F&SO or COPO

[TonyHuntimerRaceHome]

Hey guys,

Is there a page or a section on CRG that I'm not seeing that explains more about Fleet and Special Order's (F&SO)?  Is it somewhere and I'm just blind?   I've seen F&SO on the Broadcast sheet where it reads "F&SO Or COPO No." and I've read that special order paint does not make your Camaro a COPO car...since there wasn't any engineering involved in changing paint color.

What else do we really know about Fleet and Special Order's?  What other things have been documented as Fleet and Special Order's?  Were there any first gen Police cars ever built?  If so, would those be fleet?  Would a Special Order simply cover adding a HD radiator or a folding rear seat to a plain jane L6 powered Camaro?

Thanks,
Tony Huntimer

[tom]

I think the folding rear seat was just an option, could be ordered on any Camaro. Radiators as far as I know were dased on drivetrain, but the is a great article on radiators here: http://www.camaros.org/coolingsystems.shtml

[JohnZ]

Most F&SO's were on trucks, primarily for special paint colors, and on full-size passenger cars for police and taxicab provisions.

[KurtS]

I've only seen F&SO's on Camaros as special paint and possibly one fleet.

It appears that orders from Hertz did not get a fleet #, though I expect they did get some type of price break.

Here's more info from multiple posts from Jim Mattison from back in 2002. Jim worked in the Central Office processing these orders.

It appears that your car was special ordered through the Chevrolet Fleet & Special Order Department (many of you folks call it the COPO Group).

During the years that I was a part of this group, we processed many orders for vehicles with special paint. Although these vehicles were ordered with "special paint", they are not considered to be COPO cars. I'm surprised that more of these "special paint" cars haven't shown-up, as many of these orders were for performance cars.

The paint information (926-99568) that you have on both the build sheet and on the trim tag "is" in fact a Dupont paint number. I don't understand why your local Dupont folks can't identify it for you. The "926" denotes that the color is a non-metallic and the "99568" is the mixing formula. While this color may in fact be for Daytona Yellow, it could also be for some other yellow, including a truck color, or a yellow from another car manufacturer. The paint information that was stamped on your trim tag was supposed to be able to assist you or your body shop to identify the "special paint" color, if repair or re-painting was needed at a later date.

If your local paint supplier cannot identify the paint code, I'd give them a piece of this original paint, from an area that has not been exposed to the elements. Hopefully they can scan the color and provide you with a proper match.

Let me know if I can be of any other help to decipher the color.

Jim Mattison
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The prefix "767" denotes that the color is Dupont metallic wheel enamel. Non-metallic wheel enamel would be "766".

I am reasonably sure that I didn't process this order, and yes, the entire wheel on this Chevelle SS would have been painted gold. Some of the guys in my group didn't take the time to think about the possibility of a car having some type of sport wheels. You have to remember that the majority of our business was that of police cars, taxis and municipal vehicles, which came with the standard steel wheels. Occasionally, the plant would call and question the painting instructions, but not all that often!

The next five (5) digits are for the mixing formula of the paint. While I'm not 100% sure, I believe that "98457" is the mixing formula for Anniversary Gold, which has been used on a variety of Chevy’s over the years, to commemorate various anniversaries.

On your other Chevelle, the mixing formula "99616" is for what we used to call "Road Commission Orange". This was a very popular special order color on trucks, but some cars were ordered with it too! Mostly on "hot rods"!!!

The "1001HA" is the pricing code for the special paint. The charges for a solid color special paint would vary from no charge (1001AA) to $125.00 (1001HA). We would paint a vehicle any color under the rainbow except for the Cadillac Firemist colors and Corvette colors. Our special paint book would have thousands of special colors in it, with more being added weekly. Unfortunately, those days are gone forever!!!

I can still remember the cars that we special painted "Kelly Green" for John Delorean, when he was general manager of Chevy and dating Kelly Harmon. Lots of special "Pink" cars for Nancy Sinatra, too!!!

F&SO "RD0066" refers to the document number for the special order instructions. My department assigned these numbers. This order was the 66th at this plant for the 1970 model year. I believe that the "R" is for the GM Assembly Plant in Arlington, Texas?

I hope that this information is helpful.
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Wow!!! It appears that there is a lot of interest in the special paint process. I'll do my best to answer most all of everyone’s questions.

First, back in the late 60s and early 70s anyone could order their new Chevy with a special color. Literally any color under the rainbow was available, except for the Cadillac Fire mist colors.

The pricing for a solid color "Special Paint" would vary between no charge and $125.00. Volume would dictate the pricing.

If the customer was a fleet account, or if the dealer would order multiple vehicles in the same color, the pricing would be n/c. However, if the dealer would order a single unit, the pricing could go as high as $125, with various prices in between, based on many other factors.

Some of the other conditions that would require a car order to come through my group was: "Delete Stripes" on a Z-28, Chevelle SS, or other model with painted stripes. Colors that were current production, but on a different model, would also require our approval. We did lots of cars in "Hugger Orange" that normally didn't come in that color as n/c. Also, you wouldn't believe the number of Chevrolets that were painted the popular 1968-69 Pontiac color, "Verdoro Green"! I even remember a fair number of cars being ordered in the 1970 Chrysler color "Plum Crazy"!

It's too bad that I can't get to the Supercar Reunion this year and answer many of your questions in person. It would be so much easier to explain in more detail. However, with the production on the F-body coming to a close, GM has me scheduled to go to the Corvette Museum and represent both Chevy and Pontiac on the same weekend at the Camaro-Firebird Gathering, in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Jim Mattison
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The Cadillac Firemist colors were excluded due to them having such a course metallic. These colors needed to be sprayed through a special paint gun. Even on a Cadillac, the Firemist paint was quite a costly option!

As for book........... I'll be the first to confess that I thoroughly enjoyed the years that I spent at Chevrolet. Lots of things were going on! It was a time in the automotive industry that we will never see again, as the industry has changed so dramatically!

I'll be happy to talk to folks about some of my experiences at Chevrolet (both the good and the bad), if I were to see you at a show or event. However, I sincerely doubt if anyone would ever want to read about my adventures. I was just a small fish in a big pond!

Jim Mattison
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The pricing for "Special Paint" was based on if the color was a current production color on another Chevy model, the number of vehicles ordered and if the account was a "Fleet Account". We would also have the ability to, at our discression, change the paint pricing on an order, if we felt that it was justified.

As for the paint, Dupont would send an ample amount to both the Fisher Body facility and to the corresponding Chevrolet plant. All of this paint was "factory package" direct from Dupont, so color matching wouldn't be a problem.

Also, on all special paint orders, a quart of paint would be shipped in the glove box of the car, so that the dealer could do any touch-up, if needed. A note would accompany this quart of paint, recommending that the owner write down the paint number inside their owner’s manual for future reference.

Jim Mattison