In 1969 Chevrolet allowed L72 427 engines to be ordered in a
Camaro through a process called a COPO (Central Office
Production Order). The largest engine that could have been
ordered as a RPO (Regular Production Order) was the L78 or L89
375 HP 396. Today, the 427 COPO Camaros are highly treasured; as
there were a very limited number of them produced in 1969, with
a lot less having survived to date. The COPO order was not a
highly publicized process and was only done by a few High
Performance Chevrolet Dealerships that were aware of it. You
mostly hear about COPOs from Yenko, Gibb and Berger Chevrolet
Dealerships to name a few.
So who was Dick Harrell? One of his nicknames was "Mr.
Chevrolet". He was thought of to be one of the winningest
drag racers of the 60'S. He was very instrumental in the
development process of the installation of 427s in Camaros, a
few Chevelles and handful of Novas by a few of the Chevrolet
high performance Dealerships. He was connected with the likes of
Yenko, Gibb, Nickey and other dealerships several years before
the COPO order process came about. It would be an understatement
to say that a car is unique because it was "Dick Harrell
performance modified". Dick Harrell was truly a legend in
his own time. Unfortunately, he had an early tragic ending when,
on Labor Day 1971, he was killed in an accident in his Funny
Car.
Aside from working with all these high performance
dealerships, Dick Harrell had his own performance shop in Kansas
City, Missouri. He did sell a handful of these special cars
directly himself. This car was one of them. It was COPO ordered
and delivered to Harrell's shop from Bill Allen Chevrolet on the
outskirts of Kansas City. The complete title history goes back
to the original bill of sale from Bill Allen Chevrolet; which
also lists the Tonawanda COPO suffix motor code "MO".
This car still retains its original "MO" code motor,
which the "MO" designates it as having the Turbo 400
transmission behind it. It also came with the ZL2 cowl induction
hood, power disc brakes, heavy duty suspension, 4.10
positraction, and rallye wheels. The original owners of this car
are still alive and have provided documents of this as a Harrell
ordered and built Camaro. Along with the Dick Harrell badges as
seen in the photos, and white pinstriping added by Harrell; it
also received a Sun tach, Sun gauges, Jardine Headers, keyed
hood locks, and Chapman traction bars.
