69 Chevelle COPO

Throughout the 1960s, Chevrolet did a very nice job of giving its high-performance customers what they wanted: many different RPO sheetmetal choices. But Chevrolet Engineering’s Product Promotion office, led by manager Vince Piggins and some of his staff, including Bill Howell and Paul Prior, had other serious thoughts. It was late in the decade-late 1968 / early 1969. Piggins, with the concurrence of drag racer Dick Harrell and dealership  owner Fred Gibb, had already created the 1969 ZL1 Aluminum 427 Camaro for competition in the two SS/B classes (stock and automatic) and the iron L72 427 ‘69 Camaro into the pair of SS/C classes.

What to do for NHRA’s SS/D manual and automatic transmission classes? Piggins, Howell, Prior and others collectively thought that the Chevelle sport coupe with the L72 427 engine would fit perfectly. So they began talking to many people in the know, including dealerships nationwide. In short order, the necessary Central Office Production Order (COPO) system for the SS/D ‘69 Chevelle sport coupe commenced. It really got carried away-in a good way. (See the COPO breakdown sidebar.) In the next few months, dealerships ordered somewhere between 350 and 375.
1969 Chevy Chevelle Side View
Here is one of 12 Yenko 9562…

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1969 Chevy Chevelle Side View
Here is one of 12 Yenko 9562 L72 427 Chevelles in Garnet red. We also dig Dover white and Daytona yellow. The Yenko 5-spoke wheels really set the car off.

Enter Don Yenko
A stellar Corvette road racer in his youth, Don Yenko followed in his father’s footsteps in running the family dealership in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania-a town of 8,000 south of the “Steel City,” Pittsburgh. Yenko also did his math and felt that the corporate COPO system, which he’d begun using in 1967 for some 427 Camaros, would benefit him greatly in 1969. Yenko told Piggins that the COPO 427 Chevelle was a winner, but he wanted around 100 of them to further modify into “Yenko SC 427 Chevelles.” He’d already done so with the Camaro for two years in 1967 and 1968. The Chevrolet Product Promotion department was struttin’ its stuff!

Of the 350 +/- COPO 1969 Chevelles produced, Don Yenko ordered 99 of them. The remaining 251 +/- Chevelles were ordered and sold through other Chevrolet dealers nationwide.

Today, these Chevys are considered “real estate” due to what they once represented back in the day. No one knows if every COPO performance car was indeed drag raced, as intended, against Fords and Mopars. Those COPO cars that remain today and have paperwork to prove authenticity are generally considered museum pieces.

How did COPO L72 427 Chevelles with various options come about?
1969 Chevy Chevelle 427 Engine
Does the 1969 COPO Chevelle…

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1969 Chevy Chevelle 427 Engine
Does the 1969 COPO Chevelle have any ancestors? Yes, the 1965 Z16 SS 396, the 1967 COPO 427 Chevelle (total unknown) and this 1968 Dick Harrell dual quad 427 Chevelle (total unknown).

Chevrolet, via Vince Piggins’ Product Promotion department, decided to assign at least 12 different COPO numbers and letters to Chevelles with different transmissions, suspension components, tires, brakes, and bucket seats.

COPO Chevelle Special Features:
- Super Sport blackout grille with bow tie emblem
- Super Sport hood
- Black rear cove panel
- 12-bolt differential with 4.10:1 gearing (code KQ)
- Standard Malibu interior
- Either SS emblem or Bow Tie emblem on steering wheel
- L72 425hp 427 (code MQ with four-speed transmission or code MP with TH400 automatic transmission).
- Optional: Side body stripes, RPO NC8 chambered exhaust.

1969 Yenko Chevelle Breakdown
Of the 99 built, 55 had a four-speed manual transmission, bench seat and standard steering. Six of these had a vinyl roof. Thirty-seven more were TH400 automatics with power steering, rear radio antenna and a vinyl top. One automatic transmission car had no vinyl top. Body colors included: Le Mans blue -20, Fathom green -18, Butternut yellow -16, Hugger orange -14, Garnet red -12, Daytona yellow -12, Dover white -5 and Olympic gold -5.

Supercar Reunion
Every year, the Yenko Sports Car Club hosts a Super Car Reunion in the St. Louis suburb of Collinsville. Every COPO and dealer-built car is invited. A show /display, drag races and seminars are included.

Click here to see Chevelle COPO photos

69 Chevy Camaro SS

Danny’s lifelong love affair with cars goes all the way back to a sunny afternoon in 1964 when he first laid eyes on his dad’s brand new Ford Galaxy 500. His fascination with all things automotive stuck with him throughout his childhood days when classmates would pay him to whip up sketches all the way to his graduation from the prestigious College of Creative Studies in Detroit Michigan where he earned his degree in Industrial Design.

Having since worked as a designer for General Motors, Ford Motor Company and the Chrysler Corporation, automotive design remains one of the great loves of Danny’s life. He pours himself into his paintings out of an overwhelming appreciation for the industry and his desire to capture an image in its most genuine form.

Having completed pieces for a variety of famous personalities including Bill Cosby and Jay Leno, Danny’s artistic ability is now well recognized and appreciated for the obvious passion he brings to each piece. Danny continues to showcase his work at car shows and automotive events throughout the Detroit area. Click here to see some of his amazing work

1970 Chevelle SS

How to spot a genuine SS Chevelle / El Camino
by: Daniel Carr (Part 3)

In 1970, there were two different SS packages available. One was the “Z25″ SS-396 and the other was the “Z15″ SS-454. There were only two engine choices for the SS-396: the 350 and 375 horsepower versions. It was a confusing year for 396 buyers. The 396 engines now actually displaced 402 cubic inches, but were still called a “396″ when installed in an SS. There was also a new 330 horsepower “LS3″ big-block “400″ engine option available for the non-SS Malibu and El Camino Custom. To confuse things even further, there was a 400 cubic inch 2-bbl small-block available (only in the ‘70 Monte Carlo).

The Malibu “400″ big-block was also actually a 402, and was basically an overbored version of the 325 horsepower 396 motor that had been available on the ‘68 and ‘69 SSs. The “Malibu 400″ package, produced from ‘70-’72 on the Chevelle and El Camino is fairly scarce today. The reason is that many of these big-block vehicles have been converted to SS clones. In stock form, the Malibu 400 and El Camino 400 carried “400″ emblems on the fenders.

A very limited number of SS Chevelles with the 375 HP 396 and the “L89″ aluminum heads were produced in ‘70.

There were two engines available for the ‘70 SS-454 : the 360 horsepower “LS5″ and the 450 horsepower “LS6″. The ‘70 LS5 Chevelle is actually rarer than the ‘70 LS6 Chevelle. The LS6 was only available in the ‘70 Chevelle, the ‘70 El Camino, and the ‘71 Corvette. It was never available to the public in *any* other cars. The ‘70 LS5 motor used in the Corvette was identical to the Chevelle LS5, but for marketing reasons the Corvette rating was 390 horsepower. There was purported to be one known LS6 Chevelle with the L89 aluminum head option, but it is now generally believed that this car (and its documentation) is fake. Chevrolet also had an experimental LS7 engine that was supposed to be available in the ‘70 Corvette, but never materialized. However, the LS7 heads were available over the counter at GM dealers in ‘71 and ‘72. No factory built LS7 cars were ever sold to the public.

The ‘70 & up SS now had a completely different dash than the non-SS models. The ‘70 SS would have either “SS/396″ or “SS/454″ emblems on the fenders (and on the tailgate of the El Camino). The Chevelle SS had a white “SS” logo in the black rubber pad on the rear bumper. Both the Chevelle SS and El Camino SS had a large “SS” grille emblem (without any engine size).

The SS models also had a hood with a large bulge in the rear center. Hood stripes were an extra cost option with this hood. There was also a “Cowl Induction” option available. It had “Cowl Induction” emblems on either side of the bulge and a door on the top of the bulge that would open automatically when the engine needed extra air. The Cowl Induction option was NOT standard on any SS – it was always an extra cost item. The Cowl Induction option came with hood stripes. You could, however, delete the Cowl Induction stripes at no cost.You could get the stipes without the Cowl Induction option (at additional cost). All of the ‘70-’72 SS cars came with hood pins, except for some of the early ‘70 models (those built around April of 1970 or earlier) that were not ordered with Cowl Induction.

The ‘70 SS came with the same wheels used on the ’69s.