’69 COPO Corvette

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room first. Is there a 1969 COPO Corvette in real life?

According to posts in the Corvette Forum, there has only been one 1969 COPO Corvette to leave the factory. On the auction site Mecum Auctions, it is also listed as only one COPO L88 Corvette and comes with complete documentation. I am not a Corvette expert so I can’t really put my 2 cents in. COPO stands for Central Office Production Order which allowed certain customers to spec-order non-standard parts and accessories. While there may only have been 1 COPO Corvette for the ’69 model, there was also a ’67 COPO Corvette ordered by a GM designer, Bill Mitchell. And it wasn’t just the Corvette, COPO Camaros were also available.

’69 COPO Corvette

But this here example from Hot Wheels is of the ’69 COPO Corvette. The casting first appeared in the 2011 New Models line and has been in production since. The one that I have is from the Car Culture Circuit Legends series. Which means that this sits on Real Rider wheels and tires. Very nice looking RRPrf in yellow (officially on the Wiki, but it looks more like gold). As with most Hot Wheels, this casting comes with broken size wheels which actually looks good especially with the Good Year marking on the tires. Decked out in yellow paint with a contrasting black roof and hood, the car looks very much like a circuit car. Being from the Car Culture series, you can bet that it has a better quality finish. It has decals galore, painted headlights and taillights, and a metal base.

’69 COPO Corvette

I am not a Corvette fan, but I do appreciate nice cars. And this one is very nice. The stance is good, it looks muscular, it looks American, and it feels good. A keeper then? I’ll need to spend more time with it for me to say.

Hot Wheels Gulf Racing

I decided to tear open a few blister packs because my wife had been asking me to clear up some space in the home office. I looked at some of my boxes of toys and figured that having them boxed in their blister packs isn’t getting anyone anywhere. So I took out three in one blow just to get things rolling. I started out with a handful of Gulf Racing liveried cars because they were like a race team.

A Gulf Corvette

Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (C6)
To be honest, this ZR1 has the weakest impact in these racing liveried cars. It’s not that it’s a bad car, far from it. But the ZR1, with its supercharger sitting and exposed from that hole in the bonnet, doesn’t flaunt the Gulf Racing colors as well as the other cars I opened. I have always loved that contrasting black roof over the car’s lighter color and the Gulf Racing livery just took that away.

A Gulf Ford GT LM

Ford GT LM
The Ford GT Le Mans race car is nothing but race pedigree. The livery actually complements this car and makes it look like a proper race car. Livery aside, the GT LM casting was always a favorite of mine because of the proportion and the shape and the detail that was given to the car. Granted, the paint job could always do with finer details, but that Le Mans wing just really gives this car attitude.

A Gulf Chevelle

’70 Chevy Chevelle SS
My favorite amongst the three. This SS casting is all about presence. And you can’t have any more presence than this casting. A bulging hood, wide over fenders, side exhausts, NASCAR-style wing and front air dam all makes for a mean, fuel burning machine. And then you look at the inside. Single seat, textured side windows, and a roll cage finished in chrome. The orange base pops from the inside reflecting over all that chrome and that stance is just purposeful, like how the Hoonicorn Mustang sits low on the ground waiting to be driven hard.