COPO Identification

[NWYENKO]

My car also confirms what Brian has stated, it is an 03B X44 car no D80 designation. However the original Yenko window sticker shows as the only additional cost options power steering and AM/FM radio. Does this mean the spoiler was added later? The stripes on the ends of the spoiler seem to match the other stripes which are original.

[bkhpah]

The air spoiler equippment is standard on a Yenko, so it would be an option and was factory installed but would not show up as an exta cost option since it was mandatory on a Yenko Camaro in 1969. It just does not appear on the tags till O6A. However the AM/FM radio on the list seems out of place. This was not a regular offered option on a Yenko. Are you sure it is not added? When I look at the car Sunday I will look for the FM clues.
BKH

[NWYENKO]

I have wondered about this AM/FM thing. I have what appears to be the original Yenko sticker that lists power steering $94.80 and AM/FM Pushbutton Radio $61.10. The car has AM only. Either the sticker is not real or maybe someone made a mistake. There is about a $60.00 difference between the sticker and the sales contract, maybe they realized that AM/FM was not in the car. I am anxious for you to look at it. Also while we are at it, were the original tires E70 or F70. This car had F70's on it with what appeared to be the original spare in the trunk so I replaced the tires with F70's.

[JoeC]

I believe an original AM/FM 1969 Camaro should have a jumper wire with an in-line capacitor connected to the blower motor and a fixed non-telescoping antenna.

[bkhpah]

Joe you are correct about the radio plus the AM/FM mast is different than the AM radio. Plus the original FM ariels have a larger ball on the end than the GM replacments that I see all the time. Correct tire size is E-70-15 Goodyear Wide Tread GT. I have been told that a few cars came with the Firestone Sports Car 200's but I cannot confirm that one..I also believe that the sticker you have is a very nice repo. Nothing wrong with that, just the wrong info printed on it. See you Sunday...
BKH

[JoeC]

Another interesting topic on the COPO cars is the production numbers. Some people use the number total of 1338 COPO Camaros and COPO Chevelles built (derived from the number of engines produced) to estimate the number of cars built. The engines were built on a forecast of car production and I believe it is too easy to over estimate car production using engine production since it can be up to 100% inaccurate. There were situations where engines were assembled and stamped with a code for a car that was never built. If you use engine production to estimate that particular cars production number you would be 100% off. Another example is the 1969 ZL1 Corvette where over 70 engines were built and 2 cars were sold to the public.
According to Chevy documentation there were 700 COPO cars œin process” on July 7, 1969 including ZL1Ãs, Yenkos, COPO Camaros and COPO Chevelles. It is not clear what Chevy means by œin process”. What would be the trim tag date on a car that was œin process” in July? I guess the trim tag would get an Aug. or later date. If you take the 700 COPOÃs and subtract the 69 ZL1Ãs, 198 Yenko Camaros, and 99 Yenko Chevelles you get 700-69-198-99=334 remaining COPO Camaros and Chevelles built as of July Œ69. If you take the engine numbers estimate and do the same math you get 1338-69-198-99=972. That would be 972 engines left after July Ã69. ThatÃs a big difference.
(I subtracted the ZL1Ãs even though they were not included in the 1338 engines total)
If Chevy said there were 700 COPO cars œin process” on July 7, 1969 then they would have to have built 638 more COPO Camaros and Chevelles between Aug. and Nov. (972“334=638) to match the COPO engine production. I know the 1969 Camaros ran late into Nov.Ã69 but I have not heard of many COPO cars with a trim tag date of Aug. or later so I find it difficult to believe they could have made 638 COPO cars after JulyÃ69. How many 1969 COPO or Yenko cars have been documented with a trim tag date of Aug. or later?

[COPO]

Joe, great topic and you pose some interesting questions. My guess is Ed Cunneen would likely have the biggest database of 69 COPO trim tag info. I think you could likely arrive at a fairly close number of cars statistically, but much like the LS-6 convertibles, no one will ever know the exact number built.