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1969 Chevrolet COPO Camaro RS Headed To Mecum Glendale Auction

Few other cars create excitement for the Chevy Camaro faithful like a COPO Camaro. COPO, or Central Office Production Order, was a designation usually reserved for fleet orders or specialty vehicles like police cruisers, taxi cabs, ambulances, or other cars with non-standard options. However, for those who knew how to work the system, the COPO could be used to build cars with equipment that was otherwise unavailable. In the case of the COPO Camaros, this meant big power and serious performance.

Driver's side profile of the 1969 Chevy Camaro RS COPO.

The Chevy Camaro with the COPO 9561 package would add $489.75 to the sticker price. The Camaro was stuffed with the beastly L72 427 cubic-inch iron Mark IV Big Block engine. The L72 had 11.0:1 compression, a forged steel crank, forged aluminum pistons, an aggressive solid-lifter cam, high-rise intake, rectangular port head, and was fed by an 800CFM Holley four-barrel carb, all working to produce 425 rowdy horsepower. This was heady stuff in a car GM usually limited to fewer than 400 cubic inches of displacement. Along with the L72, COPO 9561 added a Heavy Duty radiator, Cowl Induction Hood, Heavy Duty Springs, a twelve-bolt Positraction rear differential, 4.11 gears. The general consensus is that around 1,000 COPO 9561 Camaros were produced, and of those, 58 were also equipped with the RPO Z22 Rally Sport Package.

In the long list of 1969 Chevy Camaro options, the Rally Sport Package was a screaming bargain. For $131.65, the package included hidden headlights, headlight washers, blacked-out grille, fender stripes, faux fender louvers, wheel arch trim, black body sills, RS emblems on the steering wheel, grille, and rear panel, bright trim around the taillights, roof drip moldings, and back-up lights.

Our feature 1969 Chevy Camaro RS COPO is finished in Hugger Orange over a black vinyl interior. It is powered by the COPO 9561 L72 427 Big Block making 425 horsepower, backed by a Muncie M22 Rock Crusher four-speed manual gearbox. As part of the COPO package, the Camaro is equipped with the Holley 800CFM carb, Winters aluminum intake, ZL2 Cowl Induction Hood, Heavy Duty 12-bolt rear end, Harrison four-core Heavy Duty radiator, and Heavy Duty Springs. It also has everything included in the Rally Sport package, power brakes with front discs, Interior Decor Package, bucket seats with center console and console gauge pack, painted steel wheels with poverty caps, and Goodyear raised white letter F70-14 Polyglas tires. Delivered new to McDonald Chevrolet Oldsmobile in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, the Camaro is accompanied by GM of Canada paperwork.

This beautiful and rare COPO Camaro will cross the Mecum Auctions Glendale, Arizona event taking place March 5th and 9th.

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Comments

  1. Amazing car!

    Reply
  2. I remember seeing a couple back in the 70s when I was drag racing. Of course they weren’t stock anymore. If they only knew what they’d be worth today. My two buddies and I almost bought a stock 70 Hemi Cuda 4 speed for $1,800 in 1973 to convert it into a Super Stock SS/D. Wish we had a crystal ball back then.

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  3. It should fetch $250k?

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    1. It sold for $209,000

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  4. My cousin owned an RS not quite a COPO. It was the same color with the white stripe along the front and down the fenders. Beautiful car. I hope it gets big cash at the auction.

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  5. Ahhhh…Now thats when America was KING!

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  6. Pulled up next to one at a stop light on a rainy night in glen burnie md. in late 69. I had a boss 429. We acknowledged each other but wet roads stopped the encounter. Pulled into a nearby parking lot, talked, complimented each other, went our separate ways. Never saw one again. His was black I think.

    Reply

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