Chevrolet launched its COPO Camaro racetrack car in 2012, but the 2022 model stands out from the rest for two reasons. First, for the first time, there is an option for a motor with a large mass. Secondly, there are no restrictions on production.
If you are a US citizen and wish to obtain a COPO, you should be able to obtain one as well. All of this could be more than meets the eye, which we’ll get to in a bit.
Drag racers know all about COPO, but here’s a rundown of it all. In 1969, some Chevy dealers used the automaker’s Central Office Production Order (COPO) system to order Camaros with options and engines that were not normally available.
There were 69 cars built that year (only), but Chevy revived the COPO Camaro in 2012 as a key-pull racer which is definitely not street legal.
Chevy’s massive 9.4-liter V8 with 572 cubic inches is now available for 2022. We’re saying it again: the Neunkommavier liter. displacement, not consumption. It’s the first time this (very) Big Block has overseen a modern COPO Camaro, and while we’d like to tell you how much power it generates, Chevy told us that the exact number has yet to be obtained from a National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) certified.
However, if you look at GM’s available “box engines,” the 572 comes in a variety of variants ranging from 630 to 710 horsepower (463 to 522 kW), so it’s probably somewhere in that range.
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If these values also apply to the COPO, the Big Block Camaro will be superior to the 5.7-liter V8 with 589 hp (433 kW) with supercharged. Also available is a 7.0-liter naturally aspirated V8 with 476 hp (350 kW).
In honor of the original COPO Camaro from 1969, Chevy only builds 69 copies each year, but no longer in 2022. Now the automaker will build as many COPOs as there are orders, with no limit.
Less than 700 copies have been made since the launch of the modern program in 2012, but with production now open to large scale, the cars will be built on a first-come, first-served basis until buyers stop coming. Prices for the 2022 Kubo Camaro with a large block engine start at $105,000.
At this point we can’t avoid taking a closer look at the whole thing. It’s no secret that regular Camaro sales have been poor for some time. It’s also no secret that the Camaro’s existence will almost certainly end with the current generation, but the last model year is still pending.
We’ve heard about 2024 and 2026 a few times before, but with Chevrolet halting performance and production for the 2022 Qubo, it feels like one last breath before the end. Could 2022 be the end of the COPO Camaro, or the end of all Camaros?
It’s just speculation on our part, but if you wanted to say goodbye to the Camaro with great fanfare, it wouldn’t be a bad way to go. According to a report by Car News The car will be replaced by a sports sedan with an electric motor (Performance EV Sedan) from 2024.
