A BEAR IN WOLF'S CLOTHING?

They can’t even agree what COPO stands for. Is it Central Office Purchase Order, or does that P stand for Production? Does the C stand for Corporate? You see versions on web forums, in books, even in the titles of businesses associated with these sought-after cars. Steve Henry, owner of this spectacular rare-bird muscle machine, warned me it was impossible to talk about the history of the COPO Camaros without starting an argument, so please…go easy on us.

Here’s the gist: powerful car dealer persuades Chevrolet to allow some under-the-counter sales of Camaros with big-block V8s installed, against a corporate decision to limit the engine sizes in smaller cars. Fifty years on, they’re worshipped as the coolest of the cool, offering the Holy Trinity of desirable characteristics: great looks, stonking performance and rarity.

The detail helps too. It starts with Don Yenko, a well-connected Chevy dealer who had been offering performance parts and upgrades for customers’ cars since 1957. By the mid-Sixties, his dealership in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, was selling re-worked