New COPO parts for your 2010 and 2011 Camaro
  • COPO and GMPP History

    Copo™ and GMPP:

    A renegade Past

  • New COPO Camaro parts

    Copo and GMPP:

    A powerful future

The History of the ultimate 1969 camaro

1969: THE QUARTER-MILE WAR

The year is 1969, and the muscle car world is at war, fighting for glory a quarter-mile at a time. To this day, the combatants and their cars are legends. But one is remembered above all as the Ultimate Weapon: COPO. As GM shorthand for Central Office Production Order, COPO helped Chevrolet engineers bolt their biggest guns in the lightest packages to supply drag and road racers with factory-developed and NHRA-approved engines, transmissions, brakes, exhausts, hoods, instruments and spoilers.

COPO: the ultimate camaro

While the COPO legacy touched many legendary Chevrolets, the best-known benchmark is the 1969 COPO Camaro. Unlike other race-only exotics, a COPO Camaro was a true dual-purpose machine, with the hardware to win at the track and the presence to own the drive-in.

They were coded under three basic numbers:

  • COPO 9561

    High Performance
    Unit / L72 427 V-8

  • COPO 9737

    Sports car conversion kit

  • COPO 9560

    High performance
    Unit / ZL1 427 V-8

Copo 9561

This was the code for the iron-block/iron-head L72 427/425 Camaro sports car option. Available with either the RPO M22 "Rock Crusher" 4-speed, or the TH-400 heavy-duty 3-speed automatic, this package also included the ZL2 cowl induction hood, a L78 cowl induction air cleaner, dual exhausts available in standard or chambered configurations, heavy-duty front and rear springs, an HD 12-bolt positraction differential with a selection of race-oriented gears, and a heavy-duty radiator. At a list price of $489.75 before other options and taxes, it had performance as shattering as the sound of its bellowing exhaust.

Copo 9737

Proving that COPO was more than just violent acceleration, the Sports Car Equipment package included the basics necessary to turn a big block Camaro into a hard-edged road machine. It included the rear deck spoiler, Goodyear Wide-Tread GT E70-15 tires on 15" wheels, a larger front stabilizer bar and, by some reports, the RPO U16 Tachometer. Then there was the even rarer "Double COPO" Camaro, which carried this option and either the COPO 9560 or 9561 427 V-8 engine options, making it exotic even in the company of greatness.

Copo 9560

This order code substituted the transistor ignition-equipped all-aluminum ZL1 427/430 V-8 for the L72 427 V-8 found in COPO 9561, creating the Ultimate Weapon for track or street. Proven in competition and tamed for the street, the ZL1's all-alloy construction pared the weight of the big-block down to small-block levels, moving the horsepower-to-weight ratio and sticker price into the stratosphere. While its price limited demand to only 69 units, the impact of COPO 9560 on racing was enormous. For years after its initial production, the ZL1 Camaro would dominate Super Stock, Modified Production, and early Pro Stock drag racing classes, while both Camaro and Corvette road racing teams used its light weight and FIA-approved status to make it a frequent winner in international endurance racing.

RE-INTRODUCING:
COPO™ PARTS AND ACCESSORIES FOR THE 2010-2011 CAMARO

While the punch cards and pocket protectors wielded by the wizards behind the classic COPO Camaro are a distant memory, the passion for Camaro performance and technology still burns white hot. And it’s why GM Performance Parts is introducing a complete line of COPO™ parts and accessories for the 2010-2011 Camaro.

For the enthusiasts and racers of the fifth-generation Camaro, GM Performance Parts’ COPO program offers new counterparts to the classic hardware of yesteryear — engineered, tested, and proven for your 2010 and 2011 Camaro. All-aluminum 427 LS7 block? Check. High-flow lightweight rectangle-port LS7 aluminum heads? Check. Race-proven ignition system? Check. 2010 Camaro body-in-white? Check.

In short, it’s putting your authorized GM Performance Parts Center at the leading edge of Camaro performance all over again. Take a look at the following parts. And start making your list. Because your time machine awaits.

  • COPO Camaro LS7 Aluminum Cylinder Block

    PN# 19213580

    COPO™ LS7 ALUMINUM CYLINDER BLOCK

    Based on the development for the C5R competition engine and rated to over 500 horsepower, this 319-T5 alloy block is finished to 4.125", and has siamesed bores for added rigidity under high-rpm stress.

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  • COPO Camaro LS7 Aluminum Cylinder Heads

    PN#12578449

    COPO™ LS7 ALUMINUM CYLINDER HEADS

    These rectangle-port 12-degree heads have full CNC machining of the ports and chambers for blueprint-quality cylinder-to-cylinder consistency. They can support over 600 horsepower, and arrive assembled with 2.100"/1.610" valves.

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  • COPO Camaro LSX Ignition Controller

    PN#19171130

    COPO™ LSX IGNITION CONTROLLER

    This plug-in system works with carbureted LS-series engines using the 58X reluctor wheel. It comes with preprogrammed ignition curves, plus the ability to create your own, with custom vacuum advance curves, timing curves, program low- and high-rpm rev limiter and step retard. It connects to stock sensors and comes with its own matching MAP sensor. Compatible with LS6 and LS7 ignition coils.

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  • COPO Camaro Body-in-white

    PN#19243374

    COPO™ CAMARO BODY-IN-WHITE

    Build your COPO Camaro race car from the ground up. This body comes straight from the factory body shop with no production line sealers or sound deadeners to remove before you start your build.

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BUILD YOUR OWN LEGEND

These really are the good new days. Combining a heritage of unsurpassed performance with the technology proven by international endurance racing, COPO™ Performance Parts are a living, breathing link to the powerful and passionate heritage that burned the Chevrolet name into the hearts and minds of enthusiasts around the world. To write your chapter of the COPO legend and get more information, see your Authorized GM Performance Parts Center today!