[rich pern]

Question. I just picked up a 69 2 door impala 427/390, 3rd owner. It is all numbers matching, down to the rims, although unrestored. It has always lived in that area. It was not sold as anything special, but the owner stated that when he bought the car from the 2nd owner, that owner claimed that he bought it from a local government auction and that it was originally ordered for a local police offical, along with a batch of 4 door cars. As Florida does not keep any paperwork past 12 years, it is hard to prove and thus only a story at this point. The claim is that the rear end, a 12 bolt with 3:31 posi from the factory (along with the 427) could only be ordered via the CoPo system. Does anyone know if this is true or not, and if there are any other ways to tell?
Thanks,
Rich

[William]

There is one way to tell-check the 1969 Chevrolet Passenger Car Price Book. The drivetrain consists of regular production options: 390 hp 427 [L36] $237, positraction axle [G80] $42.15, special axle ratio [several] $2.15.

The car could have been ordered via the COPO system for other reasons but the drivetrain is all RPO, albeit rare.

[rich pern]

Yep. Looks that way. Someone mentioned checking the speedometer. It was not sold to me as a copo or police car, and the police story was only mentioned after I agreed to buy the car. Either way, as original as it is, in good restorable condition, makes it collectable anyway. I originally bought it to harvest the 427, but after getting better pics, and seeing how original it is, I think this car is worth saving.

[JOE58]

I saw a 68 police car trim tag that had "MEMO" stamped on trim tag. Post a picture of the trim tag if you can. A COPO usally has somthing odd on the trim tag.

[rich pern]

I should have the car thursday night. I will post a pic then. It does only have the 120 speedo in it, but heavy duty suspension and he also mentioned that it has the "heavy duty interior" option that came in police cars, whatever that means.

[rich pern]

OK.
Passed on the impala. Guy could not come up with the supposed engine rebuild docs. A "bit of rust" wound up being a rocker, trunk pan, both quarters and drivers floor pan. Guy wants 2,500.00 and is going to list it on ebay. Passenger side of the car was pretty trashed. Motor may or may not be worth 2k as it is a 69 dated 427.
Rich

[kz1000ltd]

Sounds like a perfect candidate for an eBay auction..........

[rich pern]

And, He's listed it. At least there are pics of the exterior rust.

69 427 Ebay

[Everett#2390]

The battery holddown has to be a special COPO code. I think its the only one I've seen as OE.

[sicsD8]

I personally believe the abbreviation COPO is being over-hyped and over used. Central office production order vehicles for the most part weren't all 'supercars', but manly fleet and special use vehicles requiring groups of options not ordinarily offered together. The COPO Camaro's simply used the system as a loop-hole to get the larger motors not normally available in the mid-size line-ups. Just because a Chevrolet vehicle was ordered through the COPO system, doesn't mean it automatically has more value or collectability, it all depends on the options ordered. The Impala/Biscayne's were available with high-po 427's right from the dealer. I believe most law enforcement fleet vehicles had to be ordered thru COPO.

[JohnZ]

Police cars were normally ordered on a "Fleet & Special Order" through the COPO Group in the Sales Department, as they were specially-priced based on bids and contracts and required special equipment (heavy-duty seat construction and vinyl trim, bucket seats in sedans, special wiring for the roof lights, heavy-duty reinforced frames, etc.). 99.99% of the vehicles whose F&SO's went through the COPO process were trucks for fleet customers.

Nothing special (or COPO) about a 427 Impala or Caprice; I bought a '69 Caprice 427/390 2-door hardtop for my wife back in '69 - just checked off the boxes on the order blank.

[img]graemlins/beers.gif[/img]

[JOE58]

I think the musclecar TV shows really over hype the "COPO".
I wrote this rant awhile back about Coooooe Poooooes (meant to be funny).
I have been interested in the COPO stuff since I bought one in 1986 and have heard some strange things about them over the years. Sometimes I have to laugh at what I see and hear on the car TV shows. The funniest thing to me is when people use COPO as an acronym. I heard someone on TV call a 427 Camaro a “coe poe” where they rolled the Os like Coe OHHHH Poe OOOHHHH Camaro.
There were probably thousands of “COPO” cars and trucks built over the years. They didn’t all have 425 HP engines. Some had 6 cyls engines with 3 on the tree transmissions. It is like saying I have a RPO Camaro. Well that doesn’t mean anything. What is the RPO code? Same thing for a COPO car. What is the COPO code? If it is 9560 or 9561 you have something interesting.
C.O.P.O. is just an Abbreviation for Central Office Production Order. It is not an acronym for a car with a 425 hp engine! If you wanted to buy a car and could not find the options you wanted on the RPO code list then you did a special order and they gave you a COPO option code for it. If you did it correctly then your window sticker may have a bunch of options like a M21 close ratio transmission for $195.00 and J52 Power Disk Brakes for $64.00 and a 9561 high performance unit for $489.00. When you popped the hood it had a 427 425 hp engine in it. If you were lucky enough to find a dealer with one in stock he may have it advertised as a “factory 427 Camaro” or a “Hot 425 Hp Camaro” They didn’t call them COOOHHH POOOOHH Camaros back then. You could have ordered the same engine in a Biscayne just using the RPO list. They didn’t call a 427 Impala an
R Pee Ooohhhhhhhh.

[Unreal]

In the english language, words change meanings with use. The mouse you use with your computer is not a rodent, but 35 years ago, it didn't mean a computer pointing device.

Accept it that to the muscle car enthusiast, COPO means "factory hot rod." It doesn't matter that 35 years ago it meant "factory telephone truck."

[sicsD8]

Accept it that to the muscle car enthusiast, COPO means "factory hot rod." It doesn't matter that 35 years ago it meant "factory telephone truck."

...the 'novice' enthusiast that is!

[Unreal]

Originally posted by sicsD8:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Accept it that to the muscle car enthusiast, COPO means "factory hot rod." It doesn't matter that 35 years ago it meant "factory telephone truck."

...the 'novice' enthusiast that is! </font>[/QUOTE]Just curious what you think COPO means to the "expert" enthusiast?