Number of COPO 427 cars

[Keith Tedford]

At the beginning of a new production run there was a handful of pretty rough vehicles built while the tooling etc. was being tuned in. These vehicles didn't get VIN tags and were used for yard cars/trucks, loaned to schools or scrapped. Slim chance that any were hipo.

[Camaroinaz]

My high school in Mesa, Az. had a 1978 T/A with 400/4-spd combo. Was a test mule at the GM Desert proving grounds in Mesa. They also had 4-5 390 Ford Engines in crates. Rumor was that they came from a load of trucks that were damaged when a train derailed. Seems Ford took the tax break route and donated the engines.

[JoeC]

There are estimates claiming over 1300 hi po COPO engines were code stamped but I don't believe you can estimate hi po COPO cars based on Tonawanda engine production. Chevy production estimating process was geared to build 100,000 or more units not to build low volume COPO cars so the numbers for COPO engines VS cars may not be accurate. There were situations where engines were assembled and stamped with a code for a car that was never built. If you use engine production to estimate that particular cars production number you would be 100% off. Another example is the 1969 ZL1 Corvette where over 100 engines were built and code stamped and only 2 cars were sold to the public.
According to Chevy service documentation there were 700 hi po COPO cars "in process" on July 7, 1969 including ZL1's, Yenkos, 427 Camaros and 427 Chevelles. This could mean that there were roughly only 500 427 Camaros and 200 427 Chevelles ordered as of July 1969. July is late for 1969 Chevelle build date. The 1969 Camaro ran later but I don't believe many 427 Camaros have been found with Aug or later build dates.

*on engine codes*
I have seen 1969 engines with the code stamped on the deck with no vin number on them. Here is an interesting receipt from Nickey dated 1971 where someone purchased what is labeled a 427 "ZLX". Some dealers were selling engines called ZLX that I believe was a ZL1 spec. cast iron engine. It looks like the code is T079ID and part number was 3935494? I did find a code ID engine which is listed as a passenger 1968 L72.
http://www.geocities.com/gearhead_mex/NICKEY.jpg




[Edited by JoeC (01-14-2002 at 07:47 AM).]

[whitetop]

A high school autoshop near me received a brand new '70 Chevelle 350 2 dr. HDtp.. The school would never sell the car because it had no vin or title but the retiring autoshop teacher made a deal and got it in '90 . Always inside and no rust whatsoever. Most of the engine/suspension bolts were rounded from years of use. Paint on top of fenders was worn off also.
Dave

[Rat_Pack]

whitetop, almost the same thing here at a local high school. They have a 75 Nova Custom loaded with about every option including a 350 and a 4 spd. No vin, no trim tag, and no miles. It was involved in a derailment when it was new and was not worth sending back to GM. The local dealer removed the vin and trim tag and sent them back to GM when they received the car. I was told that the car could never be sold because of this.............RatPack...............

[COPO]

Joe,

Your thoughts seem to tie in with my earlier posts where I said 300+ non-Yenko iron block 427 COPO Camaros.

Also, Motion used to sell engines called "ZL-X" and I seem to remember they were 12:1 or higher L-72's and LS-6's with cast iron open chamber rec. port heads. There are a few articles on these in some of the old Hi-Perf. CARS Magazines from that era. The May '69 issue has an article on a 427 ZL-X w/12.8:1 compression and cast iron open chamber heads installed in a '69 BM Camaro.


[Edited by COPO (01-14-2002 at 04:21 PM).]