Ohio COPOs

Chevelles Travel Different, Yet Similar, Paths

- Drew Hardin

It’s not surprising that both of these 1969 COPO Chevelles came out of GM’s Baltimore assembly plant. Almost all of the 300 or so that were made were built there. Per NCRS documents, these two were built three weeks apart (June 4 and June 25, 1969) and were delivered to the same dealer, the nowshuttered Earl Evans Chevrolet in Painesville, Ohio, northeast of Cleveland.

Their paths diverged at that point—boy, did they, as you’ll see—but they have joined again. Both cars now belong to Grady Burch, who lives about 50 miles from where Evans Chevrolet was located.

Regular MCR readers will recognize Grady’s name. He owns some significant examples of Chevrolet muscle, several of which have appeared on these pages (like the day-two COPO Camaro doing that wild burnout on the cover of our Dec. 2017 issue). His Dusk Blue COPO Chevelle was featured back in May 2009, but we’re revisiting the car because its stablemate, the Garnet Red COPO, just finished an extensive two-year restoration. Both Chevelles will be displayed together at the 2019 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals in Illinois.​

According to well-established research, about 300 COPO Chevelles were built in 1969. An estimated 66 remain, making them rarer still. Grady’s Dusk Blue Chevelle takes that scarcity a notch higher, as it is a perfectly preserved, unrestored example of the breed.

Grady has owned this Chevelle since April 1987. Back then he was looking for one like the car he drove in high school, a red 1969 SS396 that he sold after he got married. An acquaintance said he knew of a 1969 Chevelle for sale, but it had a 427 V-8 in it, not a 396. The car was located just 3 miles from Grady’s home.