turns out to be a real COPO...BKH

[68TopStock]

TXYenko,

Once (if you do) you receive paperwork, please let us know who the ordering dealer was. Maybe, just maybe, it will be a Courtesy Chevrolet car.

bkhpa/JoeC/CharleyL,

I have been developing some thoughts, that need to be either confirmed, substantiated, or debunked, regarding Harrell COPO orders.

It is known Dick Harrell had a number of Chevrolet dealers willing to go to bat for him over the years. As of this time, little is known about the "missing" COPO's, which appear to have been up to 1/2(?) of all COPO's made in 1969. I think Dick Harrell may have had something to do with many COPO orders in the Southwest. Early in his career he was associated with Gateway Chev. in New Mexico, and Bill Thomas in California. We also know he had Courtesy Chevrolet as his main southwest sponsor for his Performance Center network (AZ, CA). Has anyone made a tally of the current known COPO orders vs the total assumed made, such as from the Tonowanda plant records?

Are a substantial portion of the missing COPO's to be found in the southwest? Are these COPO's to be found around regions that had National drag events, such as Beeline in AZ or GreenValley in TX or Lions in CA? Are beat-up old drag cars a viable source of future COPO restoration projects, if they can be documented as a COPO in some fashion?

[Ed Cunneen]

The Shay Nichols ZL-1 Camaro was car #5, not #2. Robert Carpenter was shown as the original owner of ZL-1 #2. I believe Shay's car was destroyed.

[68TopStock]

Ed,

Was there a misprint in the '69 Hooper book?
I have some articles from the Dragworld publication, regarding Shay Nichols racing Plymouths(?) in TopStock, Division 4 (Texas). Same class as Herb and Fred with "Little Hoss" in 1968. This was prior to her converting to Chevrolet with her ZL1. She was runner-up in her division for 1968.

[Ed Cunneen]

It must have been a misprint.