{"id":5341,"date":"2014-04-30T17:13:21","date_gmt":"2014-05-01T00:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=5341"},"modified":"2018-05-04T13:14:47","modified_gmt":"2018-05-04T20:14:47","slug":"dickie-harrells-camaro-is-a-classic-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/dickie-harrells-camaro-is-a-classic-classic\/","title":{"rendered":"Dickie Harrell’s Camaro is a Classic Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RJ17<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s always gratifying when a collector car parts supplier is an enthusiast, too. At last year’s SEMA Show in Las Vegas, we ran into Jeff Leonard of Classic Industries <\/a>\u00a0who was\u00a0displaying a unique Camaro in the booth.<\/p>\n

For enthusiasts like Leonard, owning a car is one thing. Owning a car with a documented drag racing history is something else. \u201cA car with a unique history becomes more than mere transportation,\u201d he said. \u201cIt becomes the main character in its own story.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 1969 COPO Camaro is the latest addition to the Classic Industries collection, and it does indeed come with quiet a pedigree. The story begins with John Penso, part of the Flying Dutchman funny car crew and a close friend of drag racing legend Dickie Harrell, who was known as \u201cMr. Chevrolet\u201d back in 1969.<\/p>\n

Penso wanted a fast car for the street, but couldn\u2019t find anything fast enough, He knew that Harrell was the man to see. Penso made arrangements to fly to the Dick Harrell Performance Center in Kansas City, Mo. and drive a 427-powered 1969 Camaro back to his home in California.<\/p>\n

In addition to Dick Harrell\u2019s signature tweaks, this Camaro contained a handful of parts in the trunk for Penso to install after his trip back to California. The extras included a set of 4.56 gears, slapper bars and a camshaft from the legendary ZL1 that Harrell had a hand in co-developing with GM. Penso placed the Dick Harrell badges in the glove box to prevent other racers from figuring out what might be under the hood.<\/p>\n

After changing hands a few times, which included a brief stay in Hawaii, the Camaro\u2019s documentation had been lost and its pedigree questioned. That was the situation until Harrell\u2019s daughter, Valerie, came into the picture.<\/p>\n

As architect of the modern Dick Harrell Performance Center, Valerie had painstakingly organized her late father\u2019s original records and was able to provide proof that this Camaro with VIN No. 124379N580930 was indeed the car that was built by her father for John Penso.<\/p>\n

Eventually, the car was treated to a full restoration that included a variety of reproduction parts from Jeff Leonard\u2019s own catalog. When it later crossed the block at Barrett-Jackson, Leonard started bidding on the car and went on to win this example of muscle car history.<\/p>\n

Leonard\u2014who currently owns a variety of rare classic vehicles\u2014isn\u2019t one to be impressed easily. \u201cWhen I first came across this rare 1-of-10 Dick Harrell 427 Camaro at Barrett-Jackson, I knew it was a rare offering,\u201d Leonard said of the car. “This Camaro is one of the most recognizable and sought after vehicles from the golden era of muscle cars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leonard is proud to own a car built by one of the foremost innovators of the muscle car era. It has become one of the most distinctive vehicles within the Classic Industries collection. “We’re going to keep this car on display until further notice,” Leonard told us. \u201cIf you’re in the Southern California area, stop by and see this 427 Camaro at the Classic Industries showroom located at 18460 Gothard St. in Huntington Beach, Calif.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RJ17<\/a><\/p>\n

The Car: <\/b>1969 Camaro built by drag racing pioneer \u201cMr. Chevrolet\u201d Dick Harrell for The Flying Dutchman funny car crewmember John Penso and recently added to the Classic Industries collection.<\/p>\n

The Engine: <\/b>After leaving the factory as a SS 396 car, Camaro VIN No.\u00a0 124379N580930 was sent to the Dick Harrell Performance Center in Kansas City, Mo. to have an iron-block 427 installed. Penso wasn\u2019t convinced that the aluminum ZL1 427 engine\u2019s water jackets would stand up to the type of racing he had in mind.<\/p>\n

The Upgrades: <\/b>In addition to Mr. Chevrolet\u2019s signature tweaks, this Camaro was delivered with a handful of parts in the trunk and the battery was relocated to the trunk.<\/p>\n

The Exterior: <\/b>The emblems that proudly declared \u201cBuilt By Dick Harrell\u201d were left in the glove box to avoid tipping off other racers. The stinger hood was added after the original hood blew off at speed. The wheel openings were flared, the fuel filler neck was moved to the trunk, and the car was painted candy blue.<\/p>\n

\"RJ17<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Burnout chats with Classic Industries Jeff Leonard about one of his prized possessions – Dickie Harrell’s ’69 COPO Camaro.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3447,3465],"tags":[787,39,687,789,788,790,2],"class_list":["post-5341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-classic","category-drag-racing","tag-1969-copo-camaro","tag-chevrolet","tag-classic-cars","tag-classic-industries","tag-copo","tag-dickie-harrell","tag-drag-racing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/RJ17-Dick-Harrell-Camaro-04_FotorFeature.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-1o9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5341"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51394,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5341\/revisions\/51394"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}