The COPO Camaro story is one of my favorites in automotive history. By using the Corporate Office Production Order (AKA COPO) system, several enterprising dealers were able to short-circuit the General Motors rules and get some pretty amazing hardware built. Where the system was intended to allow dealers to special-order fleet vehicles—say you wanted fifty bright yellow service trucks—there was no reason why that same system couldn't be used for Camaros (and a handful of Corvettes). Don Yenko and Berger Chevrolet are the two dealers most often credited for the "discovery" of this loophole, and you already know their place in history. At any rate, despite GM brass insisting that no engine over 400 cubic inches could be installed in a Camaro, at some point an order for a handful of 427 cubic inch Camaros dropped into the engineering department's IN box and they got busy. Really busy.

So the net result of all this rule-bending are some of the most valuable and unquestionably some of the nastiest performance cars of the muscle car era. Prices are skyrocketing on genuine COPO cars (never mind the ZL1 cars on which this tribute is modeled) and this story and the performance are obvious reasons why. However, they're still 45-year-old cars that drive like, well, 45-year-old cars, albeit with a ton of horsepower. So when GM Performance Parts released a special anniversary-edition all-aluminum ZL1 427 cubic inch V8 engine in crate form, one enterprising hobbyist decided to build himself a pro-touring ZL1 COPO tribute using 21st century tech and a giant pile of cash. This stunning pro-built Lemans Blue 1969 Camaro hardtop is the result.

By spending $180,000 on a car, you can get pretty darned close to perfect, and the bodywork on this spectacular car surely looks expensive. The guys at Woody's Hot Rodz ensured that sheetmetal is laser-straight, the gaps are tight, the shine on the two-stage urethane paint seems to vibrate off the surface and positively glows in the sunlight. The COPOs were stripped-down street fighters, so this one got a no-frills look despite the big-bucks build, and that means a steel cowl-induction hood and no ducktail spoiler, just the way the COPOs rolled off the assembly line. Of course, no factory-built COPO was ever this nice, but it's definitely got the right look. Folding headlights from an RS give it a distinctive look that's not totally authentic (although there's no reason why they couldn't have built a COPO with these headlights), and the top is painted white, not white vinyl, to help with the industrial-strength vibe. Pinstripes highlight the fender lines, which is one of the 1969 Camaro's most attractive features, and there are modern LED taillights in back to put a little twist on it. Remember, this isn't a COPO clone, but rather a modern interpretation of one of the all-time greats.

The interior offers the same kind of blend of old and new and it incorporates Chevy's most attractive upholstery choice into the design. Most COPOs got the standard vinyl seats, but this one uses custom-made buckets with heavy side bolsters that keep you in place and are far more comfortable than the original chairs. Factory-style houndstooth upholstery gives it a period-correct look that helps with the illusion. Of course it goes without saying that everything inside this car is new, including the carpets, door panels, and custom-made 1-piece sculpted headliner, and there's a lot of trick custom work behind the scenes. Perhaps most notable is the deletion of the back seat, making this a pure 2-seater, and the fabricated bulkhead looks industrial and helps camouflage the tubbed rear wheel wells (we'll get to the trick rolling stock in a moment). The dash is stock Camaro and includes a factory AC tach, which is a nice bit of authenticity. There's also a stock steering wheel on a tilt column and a set of auxiliary gauges on the transmission tunnel, simply because you're going to want them when you see what's invested in the hardware under the hood. There's no console, which keeps to the COPO no-frills look, but this is a factory power-window car, so they were retained simply because they're rare and very cool. The Hurst cue ball shifter manages a Tremec T56 6-speed manual transmission underneath, and it makes this incredible car everyday-friendly if you want to drive it regularly. As I mentioned, there is no back seat, and the trunk is filled with a custom stainless fuel cell and trick bulkhead work that conceals the battery and offers a master cut-off switch for easy storage.

Now about that engine. A few years ago, GM decided to celebrate the ZL1 with a run of fresh all-aluminum ZL1-spec 427 cubic inch V8s—427 of them, to be exact, of which this is #059. The spec sheet is impressive as hell and includes components from the L88 engine program including high compression pistons, high-flow aluminum heads, and a bulletproof bottom end. It starts with the ZL1 aluminum block using the tooling that helped create the legend in 1969. The block offers a full-strength structure, thick deck surfaces, 4-bolt mains, and a 4.250 bore size. Building on that foundation, the short block contains a forged steel crank, forged steel rods, and forged aluminum pistons with a very streetable and pump-gas-friendly 10.1:1 compression ratio. Aluminum oval-port heads and an Edelbrock single plane intake are paired with an 870 CFM Holley 4-barrel carburetor. The camshaft is a hydraulic roller with valve lift numbers of .510" on the intake and .540" on the exhaust and it bumps 1.7:1 aluminum roller rockers.

Now, the important thing to note is that the engine—all by itself, in a box—cost $28,625. Yikes!

Once the engine was fitted to this Camaro's engine bay, it was topped with a correct cowl-induction air cleaner assembly, an HEI ignition system, and a set of beautifully made long-tube headers with 1.75-inch primaries and a trick white ceramic coating that looks like the '60s all over again. The whole thing is rated at 430 horsepower and 444 pounds of torque, but like the original ZL1, that's a gross understatement of reality. This car moves like a legitimate 500+ horsepower machine.

So you can just dump that $28,000 engine in your Camaro and call it done, but if you really want to get busy and have some fun, you do some serious upgrades under the skin. This car features a fabricated Art Morrison tube chassis that provides a rock-solid platform for the big horsepower—no more twisting away the horsepower at launch. A blow-proof bell housing contains the heavy-duty McLeod clutch which feeds a brand-new custom driveshaft as thick as Schwarzenegger's biceps. A custom exhaust system snakes through the chassis for excellent ground clearance and sounds amazing without being painful on long hauls. There's a full coil-over front suspension featuring C6 Corvette control arms and spindles, plus rack-and-pinion steering, so it definitely doesn't feel like an old car anymore. In back, there's a built Ford 9-inch rear with 3.70 gears on a Track-Lok limited slip and powering stout 31-spline axles, so breakage is really a non-issue so long as you keep street tires on it. An Art Morrison 4-link setup with another set of coil-overs keeps it in place, and there's a fat sway bar at each end to make this Camaro grab the pavement hard enough to rip it up. With all that go power, you need some serious stopping, and 14-inch Wilwood discs and 6-piston calipers live at all four corners—talk about overkill! Finally, it's fitted with very trick Wheel Vintiques billet aluminum "steelies" that replicate the look of the COPO's dog dish hubcaps but allows modern 245/40/18 front and 275/40/18 rear Bridgestone rubber.

A multiple magazine feature car (including "Popular Hot Rodding"), this incredible pro-touring COPO tribute cost more than $180,000 to build and shows just 767 test-and-tune miles. It starts easily, idles well, and while I haven't personally probed the limits of its considerable performance envelope, it pulls like a freight train when there's enough space for it. Just make sure it's pointed where you want to go before you open all four barrels on the Holley.

Simply stunning in every facet of the construction, this is a unique car for a unique individual. It will undoubtedly outrun virtually everything else on the road and does it without losing the spirit of the original, which did the same thing 45 years ago. Offered at a fraction of the build cost, it's the most fantastic early Camaro we've ever featured. Heck, you couldn't buy a restored Camaro and dump that engine into it for less cash than this, so it's like you're getting the suspension, brakes, wheels, and interior for free. Sound good? Give us a call!