The Central Office Production Order (COPO) program is a thing of legend among GM enthusiasts. Those four letters conjure images of rowdy big-block Camaros and Novas. The COPO program is also responsible for one of the unicorns of first-gen Camaros, the ZL-1. GM brought the COPO program back to life four decades later, offering very limited numbers of track-only factory-built drag cars. With only 69 built each year, people tend to jump on them quickly whenever one comes up for sale on the used market. This 50th Anniversary 2019 COPO 427 Camaro was recently sold on the online auction site Bring A Trailer earlier this month.
A select team at the COPO Build Center in Oxford, Michigan, assembles each COPO Camaro. This particular 2019 model is number 57 of the 69 cars built that year in honor of the 50th anniversary of the 1969 ZL-1 Camaro. Finished in Anniversary Blue with silver stripes, this Camaro features COPO 50 badging on the front fenders and includes a COPO 50-branded booklet and duffle bag as part of the anniversary package.
The 427 lettering on its carbon fiber hood gives onlookers notice of the 7.0L LSX-based V8 lurking beneath. Fed via Holley EFI, the COPO engine features a Meziere electric water pump, ATI Super Damper harmonic balancer, a C&R aluminum radiator, and long-tube headers. As part of the 50th Anniversary Engine Appearance package, the engine block is finished in orange, and it received chrome valve covers and a black Holley Hi-Ram intake. According to GM, this combination is good for 470 horsepower. Power is sent through an ATI three-speed automatic to a four-link solid axle rearend designed specifically for the NHRA Super Stock class.
As part of the COPO package, the car has a roll cage, wheelie bars, a parachute, and rolls on 15-inch Weld wheels wrapped in 28×4.5 front and 30×9 rear Hoosier drag racing tires. The COPO cars also have the rearview mirrors deleted with the mounting holes filled. The chromoly cage is NHRA certified to 8.50 seconds in the quarter-mile and includes a safety net for the driver’s window. The interior features COPO-branded racing bucket seats with Simpson harnesses, a 10,000-rpm tachometer mounted to the roll cage, a Hurst shifter, and switches mounted where the stereo would typically be.
This particular COPO Camaro has exchanged hands a couple of times prior to showing up on the BaT auction site. As the ad states, the car does have one scratch on the rear bumper, and because all of the COPO Camaros are shipped sans odometer, the only indication as to the mileage on this car is that it has never been raced. Surprisingly, the steering wheel still has the factory plastic wrapping. So we can only imagine this COPO Camaro has very few, if any, miles on it. This makes the $106,000 sale price seem like a good deal considering that in 2019 this car would have sold for over $120,000.
Hopefully, the car’s new owner will take it to the track and put passes on it. If not, we’ll have to watch for the next time it shows up on the market so we don’t miss it.