The 1969 Camaro COPO is one of the great American muscle car stories: a factory loophole that allowed dealers to order cars with engines not listed in the standard order book. ZL1 all-aluminum 427s in cars that Chevrolet officially didn't build. Fifty-odd cars that existed to go drag racing.

The mythology has grown to dwarf the reality, which is common in this hobby. Most cars claiming COPO heritage have been verified by researchers to be regular production cars with documentation added later. True COPO cars have provenance trails: dealer records, tank sticker codes, date-coded components that all tell the same story.

They're wonderful cars on their own terms. But know what you're buying before you pay COPO prices.