Introduction
While the Muscle Car Era is often disputed as to how long it lasted, and exactly which cars are "muscle cars", ask any group of true performance car enthusiasts what the greatest year in the history of American automotive performance was, and its likely that many will be quick to offer up "1969". 1969 was the center of the heated American horsepower race and unlike modern day where a company may have one or two high performance models, there were few cars that were not being stuffed with high horsepower big block motors, regardless of the manufacturer. 1969 brought us one of the most popular years for cars such as the
Chevrolet Corvette, the
Ford Mustang, the Dodge Charger, the Plymouth Barracuda, and last (but certainly not least) the
Chevrolet Camaro. It was around this time that engines such as the 428 Cobra Jet and 426 Hemi, and to counter those monster engines, Chevrolet introduced two new monster engines of their own, and with them some physical upgrades and special packages to go along with the engine upgrades, as well as a few touch-ups in appearance.
Appearance
The general appearance of the 1969 Camaro did not change much compared to the first two years, having kept the basic body lines and basic "look". This slight transformation was similar to the changes made to the 1968 model to differentiate them from the 1967 model. The first item changed was the front as a whole. The 1967 and 1968 bumpers followed along the bottom of the grille opening, then wrapped around, traveling a short distance along the fender towards the front wheel opening. The 1969 model also followed along the grille but instead of wrapping around to the fenders, the ends curled up along the sides of the grille. The grille area itself was changed, with the turn signals being shifted from the grille area to the area below the bumper. The grille was given a more pointed shape, and the headlights were moved in a bit, taking up some of the space left vacant from the relocated turn signals. Even with the change to the front end, the popular RS package, which included a different grille, RS badges, and the hideaway headlights, was still offered. As you move out along the sides of the car, the lines remain the same, but some changes were made. The 1968 wheel openings were rounded at the top, and seemed to follow the shape of the tires, but to provide a "lower look", the 1968 model wheel openings were flattened along the top, and a crease was added to the side of the car which seemed to flow out of the front wheel opening and traveled back to the rear wheel opening. This crease also flowed out of the rear wheel opening, and continued to the rear of the car. This crease, combined with the flattened wheel openings, help to give the car a wider, lower looking stance.
Another option offered for the 1969 Camaro was the addition of non-functional cooling ducts which were placed directly in front of the rear wheels, and also followed the line of this new body crease. The rear end of the car also got a "face lift", so to speak. While the 1967 and 1968 tail lights had been a set of square, dual-unit lights, with the inner light serving as the reverse indicator, and the outer light serving as the brake light/parking light; the 1969 went to a whole different look. The brake and parking lights were now contained in a pair of "light bars" on each side, with the outside edge of the entire housing following the shape of the car. the reverse indicators had been shifted down below the rear bumper, offering more light to the ground. Bumperettes were added, flanking the license plate area, and the although the rear bumper still wrapped around to the rear quarter panels, they did so a bit less than the 1968 models. In order allow more air to get to the new engines a high rising cowl induction hood was offered as the 'premium hood'. The reason for this new hood was one of the new Ram Air induction kits which provided colder air to the engine.
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Base Engines
Speaking of engines...while the changes to the appearance of the car were liked by some, and hated by some, the engine options for 1969 were surely loved by all (except those who were not driving a Camaro). Much like other manufacturers involved in the horsepower race of the 60s, each year there had to be more power. The lowest performance inline-6 had been dropped, making the absolute base model engine a 250 cubic inch inline-6, building 155 horsepower, and this engine offered excellent economy, and kept the sticker price low for those who wanted the look of the 1969 Camaro, yet were not so concerned with big horsepower. For those who insisted on a V8, but still wanted to keep costs low, four "base model" V8s were offered. A new 307 cubic inch motor, which was simply a 283 cubic inch motor with a crankshaft from a 327, offered 200bhp and 300lb-ft or torque , a 327 offering 210bhp, a 350 cubic inch engine building 255bhp, and another 327 cubic inch motor offering 275bhp. The Z/28 trim line came with a standard 302 cubic inch motor which packed 290 horsepower, and the Super Sport models offered four engines options; one 350 cubic inch small block, and three 396 cubic inch big blocks. The SS350 packed 300bhp, and the three different 396s offering 325, 350, and 375 bhp. While these various increases in horsepower were a nice touch for the 1969 model year, that was only the tip of the engine iceberg.
Yenko Camaros
Since the inception of the Camaro, General Motors had a sort of unwritten rule that the Camaro was not to have an engine bigger than 400 cubic inches. Many will say that this was to avoid stepping on the toes of the flagship Corvette owners, but with the increasing engine size in the "pony car class", Chevrolet had little choice but to go bigger, and with the introduction of two very strong (and very expensive) new big block options, a legend was born. These beefy 427 cubic inch engines were referred to as COPO, or Central Office Production Orders, followed by a number. The first, "lower" performance model was the COPO 9561, or the L-72 engine package option. This engine package was rated at 425 bulk horsepower by General Motors, and when ordered, it would come to the dealership packed in a crate, and would be installed by the dealership. While the upgrade package included no special badging, the dealership would often badge them as their own, and one of those dealerships has become quite famous in the now-antique performance car market. That dealership was Yenko Chevrolet, based in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Yenko is also credited with presenting the idea of putting the L-72 engine into small block cars, as well as creating many 'dealership built' high performance cars starting in the mid 1960s, and they benefited greatly from COPO system. When a 1969 Yenko Camaro was ordered, 427 cubic inch engine was installed, and although nothing was done to the L-72 engine option by Yenko, a far more realistic 450 bulk horsepower rating was applied. Also, as a part of the Yenko Camaro 15 inch "rally wheels", a larger front roll bar, and special sYc (Yenko sports Car) badges were added. Other race enhancements were offered from this legendary performance shop / dealership, and many of these "stock' Yenko Camaros could hit low 13 second and high 12 second quarter mile times with stock tires.
The ZL-1
In 1969, around 1,015 Camaros were fitted with the L-72 engine option. But, 450bhp was not enough for some people, and that is where the most powerful Camaro in its history entered. The "common name" was the ZL-1, but to dealerships and the factory, it was the COPO 9560 option. This engine was also 427 cubic inches, but the block and heads were all aluminum as opposed to the L-72 427 which had only aluminum heads. This engine was (severely) underrated at 430 bulk horsepower, and it weighed only 500 pounds, which was about the same as the 327 cubic inch motor. The engine actually proved to put out 500-550 bulk horsepower on a dynamometer, but the downside to this awesome engine was the also awesome price. The COPO 9560 engine upgrade cost an additional $4,100, bring the car to a total cost of around $7,200, which is roughly double the price of the SS396 with 375 bhp. Due to the high cost, and relatively low demand, there were only 69 Camaros built with this option, although only 50 were intended to be built in order to comply with "super stock" racing requirements. It is rumored that of these 69 built and shipping to dealerships, around 30 were returned to the factory as they simply would not sell. In order to put the price back then into modern terms, think of it this way. The 2002 Camaro SS cost around $31,000, and had a debatable 350 bhp. How many people now would be willing to pay $62,000 for that same car, with only 405 horsepower? The high end SS396 offered an advertised 375bhp, and the COBO 9560 was 430 advertised bhp, which is a difference of only 30 bhp. While it is well know that the ZL-1 was underrated, to those who were unaware of that, it was like the aforementioned example...going from 31 grand to 62 grand...for 30 bhp. While it may seem foolish to some to have charged this much, the limited numbers, and high price of these (and other) COBO Camaro's are easily among the most sought after American built cars, ever.
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Moving On
1970 marked the end of the first generation of the Camaro, and due to some tooling issues with the conversion of the assembly plants caused by the full redesign of the Camaro, the launch of the 1970 Camaro was delayed. In lue of this delay, Chevrolet continue selling 1969 Camaros well into the 1970 calendar year, and evidently due to some manufacturing errors, some 1969 Camaros were actually tagged as 1970 Camaros. This extended model year, and combined with the popularity of the 1969 Camaro and its new engines, yielded the following production numbers:
RS: 37,773
SS: 33,980
Z/28: 19,014
COBO 9561/L-72: 1,15
COBO 9560/ZL-1: 69
Base Model: Roughly 151,240
The Camaro was one of the best selling cars in the history of the American automotive market when it ended its glorious reign as THE first name in performance cars in 2002. This was not just because it was built from 1967 to 2002, but because the car, and the Camaro name, are easily among the most recognized, most sought after, and most powerful cars in the US, and around the world. Whether in the most basic introduction level model, or the ultra high performance, race ready ZL-1, there are few cars which get attention at a car show or at a track, anywhere in the world, like a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro. While the Camaro may have seen its down time; with sales slumping due to rising fuel costs and efficient, low performance 4 cylinder engines, as well as August 27, 2002 when the last (or what was to be the last) of the Camaro's rolled off the assembly line in Canada, Camaro enthusiasts and performance car enthusiasts alike have patiently waited for the "next Camaro". The recent debut of the 2009 Chevrolet Camaro, which is currently just a concept, proves that the lines of the 1st generation Camaro, and the pointed grille of the '69 model are truly timeless, as the new concept has gotten as much recognition as the original Camaro did some 39 years ago. However, there are certain features of the concept with seem to be obviously overdone, and will have to be reworked prior to production, which provides even more opportunity for the "next" Camaro to show hints of the original.
Researched & Written by Patrick Rall
