Ohio COPO Dealers

[Tenney]

I also recall the Rat Pack, whitetop. Serious cars with some loud paint. Can picture a candy red '70 Chevelle, in particular, with "Rat Pack" on the front fenders at the '78 CC Nats. Remember the Blue Nova, too. It did help launch the Pro Street thing. Gary Kolofski's '55 probably had a hand this, too. And Steve Lisk's Lenco'd Hemi Challenger meant business, as well. That is, before the whole deal sorta went full-Dobbertin and fairground racers were everywhere. Think Scott may have gone on to build a couple of cool shoeboxes ('55 and '57)?

Was a little young to remember a ton from the Yenko years, but did grow up playing hockey with a couple of Tufo's sons (One whose nickname was Fencil, BTW).

BTW - If I recall correctly, Bill Porterfield (of the ZL-1 Porterfields) was running around in a blown, mid-engined '78 Olds 442 at the Nats back then.

[Stefano]

Steve,
Too cool, I can't wait to see what you dig up.

While we are on the subject of digging... does any one remember a Dayton/Lebonon Resident drag racer who campaigned an Emerald Green 1955 Chevy up to at least 1971. He would have raced it at Tri-County South of Dayton and probably Edgewater.

He also had a steet Racer/Driver,which was also occasionally run at the tracks. A very stock Silver Black vinyl top X-11 trimmed 1969 COPO Camaro. It was still running factory NC8 exhaust when he windowed the original L72.

[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

[Tim F]

Found these old prout chevy dealer ads recently. click the link. http://communities.msn.com/COPOPICS