COPO....Now And Then
 

I was at the Philadelphia Auto today and saw a new COPO and a 1969 COPO on the same display. I love the new cars but man the old stuff sure looks great.

If you you had to choose, would it be old or new?

I don't know who owns the new car or if it will be raced, no one was around to talk to about the car. The picture below is what was next to the new COPO. I assume it’s a museum only car, but not sure.
http://classracer.com/copo28.jpg

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

I would always take the 1st gen Camaro over any new one Ken. The new cars might be have all the new whiz bang stuff but the character of the 1st gen cannot be beat.

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

X2. But I do like Jacks
.

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

Great looking cars,thanks for posting the pictures!

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

The new one!!

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

The new one needs a vinyl top before I make any judgement:rolleyes:

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

I would rather have the old one ,but for racing i would take the new one because i would not be afraid to race it..The old one would be a great museum or stored piece of history and will always increase in value.......(investment).... I don't think the new ones will hold value( or increase value ) as the old ones have (including Mopar and Ford )..

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

So far the auto world has proven you to be wrong as several new COPO's have sold at auction for more than 50k over what they were purchased for only a few months ago .....pretty good return on investment I'd say .

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

I also think it's too soon to tell. I bet those 1969 COPO cars went pretty cheap by the mid 1970's. It takes a while to see price appreciation.

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

Either one!
I would then sell it and use the money to buy a (real) '67 GT500.

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

Heart choice, the old (classic) one.
Head choice the new one......;)
MB

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

From the very first day that I had my 1st '69 Z-28 I loved the "old" muscle cars and still do today but one ride in a "new" muscle machine and the new fangled gadgets get your attention and you're hooked ..............Its really a hard choice .

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

The 69 Camaro was one of the nicest looking cars that GM ever produced. The current Camaros (COPO or not)..........................:confused:

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

That and the new ones have no real (stick) transmissions.

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

Number 68 had a stick.

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

March issue of Car Craft has a nice article on the new COPO Camaro with a picture of Jim Boburka standing by his car

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

Please post more pictures of your COPO.!:)

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

The technology and performance of the new Camaro is outstanding. That being said, I don't believe I have even seen a car quite as ugly as the new Camaro. Big, fat, wide, tall and way too heavy. Not very attractive in my book. The styling of the early car was perfect. Guess if I was forced at gunpoint to own a Camaro, it would be the old.

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

Details please.

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

Got me thinking now Jack....First i would buy the new Camaro and sell it for the 50 grand profit and then purchase a 69 Camaro with my profit off new Camaro and then go back and buy another new Camaro and have the best of both worlds......Bif if and that is "IF" i had that kind of money. A man can still dream.....

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

Danny - Its a great plan but has a few flaws - first my wife suggested I sell mine and take the profit and buy '13 model - problem is there is no guarantee that I'll be able to get one .That leads me to your situation - as there were only 67 COPO's released to the public and there were more than 3,000 applications to get one your dream may not have happened .

All that and I bought mine to take to the dance ........not to sell or gather dust in my garage .

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

One of the big differences is that the 1969 COPO's had vin numbers. They were legal to drive anywhere. Now they are nothing but race cars with ID numbers that gives them a name COPO.

Casey Miles
248H "F" NHRA Stock!

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

The rules are also a lot different today.

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

I have had offers on number six. I can't see selling it. This might be one of those once in a lifetime deals. I would hate to think that I would be one of those guys that regrets selling in years to come. Besides, I am having way too much fun with this car!

As to the original question. I walked right by a 1969 Yenko to buy a Judge in 1991. I like the old Camaros, but have never wanted one. I do love the new Camaros!

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

When the 2008 CJ'c first came out there were a few fools who just had to have one and they way over spent to get their new toy. Some are suffering from buyer's remorse. And the same deal may be happening right now, ie, some people may be paying stupid money for a Camaro. This is current events not history.

nhra rules have no impact on the value of the new cars. There is no reason to believe the parts counter Camaro will fair any better than the CJ and Challenger in the future.

While it is true that drag cars depreciate in value very quickly. The new cars have taken depreciation to a whole new level simply because of the huge buy-in price. You better really enjoy that first pass in the oem parts counter cars.

Good luck

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

Gump: In 1969 the COPO Camaros didn't just come as 427 all alluminium, they also came as 427 steel engines. The big difference is that they weren't race cars and had nothing to do with rules. Anyone could go to a Chevy dealership and order one. Baldwin Chevy had a ton of them go through that dealership. The COPO cars show up at Burger King on Hempstead Trnpk on Long Island all the time. No cared about NHRA rules back then. One of the biggest problems back in 1969 was to get insurance on the cars if you were under 25.
Casey Miles
248H "F" NHRA Stock!

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

I bought my COPO for one reason only to race it!And that is the best plan for these cars since then you don't care where the market goes.All that matters is that it is one of the coolest race cars to drive.Fast, straight just a great machine especially for us GM lovers.Spent the winter months making it even better actually had to slow it down so as not to have a certification problem.It is all it was advertised to be and then some.Can't wait for Gainesville.

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

I've had a hard time accepting the looks of the new Camaro. The new COPO does look better than the street cars with the bigger tires stuffed in it.
What do ya'll think of these retro SS or RS front grilles on the new Camaro?
I'm thinking not...

http://www.lingenfelter.com/mm5/merc...gory_Code=C478

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

I would beg to differ. Weren't the first 50 COPO cars built 1968 396/375 Novas with TH400's? I would suggest that all of the performance COPO's built, then and now, were built with the rule book in mind!

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

Back in 1969 according to "street racers", there was never a 396/375 or 427/425 ever made. They all claimed that they had 396/325 hp engines. COPO cars didn't exist also.
Street racing was where it was abound and I don't think that anyone cared about NHRA rules or what the manufactures were targeting.
I can remember a very specific COPO Camaro that used to make the rounds, it was light blue with baby hub caps and 14" tires. The owner took off the 427 markers and put on 396 in their place to try to hide what was under the cowl hood. That car came from Baldwin Chevy, the same dealer that delivers cars to Motion Performance on Sunrise Hgwy.
The '69 Z28 was the far better buy back then, because you could get insurance for it. The Z28 option didn't show on the Vin # and the 302 cu inch engine fell under the insurance companies hp to weight ratio radar. With that the insurance companies didn't know that it was a peformance car.

Casey Miles
248H "F"NHRA Stock!

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

I am sure that is the case if we were talking about taxi cabs and police cars......

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I think that the general public is just as aware today as they were in 1969 in regards to the existence of a COPO Camaro!

For what it's worth, there could be a street legal 427 Camaro out in 2014.

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I just knew you would bust my bubble again...lol

That's what it's made for Jack and i will be routing for you....

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The fathom green camaro in the photo is a COPO # 9561 car with the 427/425hp iron block and heads. Hundreds of those cars were factory built. The COPO #9560 is the 427/430hp aluminum engine cars that only 69 were built. Only 2 of the 9560 cars came with option C08 (vinyl top) both were lemans blue.

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

That fathom green 69 Camaro brings back a lot of memories. I had one a SS 396, dark green vinyl top, 4speed. I do think they look much better with the white hockey stripes. Mine also had the dark green custom interior with rosewood trim. My favorite car of all time.

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

Jeff,, you can buy a "heritage grille" from Chevrolet, that fits in the stock place, and it looks a lot better than this whole front end change from Lingenfelter. I have a buddy who had the dealer install one in his SS Camaro 2 years ago before he picked it up. It resembles the RS grille, and like you, I wasn't really impressed by it, but its his car. Heck,,, the dang things even missing the 3rd pedal!
Danny Durham

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

The two copo's are rob's auto body and towing . He runs a dragster and vet at atco .
http://www.lraautomuseumandsales.com/

Re: COPO....Now And Then
 

It sure wasn't like that for me. When I was in Viet Nam in 69 I was going to order a new Z/28 through the PX for $3300.00. I had to secure insurance to order the car and my insurance was going to be $1100.00/yr. No good. Had to buy fulie 61 Corvette when they dumped me in Oakland for $1300.00.