![]() Dedicated to the Promotion and Preservation of American Muscle Cars, Dealer built Supercars and COPO cars. |
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#1
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Sorry about this double post.
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www.dickharrell.com |
#2
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Scott's Nova site has some good info on the COPO Nova and on the SuperCar dealer Novas. He has two letters from Chevy about the 68 COPO car meeting the 50 car NHRA rule. That sure was nice of NHRA to make the 50 car rule. There may not have been any Hi Po COPOs, ZL1s, 1963 Z-11s or any of the other factory drag cars if it were not for this rule. This is one reason that it is difficult to believe Jim Mattison's theory that all the 68 Yenko Camaros were 427 COPOs. I would think that if 50 were built they would have made it legal to race in NHRA like the 68 COPO TH400 Nova. Scott also has an interesting story on the 1963 Fastback Nova built by Bill Thomas with Smokey Yunick motors.
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/S...ory.htm#Dealer |
#3
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I am in the process of getting more imfomation on the Harrell cars,I'll let you know when I get it.By the way I'm very partial to 68 Chevy II Nova's ,since I have three 2 original big blocks ss with 4spd and the 3rd let's just say something special.One car I owned twice once in 1978 16000 miles and now with 37500 original miles,I'm the 3rd and 8th owner.By the way did you now the McGrober factory muscle cars are located in Phoenix Az. by a very wealthy attorney that at one time owned a NFL team.I was one of the lucky few to see these cars and actually talk to the 2 guys that work fulltime on restoration of these cars right at where these cars are kept.I'm personsl friends with Ozzie Virgil who lives in AZ.,use to be a catcher for the Philles.I Aizona very well.
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#4
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HUH?, And, I don't remember Jim Mattison claiming that ALL '68 Yenkos were COPOs. Did I miss that statement, or, didn't he say that "some" 427s were installed at the factory? Wasn't corporate still against racing, so, they wouldn't have wanted to build the fifty necessary. It wasn't until the COPO loophole was uncovered and exploited that Gibb was able to get the 50 Novas built. Seems like then the floodgates opened for ZL1s, and 427 Camaros & Chevelles.
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#5
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Chevy was not supposed to be involved in racing but there was a lot of "research" being done on 500+ hp motors - both iron and aluminum. L88 rods were not designed for the trailer towing package.
![]() Jim M. did say he remembers the 68 Yenkos were 427s with MV code but other opinions exist. I believe the 68 Yenko was done using the COPO system 9737 because of the 140 speedometer and other hi po parts. I don't know if the 68 Yenkos were built with a special MV L78 or a MV L72 or something else. What I am saying is if 50 were built with a 427 or if 50 were built with a special 396, I would think that Chevy would have asked NHRA to make it legal for racing. I am sure the racers in Chevy engineering would have loved to build 50 L88 1968 Camaros since the 68 Hemi Dart/Baracuda and 68 428CJ Mustang were on the drag strips. Here is a quote from Jim's post "Cole and Estes also wanted to be able to track these vehicles for ownership, as well as warrantee expense. They had the Chevrolet Product Planning Department issue a special engine code for the "427" engine that went into the 1968 Yenko Camaro COPO 9737. That code was "MV". Tonawanda records show that a total of 79 engines were built in 1968 with the "MV" engine code. I don't know if all of these engines went into vehicles (some were held for warrantee), but I do know that they were (L72) 427's." https://www.yenko.net/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000379_2.html |
#6
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O.K. Joe, your point is well taken. Why do you think Chevy didn't make 50 L88 Camaros AND ask to have them approved by NHRA? Why was it left to creative dealers to push the racing packages?
What causes you to doubt the statement made by Jim M.? Isn't he the only person who was actually there at the time who has come forward with information on this subject? |
#7
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I can write a post a mile long on Chevy Racing. There were some good books written on this fascinating subject. I can only guess why Chevy didn't make a run of 50 special 1968 Camaros. Fred Gibb and Harrell got the 1968 COPO L78 Nova with TH400 built. The reason may be as simple as "because they asked for it". Chevy R&D was very busy in 1968 with the Hall CanAm cars and the Penske/Donahue Z/28 Camaros. They also helped Smokey Yunick build a 427 Chevelle for Daytona in 68. (Smokey ran 1966 Chevelles at Daytona in 66,67,&68). According to Smokey, Chevy spent a ton of money on the 67 that Curtis Turner put on the pole at Daytona 67. They had a real fast Chevelle in 68 but it was not allowed to run. (long story) Grumpy, Strickler and others were doing quite well with their L78 and Z/28 Camaros so maybe nobody asked for a special 68 Camaro. If Chevy built an L88 Camaro it may have had to run in the same class as the Hemi. Motion ran one in M/P. The 68 Yenko has been discussed here before so if you do a search on it you should find the info.
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