By Dean Vaglia
Leader Staff Writer
The first 2022 Chevrolet Camaro COPO was delivered on Thursday, March 3 at Turn Key Automotive, the Oxford-based factory that makes COPO-spec vehicles for General Motors.
Bought by Dennis Collins, host of the YouTube series “Coffee Walk” and owner of Collins Bros. Jeep and Black Mountain Jeep in Wylie, Texas for daughter and racer Kelsey, 2022 COPO #001 features a 572 cubic inch big block V8 engine and a painted livery boasting about the engine’s displacement. Other features of this drag racing-spec Camaro include a roll cage, parachute, wheelie bars and Hoosier drag racing tires mounted on Bogart racing wheels.
“[COPO Camaros] are high quality, they are like Boeing,” Kelsey said. “They never try to rush things. They never try to sacrifice quality and time for the sake of getting a large number of cars out there.”
COPO Camaros are a treasured item among automobile collectors for their rarity, owing to only 69 being made through a GM ordering loophole in 1969 and a modernized race-spec version for model years 2012-2020 capped at the same 69 model limit. The 2022 COPO series keeps the modern version’s race-only focus while getting rid of the 69 examples limit. 2022 COPO Camaros with the 572 cubic inch engine start at $105,500.
Though many COPO Camaros are kept in collections — Dennis is one such collector, buying 20 since 2013 — #001 is made to work. Kelsey is taking it out on the quarter-mile at the TX2K meet on March 16-20 at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas.
The Camaro will star in episode 189 of Dennis’ YouTube show “Coffee Walk,” which goes live on the channel “Dennis Collins Car World” on March 11.