All we want for Christmas is a COPO Camaro
The drag strip icon returns for 2023, and can now be ordered with Chevy's 1004hp, 10.4-litre V8
Central Office Production Order is hardly the sexiest name out there for a muscle car, but it’s a title reserved for only the most special Chevrolet Camaros. The first COPO Camaro arrived in 1969, dealerships ordering cars using special forms to get around GM’s edict that the model should not have more than 400 cubic inches under the bonnet. A few 427ci, 7.0-litre Camaros emerged soon after, and a legend was born. The COPO was so legendary in fact, that the badge wouldn’t return to a Camaro until 2011, but it’s unsurprisingly become extremely popular since its reintroduction.
Cue the 2023 version, another drag strip special that isn’t road legal, will be very limited production, and promises utterly ludicrous performance. As history dictates, there’s a naturally aspirated 427 cubic-inch, 470-hp engine option, or buyers can also opt for a supercharged V8 with 600hp, derived from the famous LSX. Both of those are made to look a little measly, however, by the third engine option, a new ‘Big-Block 632’. That’s 632 as in cubic inches, or 10.4 litres.
Revealed last year, the V8 makes 1,004hp at 6,600rpm, and 876lb ft at 5,600rpm, which would imply both monstrous torque and a healthy appetite for revs. The numbers really are berserk, not least because it revs all the way to 7,000rpm, with each cylinder measuring 11.6cm in bore and 12cm in stroke. Heaven only knows what this kind of power in a Camaro feels like, but it’s surely going to be the most popular engine option.
The 10-litre COPO Camaro will cost $135,900, or about £112,000. Incredibly, it’s not the most expensive model in the range: the supercharged car is $141,225, and the 7.0-litre model is $126,420. Standard kit for all of them includes a three-speed automatic gearbox, Hoosier drag tyres, wheelie bars and a two-piece carbon bonnet. A 632 Big Block package is also an option, costing $30k on the most powerful model and bringing the stunning Vivid Orange colour with graphics. You’re going to want the 632 Big Block package, surely. Interested parties in the US are being asked to complete the beautifully simple order form and pay a $15k deposit; that doesn’t bring a guarantee of a car, however. And it’s easy to imagine demand outstripping supply…
, if you've built a drag racing big block and it's not making 1000hp you've done something wrong tbh.PARACHUTE…!!!!
As part of the racers pack…!!
OMFG - that’s literally THE antidote to the current direction of travel for, er, these electronic, autonomous, cable tethered ‘transport devices’….
Not the best looker - but with 10 (ten..!) litres under the hood, who cares…??
Merry Christmas - indeed..!!
, if you've built a drag racing big block and it's not making 1000hp you've done something wrong tbh.Just to say, I'm not trying to drag the COPO engine. I love a big capacity V8 but 1000bhp is relatively easy these days, not cheap but easy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TptzkkbC1vE
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