Rare 600-HP Chevy Camaro ZL1 COPO crops up on sale

One out of 37 Camaro ZL1 F-Body supercars tuned for motorsports by two aftermarket companies has cropped up on sale in the United States. It appears to be virtually new and comes with an asking price just below $150,000.

The COPO program was born in the distant year 1969 when racing driver and tuner Fred Gibb ordered half a hundred such cars to improve and tune for motorsports. He enlisted the assistance of GMMG, a renowned tuning company back at the time, to build these cars. They were divided into three performance categories called “phases”. Phase I and Phase II tuning programs boiled down to a comparatively mild engine tune-up, although it still did make a difference on the track. The Phase III treatment saw the car lose its stock engine entirely in favor of a bigger and more powerful unit.

This was the case with this fourth-gen 2002 Chevrolet Camaro. Its stock engine made room under the hood for a 7.0-liter LS6 V8 tuned to deliver 608 PS (600 hp / 447 kW) and 780 Nm (575 lb-ft) of torque. A six-speed manual transmission was entrusted with carrying the torque to the rear axle. Different reports claim GMMG had only produced between 31 and 37 such Phase III vehicles.

With under 800 km (500 miles) of use under its belt, the sports car seems to be in great condition.