1969 ZL1 Copo Camaro Test, Prepped by Dick Harrell -Motor Trend

[JoeC]

I was looking through some old ZL-1 posts and found one from Bill Porterfield about ZL-1 #2 and #5. He said when he was putting the info together for the Hooper book in 1990 he assumed that #1 and #2 were the cars tested by Dick Harrell but later thought that the ones in the article were #1 and #5.

The 1969 article he used stated that the street ZL-1 in the test article was set up for Shay Nichols (#5).

Bill said Nichols purchased the #5 car from Fred Gibb on 5/7/69 and #2 was purchased by a guy in Oklahoma on 3/6/69.

I assume Bill got the info and dates from Fred Gibb.

If the article was done before the first race , it had to be before Jan 23, 1969.

#2 and #5 are both Dusk Blue TH400 cars so may have been easy to mix them up.

[William]

The info came from the Gibb dealership ledger for the ZL-1s. Bill had much of the dealership paperwork for 34 years, did basically nothing with it. The files were sold to a private collector last year; finally got to see them. 10 hours was not nearly enough, making a return visit soon.

#5 was a career race car, not known to exist.

[JoeC]

I save the info and photos on ZL-1s that comes up on the drag racing sites.

This came up on the Nichols #5 that became Lemon Drop , it was run by Larry Nelson

This photo was in Texas 1973 where he failed to qualify for Pro Stock then ran the car in Competition Eliminator class

[William]

Little bit of a mystery surrounding it.

It is seen in vintage photos with a white interior. Must have been swapped soon after they bought it. This is from the early '70s. There are pics of it in '69 with the same paint, the Dick Harrell shield on the doors and the original ducted hood. No 427 pro on the fenders.

[Carleen]

x

[Carleen]

From Draglist

978
EDIT THIS!

Larry Hill (M) from Texas USA (Comp Nr/Finish: 464 ) 1972 - Category: PS-CLASSIC, Type: LN, Class: Pro Stock, Div: 4
"Lemon Drop" Owned by Larry Hill from Texas USA Crew Chief: Larry Hill
'69 Chevrolet Camaro by Factory | Powered by Carbureted Gas 427 Chevrolet with 4 speed manual transmission
1/4 Mile ET: Unknown at Unknown 1/4 Mile MPH: Unknown at Unknown
1000 FT ET: Unknown at Unknown 1000 FT MPH: Unknown at Unknown
1/8 Mile ET: Unknown at Unknown 1/8 Mile MPH: Unknown at Unknown
Entry's 1972 Performance Ratings (0 to 100) based on comparison to average ET/MPH:
1/4 Mile Rating: ET 00.00, MPH 00.00 Entry is 0.00000 times average ET and 0.00000 times average MPH
1000 FT Rating: ET 00.00, MPH 00.00 Entry is 0.00000 times average ET and 0.00000 times average MPH
1/8 Mile Rating: ET 00.00, MPH 00.00 Entry is 0.00000 times average ET and 0.00000 times average MPH
1972 Records: 1/4 Mile: 9.255 ET, 149.50 MPH 1000 Ft. 0.000 ET, 0.00 MPH 1/8 Mile: 6.180 ET, 115.08 MPH
1972 Average: 1/4 Mile: 9.940 ET, 139.53 MPH 1000 Ft. 0.000 ET, 0.00 MPH 1/8 Mile: 6.465 ET, 109.33 MPH
1972 Minimum: 1/4 Mile: 10.625 ET, 130.53 MPH 1000 Ft. 0.000 ET, 0.00 MPH 1/8 Mile: 6.795 ET, 104.02 MPH
No Racer Website | No video link | Web Search | Web Image Search | Web Video Search
Notes: was at Albuquerque D4 race in 1972, Car used to be Shay Nichols
Submitted by Mike Gagnon, Last updated on Wednesday, January 17, 2018, 09:20:04 AM by Danny White.

[Carleen]

Hill s 470 cubic Inch 1969 Camaro which used to be owned by Nichols. Nichols Speed pro Stocker
https://newspaperarchive.com/abilene...-21-1972-p-33/

[JoeC]

Nichols car with the single 4bb and Harrell crest

She may have swapped in a white interior because of the high temperatures in the car when they sat in the staging lines.

Some drag cars used white interior or window tint or white vinyl tops or other ways to reduce the heat in the car.

There were a bunch of ZL-1 Camaros running the single 4bb in NHRA SS/C in early 1969 but later ran the 2x4bb tunnel ram for the more profitable match racing.

[Carleen]

Before it was sold to Larry Hill.
Shay Nichols on the Doors

[muscle_collector]

who got the oklahoma car? where is it now?