[George Lyons]

After months of planning I completed the installation of my Nostalgic themed graphics package on my new 427 COPO Camaro. Saturday at my annual garage Christmas party I showed the car off for the first time to a garage full of Erie, PA based car nuts and long term racers. I had this idea in my head since my initial attempt to land a COPO to go relive some of those long ago days that myself and many close friends experienced in the past. From the reaction on Saturday, I think the car will be appreciated for what it is and hopefully what it can do this coming Spring.
Old time racers from the North East will need little explanation but let me fill you in a bit. First off, Gemlers Hi-Performance Car Center here in Erie was operated by Jim & Jere Gemler. Jim ran a '62 409 from new, still has it and Jere bought a '69 Yenko 427 Camaro brand new, still has it and raced it from Day One fom Stock and up thru M/P. Close association with Ron Hutter and Al Krem made for some great success including a spectacular Vega Pro-Stock. They will be involved with my new COPO for sure.
B&H Speed Parts again here in Erie was operated by my greatly missed friend, George Helsel. George had the pre-eminent Speed Shop in the area for decades and serviced racers of all kinds. I know he will be watching from another place making sure I keep it together.
Jim Cordia had Cordia Chevrolet in Clymer, NY just across the state line. Cordia was a small volume dealer but always at the cutting edge of Chevrolet performance cars and parts thru the 60's and 70's. Jim was an avid drag racer and attained national recognition with Jere Stahl running a couple Junior Stocker '56 and '57 Chevys. Jim closed the door in 2010 as a Chevrolet dealer but remains in the area, hopefully on my very informal COPO race team.
So there you have it, now we need some Springtime weather to try out this new COPO and have some fun with my friends.