Ohio COPO Dealers

[Mr Yenko]

The orig. owner of my COPO Camaro said that they called these cars SS427's. And mine was purchased from Byrne Brothers. Just my .02 cents. Mayor of Fishkill

[whitetop]

Hello Tenney
I remember the '55 and the Challenger as well. I can still remember the look on Lisk's face in a pic in Pop Hot Rod as he sat in the car. Meanest look on somebody's face I've ever seen even to today. There was a small burb in a mag 4-5 years ago that '55 is alive and well in the new owners garage and is still the same as originally featured. Porterfield had a ZL-1 in a Kelmark GT before he did the mid engine Olds. He was in a mid engine kick for a while. I went to the '77-79 Street Machine Nat's in Indy. Wish I took a camera. Definetely a less serious time. I agree with you, Dobbertin was the one that set the stage for seriousness and perfection with his Nova and later his J2 Pontiac.
Dave

[COPO]

Speaking of Rick Dobertin, we used to street race in the industrial park in front of his shop in the late '70's early 80's in VA. I remember going by his place almost weekly to see his progress on the Nova and the Pontiac. Incredible craftsman!

[FESTIVAL78]

Am I wrong or was Dobbertin building some kind of "Surface orbiting wheeled spacecraft" with his wife that he was to circumnavigate the planet with? It looked like a stainless steel semi-tractor trailer with 6 wheels and a pointed front. ?? Sorry for being weird but I swear it was him (1988?)

[Tenney]

Dave, I attended the CC show from '78 through '83 (Springfield) and stopped once the Nats went to DuQuoin. In contrast to the Pro Street movement, most of the crew I ran with began swapping Cragars, Ansens, etc. for Rallyes around this time (more for the aesthetic than as a purist exercise).

You're correct re: the Dobbertin's Orbiter, Festival. Never saw it in person but read about it in the mags. Remember seeing it advertised at one point but don't recall the price.

[tom406]

Don't forget Porterfield's ZL-1 mid engine T-bucket pickup. I think that made a trio of mid-engine projects for him in the late '70's.

[whitetop]

'79 was the last year for me. Not that I wanted to go to later ones just never had the opportunity. From the magazine coverage looks like the Pro Street trend really took off in '80. While there were some really higher dollar works, the cars that I remember from the earlier shows mostly just had minor mods like wheels, intakes, carbs, headers, gauges etc. That is what I meant by "less serious" in a past post. These were just like the cars that I remember that cruised around my hometown-and the style I still like today.
Dave