COPO Corvettes

[Walter F.]

Were the Baldwin Nicky Corvettes considered Copo cars ? Were there ever any Copo Corvettes ?

[Paul S.]

Re: COPO Corvettes

Central office production orders could have went to any gm dealer. From my knowledge it was an option / color / trim that had to be special ordered on the car , that was a non production item.

[Harry S.]

Re: COPO Corvettes

I really don't know what the COPO box means. I have copy 5 of the "Regular Commercial and Truck" document that was left at the dealership by the delivery driver. In the COPO box is handwritten (by the carbon paper) the number 53. There is nothing special about this April built 1963. Saying that, COPO can mean anything. I talked to the first owner. The dealership in Hartford, CT has long sine gone out of business.

[Keith B.]

Re: COPO Corvettes

Harry that could also be a FSO or Factory Service Order. for 67 the COPO and FSO was in the same box on the tank sheet. I am not certain what was needed for a FSO. from what I know a COPO was needed to get a car built with options or paint that was not a RPO for the model line. so a Baldwin Nicky Corvettes were not COPO cars. they were just dealer built cars. I have never seen a real COPO Corvette. I have seen it used incorrectly a lot of times by miss informed people.

[Michael J.]

Re: COPO Corvettes

This is what pops to my mind when people talk about a COPO Corvette, I doubt this one is either:

https://www.proteamcorvette.com/Corvette-1967-1024E/1024E.html

[Todd H.]

Re: COPO Corvettes

Is a '67 Corvette delivered without paint considered a COPO Corvette?

[Keith B.]

Re: COPO Corvettes

Is a '67 Corvette delivered without paint considered a COPO Corvette?

I would not think so

[Duke W.]

Re: COPO Corvettes

My understanding is that there were two ways to order a car from a plant - dealer orders that were routed through their zone office, and through the central Chevrolet office (Central Office Production Order).

Some of the former required "zone approval" for things like non-recommended paint and trim combinations - like a green exterior with a red interior, or a car order with primer only paint, but these were not COPOs. They were simply dealer orders that deviated from normal production processes and approvals, and zone approval was required to verify that the deviation was not an ordering error.

If Chevrolet engineering needed a development car, they ordered it through the COPO process with the RPOs they needed. There was usually nothing special about them other than the way they were ordered, and the same would apply to cars ordered for the press fleet.

When I was a cub engineer at Pontiac in 1968 the senior engineers all had "company cars". These were cars ordered by employees that were used internally for six months and then sold (at a substantial discount) to the employee who ordered them. I'm not sure if these were COPOs or went through the dealer/zone ordering system. I think the reason they were used internally for six months and a few thousand miles before they were sold to the employee who ordered them was the discount (something like 30 percent) could be justified because they were "used cars", so the discount wasn't considered "income" by the IRS.

The 50 ZL-1 Camaros that were required to obtain NHRA approval in '69 were COPOs, but I'm not sure why. That may have been the most efficient administrative way to order these cars without having to go through the formal release process to make the ZL-1 package a RPO. The central office then shoved them down dealers throats, most of whom did not want them. The ZL-1 package price was about the same as the base price of the car, and only a handful of drag racers wanted a stripped down Camaro with a big engine.

Many think that a COPO is some kind of holy grail, but it was just a different ordering process, and most weren't special in any way.

Those of you who have the dealer copy of the production order may sometimes see a hand written number in the COPO box, but I don't think this means it was a COPO order. A real COPO order would have the number printed by the computer, so a hand written number in the COPO box is probably something else, and the empty COPO box was just a convenient place to write it.

My SWC's dealer copy of the production order has a hand written number in the COPO box, and my thinking is it may have something to do with the fact that it was a plant delivery, but that's just a theory.

If John H. sees this thread, I'm sure he can fill us in on all the actual facts surrounding a COPO.

Duke

[John H.]

Re: COPO Corvettes

If John H. sees this thread, I'm sure he can fill us in on all the actual facts surrounding a COPO.

Duke

Duke -

Generally, the difference between a COPO and anything else (like a trim override) was that a COPO required Engineering activity to build, test, evaluate, and validate something prior to approving it and releasing it for production. 99.99% of COPO's were issued for trucks, taxicabs, police cars, and other commercial vehicles. Jim Mattison's group in the Chevrolet-Central Office Sales Department handled the COPO's with Engineering and the customers with special needs, and issued a numbered letter for each one - that number usually appeared computer-printed in the "COPO/F&SO" block at the top of the "Corvette Order" (tank sheet). The 1969 Camaro was one of the VERY few cars that got COPO's for production (#9561 for the iron L-72 427, and #9560 for the aluminum ZL-1 427), primarily because of the totally unique super-duty rear axle assemblies that were exclusive to those two models, and the COPO numbers appeared on the window sticker and Car Shipper.

[Keith B.]

Re: COPO Corvettes

John what constituted a FSO?

[John H.]

Re: COPO Corvettes

John what constituted a FSO?

F&SO was "Fleet & Special Order", which usually applied to commercial truck fleets where large numbers of identical trucks were ordered with special equipment, non-standard wheelbase and axle combinations, chassis modifications to accommodate unique aftermarket truck body configurations, special base colors and 2-tone/3-tone paint treatments, etc. As an example, there were 18 different shades of "white" in the Truck Book in the late 60's, and 600 different driveshaft/carrier bearing combinations on the Truck Line at Flint Assembly. The passenger car business was duck soup compared to truck complexity.

[James G.]

Re: COPO Corvettes

The BOB WINGATE 1967 FSO CORVETTE http://www.67fso.com, was a special ordered car. JOE PIKE ordered it for Wingate who was was at the time was the # selling salesperson of Corvette and High Performance Chevrolet cars. Bob worked for CLIPPINGER CHEVROLET in West Covina, CA.

This 67 was green with white stinger extended over the roof and down the trunk. Tripple tail lights were also added, a CLIPPINGER trademark at the time. Front bumpers were wrapped in paper in the luggage area and not installed. The car came from the factory with AMERICAN TORQUE THRUST D wheels and Goodyear BLUE STREAK race tires. The 435 engine also had a WIDE RATIO Trans with a 3:55 posi rear. Bob was one of the Founding Fathers of WSCC (Western States Corvette Council) and they raced Salomn and SCCA Autocross very much.

[Michael J.]

Re: COPO Corvettes

I think it is far too common, and incorrect, for so many dealers/sellers to think an unusual color combo or exterior color is a "COPO". This is probably because the term "COPO" has become associated with the few Camaros that really were, as John says above, and the high prices a real COPO Camaro brings these days.

[Keith B.]

Re: COPO Corvettes

Thanks John its nice to know really what those terms mean and what they were used for. They are miss used so often the term is getting wore out.