Tim Allen’s 1968 Camaro 427 COPO

Tim Allen’s Dream COPO

Actor Tim Allen stuffed a 505-horsepower LS7 engine into a first-generation F-body Camaro with the help of Detroit Speed, Bodie Stroud and Classic Industries.

Allen’s ’68 Camaro is actually not an authentic COPO, but rather it is Tim Allen’s own creation of a COPO muscle car.

Michigan-native Allen’s vision for his Camaro was made up of three of his dream cars: his childhood memory of a buddy’s 1968 Camaro, a Trans Am racer prepped by Smokey Yunick, and the 1969 427 COPO Camaros.

The COPO Process Origin Story

COPO Camaros originated from a desire for more displacement than what was coming out of the factory in the late 1960s. Production Chevrolet engines were limited to 400 cubic inches, and COPO was a process used to circumvent those performance limits, and order non-stock options from the production line.

How it started was Don Yenko’s performance shop obtained permission from Chevrolet to modify the Camaro. Yenko swapped out the production engine for an L-72 427 motor. To handle the additional power (around 425 hp), the cylinder heads, intake manifold and carburetor were also changed. These cars became known as a Yenko Super Car or a Yenko Super Camaro.

A 1967 Chevrolet Yenko Super Camaro 450 from Mecum Auctions

By 1968, Yenko was having trouble keeping up with modified-Camaro requests, so Yenko requested to have some Camaros come off the line manufactured with the L-72 427 motor. To make the request, he used the COPO process, Central Office Production Order, and that’s how the COPO Camaros got their moniker.

Tim Allen’s 1968 Camaro 427 COPO

To manifest his own COPO vision, Allen stuffed a 505-horsepower LS7 engine into a first-generation F-body Camaro with the help of Detroit Speed, Bodie Stroud, and Classic Industries. The project took around seven months to complete, using hundreds of Classic Industries parts, including bumpers, spoilers and interior specialty items.

“We would like to give a special thanks to Classic Industries for putting up with us during this build,” Stroud said, “For our numerous phone calls and their prompt response to ‘we need it pronto.’ It wouldn’t matter what language we said it in, they knew exactly what we meant.”

The 1968 Camaro 427 COPO is no garage queen; Allen brought his Camaro for a visit to Jay Leno’s Garage, where the two take it for a spin and then Allen even does a burnout. Here’s the video:

Video | Tim Allen’s 1968 Camaro 427 COPO – Jay Leno’s Garage

If you are in the So Cal area, Classic Industries opens its showroom to the public six days a week, and you can see more of their creations in person.