LeMans Blue 1969 Chevy Camaro COPO Being Auctioned Online

by Brett Hatfield
— Jun 3, 2024

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1969 was the final year for the first-generation Chevy Camaro. It would also be the longest production year of the first generation, spanning from September 26^th, 1968 to February 26^th, 1970, with production totaling 243,085 units.

There were a number of design changes for the 1969 Chevy Camaro, including flattened wheel wells lending the Camaro a more aggressive look, sharper lines and angles for the grille, redesigned door skins, rear quarter panels, and the rear panel between the taillights. The Rally Sport package featured headlights hidden behind vacuum-operated doors. Interior changes included a more squared instrument binnacle. Console-mounted gauges carried over unchanged from the previous year.

Mechanical changes for the 1969 Chevy Camaro included available JL8 Power Front and Rear Disc Brakes, Cowl Induction hoods that were previously available on COPO cars could be had on Z/28s or SS Camaros.

Speaking of COPO cars, the 1969 Chevy Camaro COPO would be the last for quite some time. The COPO, or Central Office Production Order, was usually reserved for special-duty vehicles like ambulances, police cruisers, taxi cabs, or other cars built with non-standard options. For Camaros, COPO meant the car could be ordered with engines exceeding 400 cubic inches, a limit set for standard production GM F-bodies.

A Chevy Camaro with COPO 9561 package came equipped with the L72 Mark IV Big Block displacing 427 cubic inches. The Big Block was full of high performance goodness, with 11.0:1 compressions, a Holley 800CFM four-barrel carburetor sitting atop a Winters aluminum high-rise intake manifold, rectangular port heads, forged steel crank and aluminum pistons, a solid-lifter cam, all working to put out 425 rowdy horsepower. Along with the Big Block, a COPO Camaro got the Cowl Induction hood, Heavy Duty Springs, Heavy Duty radiator, and a twelve-bolt Posi rear end with 4.11 gears. Although exact figures weren’t kept, it is generally thought around 1,000 COPO 9561 Camaros left the factory. Of those, many had a plain appearance, bereft of stripes or badges, riding on painted steel wheels with poverty caps.

Our feature 1969 Chevy Camaro COPO is finished in its factory LeMans Blue color over a black vinyl interior. Its first owner kept it just a few months after taking delivery at Ray Bryant Chevrolet of Dayton, Ohio. It was subsequently repainted in a blue, white, and red livery and campaigned in NHRA Super Stock SS/D competition as the “Rat’s Nest.” The Camaro’s current owner treated the COPO to a rotisserie restoration beginning in 2018, returning the car to its original condition. The Camaro is equipped with a date code-correct replacement 427 backed by a replacement Muncie M22 four-speed manual gearbox and twelve-bolt Positraction rear axle, power front disc brakes, pushbutton Delco AM radio, Hurst shifter, and heater/defroster. Included in the sale is the full ownership history with interview notes, two Certificates of Authenticity from Camaro expert Jerry McNeish, owner’s manual, touch-up paint, uninstalled front and rear bumpers, a National Corvette Restorers Society shipping data report, and a Day 2 Concours Gold Certificate and trophy from the 2021 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals, copies of magazines in which the car appeared, and a hardcover book documenting the restoration.