December '05 Feature Car

Chevy454 · #1 12-01-2005, 08:39 PM

December 2005 Feature Car:George Lyons' 1969 COPO Chevelle

<table width="100%" border="0"><tbody><tr><td align="middle" width="100%">SPECS:</td></tr></tbody></table><table borderColor="#000000" height="150" width="100%" border="0"><tbody><tr><td vAlign="top" align="center" width="50%" height="21">Engine (factory):</td><td vAlign="top" align="center" width="50%" height="21">L72 427/425hp</td></tr> <tr><td vAlign="top" align="center" width="50%" height="21">Trans (factory):</td><td vAlign="top" align="center" width="50%" height="21">THM400 automatic</td></tr> <tr><td vAlign="top" align="center" width="50%" height="21">Rear (factory):</td><td vAlign="top" align="center" width="50%" height="21">4.10 posi</td></tr> <tr><td vAlign="top" align="center" width="50%" height="21">Exterior color:</td><td vAlign="top" align="center" width="50%" height="21">Daytona Yellow</td></tr><tr><td vAlign="top" align="center" width="50%" height="21">Interior color:</td><td vAlign="top" align="center" width="50%" height="21">Standard Black</td></tr><tr><td vAlign="top" align="center" width="50%" height="21">Selling Dealer:</td><td vAlign="top" align="center" width="50%" height="21">Westminster Motor Co. - Westminster, MD</td></tr></tbody></table>

I first learned of the existance of this particular car about 1990 from my good friend, Ken Heckert of York Pa. Ken has been my next spot neighbor at Spring and Fall Carlisle for 30 years and old stories and good times at Carlisle and judging for a decade at Bloomington with Ken and our greatly missed buddy Chip Miller could fill a book.

Long ago Ken told me of a Daytona Yellow 427 '69 Chevelle, Automatic, no radio, gauges, buckets and console that was sold new just south of his home across the Maryland state line. While Ken is mainly a Blue Oval guy, he surely recognized the rarity and signifigance of this car. Ken and others from that area remember this car from new as being sold by Westminster Motor Co. in Westminster, Maryland. Apparently they sold three COPO Chevelles, all three coming in around the same time and this car was different from the beginning in that it showed up with the Malibu trim and Silver lower paint, not something the original owner desired and furthermore not on the other cars that came to Westminster. The other two were a Dusk Blue car and another special paint car, a Riviera Gold car/White vinyl top/White interior (today the Lemans Blue COPO restored and color changed by Randy Miller in the early nineties). These other two did not have the Malibu trim or Silver lower body. My car never left the Center South Pa/Northern Maryland area when it did change hands a few times. The second owner I am told drag raced the car, mostly at York US30 Dragway, basically stock but for headers and a 4:56 rear and the car had a small rose painted on the right rear corner of the deck lid with the name "The Yellow Rose". It seems the car was always cared for, never hurt or modified and never driven in any inclement weather evidenced by the totally rust free, virtually perfect body I found after media-blasting.

Ken first bought the car in 1984, sold it to a friend/employee and bought it back a few years later. He tells me when he had it the first time it was mostly all original paint and reasonably nice but when he got it back it had an overall repaint, a shade off the original yellow, but still retaining the original motor, trans and rear and just how it was when I got it. After years of telling Ken of my sincere interest in the car I finally got the call in 2002 that the time was right as Ken going to sell a few of his cars. He priced it, I paid it and back home to Erie we came. I never saw all the great paperwork until I picked up the car and was thrilled with everything about our deal. Still the best surprise was my first drive about a week later on Cruise night.........this is one runnin' SOB, seemingly much faster than other 427-425 cars I own or had in the past. Don't ask me, just like the old days, this one just gets it done.

I enjoyed the car as it was for a year, assembled a few things I would need (smog, exhaust manifolds, NOS trim) and started with my good friends at Bob Ore Restoration here in Erie to give this car the restoration it deserved. An easy car to do, no rust, no damage, all matching drivetrain and componentry, the restoration went off without a hitch. Except for carpet and a rear shelf we did absolutely nothing to the interior except some cleaning. The car came out great and my decision to consign and sell it at Barrett-Jackson comes with some remorse but other projects and too many cars made it the right decision, I guess. It is probably a good thing I consigned it long before I saw the finished product. It's a stunner and the Malibu look is a real trip and super rare, but a few others have this I'm told. Presently I'm detailing and playing with the car, putting together a display board for my documentation and photos and planning the car to be my centerpiece at my annual Garage Christmas Party here in Erie. After that, off to Arizona we go in January and there we shall see if "The Yellow Rose" can find a new owner, surely no prouder than I am of this awesome car.

Special Thanks to my longtime good buddy Ken Heckert and Gary Slurkanich from Ore Restorations for all the extra effort he always puts in. [write-up courtesy George Lyons]