• Kit fits Gen 5 and Gen 6 COPOs.

Both his success and his willingness to spend time signing and talking with fans has made him one of the most popular drivers in the history of the sport. He also recently signed a three-year extension with Chevrolet for his four-car John Force Racing team, consisting of two Camaro SS Funny Cars and two Chevrolet Top Fuel dragsters. As part of that special relationship with the Bowtie, a 2020 Chevrolet COPO Camaro John Force Concept has been unveiled during this year’s SEMA Show in Las Vegas. The program follows the introduction of the 2016 COPO by Force’s daughter, former Funny Car driver Courtney.

“My daughter had a COPO Camaro, it was unveiled in Detroit and it was really exciting for me to see her name splashed on this red Camaro, and of course everybody was there,” Force said. “Jim Campbell (Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance and Motorsports) unveiled it and it was really a lot of fun. I saw [Courtney’s] excitement because she designed it.”

So, when Chevrolet asked John if he would be interested in creating his own edition of the COPO, he jumped at the chance. After its introduction during the SEMA Show, the car will then be taken to a Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction in the near future.  “I want to be there for it, I want to be on the stage,” Force said. “I want to be there because I want to help pitch it and I want to say this is for a charity.”  That charity will be Donors Choose, which funds programs for teachers.

The COPO is not just designed to turn heads. As a true purpose-built race car, it is built to perform as well. Each week, many COPOs are seen in Stock and Super Stock competition at drag strips around the country, and the car also takes part in the NHRA Factory Stock Showdown and NMCA Factory Super Cars programs.

“The car is stylish, it has aerodynamics that come from NASCAR and IndyCar, but also come from drag racing, because that’s what we race are the Camaros,” Force explained. “Of course under the hood it’s unbelievable, it’s got performance. The transmission, the drivetrain, it’s a real race car.”
The exterior of the COPO Camaro John Force Concept features black exterior paint, a white center stripe and John Force signature graphics in red. These signature graphics include the John Force “X” on the bumper, which shows up on all of the John Force Racing cars and represent the patriarch’s 10 championships in a row. The hood also displays a ghosted graphic of the American flag.The paint scheme is the one that fans first saw Force run during the 2019 of the “Night Under Fire” exhibition event at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. Force won this year’s event. The car also carries a 2020COPO-FORCE nameplate meaning it is not part of the production run of the 69 COPO Camaro race cars.

Force’s relationship with Chevrolet goes back decades. In fact, his first-ever sponsor was a Chevrolet dealer near his home in California. His first car was a ’54 four-door Chevy sedan with a six-cylinder engine and an automatic transmission, and he calls himself a “General Motors buff,” having also owned Tri-Five Chevrolets from 1955-1957. His parents each drove GM products, too.

Through early November of 2019, Force had won 20 times in a Chevrolet Funny Car and had accumulated a total of 73 victories with GM.
“I’m honored to be a part of General Motors, it’s just a great American company,” he said.  He also notes his teams receive plenty of help in the aerodynamics department thanks to Chevrolet engineers and learn from all of the motorsports disciplines in which GM is involved. “At the end of the day I’m lucky to be here and Jim Campbell knows where I come from,” Force said. “The guy’s really into his teams, his drivers, his owners, the employees of the companies that work on the race cars. He gets it all.”

As for the COPO, Force has high praise for both his own designers (Brandon Baker and Armando Villa) at John Force Racing and designers Jason Bliss and Marc Mainville at Chevrolet. Also, don’t be surprised if Force shows up behind the wheel at some point. “We’ll probably get it in a race, we’ll have some fun with it,” he said. “Our job is to focus on winning races and championships, but I’m going to get a shot at racing that COPO and I’m going to.”

Registration for a chance to purchase the 2020 COPO Camaro is now open. Although customers won’t be able to purchase the concept designed by Force, they will be able to get the same look and feel. This year’s COPO run will offer three different tiers with specific color combinations, graphics and wheels. Everything will carry over from the 2019 model, with the exception of the 302c.i. direct-injection engine. This year, only the LSX-based 350c.i. supercharged engine and the LSX-based 427c.i. naturally aspirated power plant will be offered. All feature a TH400 three-speed automatic transmission.

This new and more robust cylinder head will be usedon the 2020 COPO 350 production racing engine and also be made available separately for builders who want to use a set on their custom engine.

Here’s a quick rundown on the new head’s important features:

• A low-pressure casting is used instead of the conventional gravity-feed method—for the T356 aluminum material—for denser material properties.
• The head is subjected to Hot Isostatic Pressing, also known as “HIPing,” to enhance the casting’s density and significantly reduce porosity.
• The deck thickness increases from 0.650-inch to 0.750-inch.
• The exhaust face thickness increases from 0.177-inch to 0.300-inch.
• The head retains the signature LSX six-bolt head-clamping pattern.
• As-cast version (PN 19417408) delivered bare, un-machined, and with the valve seats and valveguides uninstalled.
• CNC version, it’s offered in a bare model (PN 19417887), with the seats and guides installed
• Assembled CNC model (PN 19417888), with 2.20/1.61-inch valves and a set of beehive valvesprings installed.

The CRC is made up of a professionally assembled race car body, chassis and suspension system. The customer then adds the powertrain, rear axle drive gear and other complementing details. Many racers choose to complete the build with parts which turn the CRC into a desirable COPO Camaro. In fact, the CRC is built on the same production line and to the same specs as the limited-edition COPO Camaro race cars. The Camaro Rolling Chassis weighs just over 2,000 pounds as delivered, is NHRA-certified and comes with a roll cage approved for 8.5-second ETs.

Standard features include:

• Strange four-link rear suspension
• Bogart racing wheels
• Hoosier drag racing tires
• Racing seat
• Switch panel
• NHRA-approved roll cage

Four exterior colors are available: Summit White, Red Hot, Steel Gray and, for an extra charge, Garnett Red Tintcoat.

According to the Chevrolet Performance catalog, to complete the race car, the customer must add the hood, engine and engine mounts, engine controller, headers and exhaust system, air inlet and filter, crankcase breather system, coolant hoses, transmission (including torque converter), driveshaft, differential third member/gear set and battery. Chevrolet Performance offers most of the parts required to finish the assembly, including the range of COPO Camaro racing engines and lightweight hood.

The Camaro Rolling Chassis is a special-built race car. It does not carry a Vehicle Identification Number or regular-production safety equipment; and it is not legal for road use. It is intended only for off-highway drag racing and there is no warranty. Chevrolet Performance is building the Camaro Rolling Chassis in limited numbers. Check with your Chevrolet dealer for availability and ordering details. Enthusiasts will have the chance to see the CRC up-close in the Chevrolet display at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

Thanks to the Camaro Rolling Chassis, it is easier than ever to be competitive in a purpose-built Camaro on the drag strip.

“We picked the car up in August, went testing on Thursday in Bowling Green and then I got down to eight cars,” Frank said. “We lost in the first round at Indy, and then went to Earlville, Iowa and got rained out. This was my fourth race in the car and I think I have about 27 runs in it now.”

To be sure the 2019 50^th Anniversary COPO was ready for the highest levels of NHRA competition, the team at the COPO Build Center was enlisted to race prep the car after it rolled off the assembly line.  Like a number of the COPOs that are raced competitively, the Greenheck/Frank car was first upgraded to a SFI 25.5 or “7.50” spec level roll cage by the COPO Build Center fabricators.  Next the brakes, front struts and rear shocks were replaced with units from Lamb Components.  Last, the technicians at the COPO Build Center had Coan Engineering revise the transmission ratios and provide new torque converter.

For car owner Jim Greenheck and driver Brina Frank, the short trip to the Winner’s Circle was beyond their expectations for a new car.  Not only is the car especially valuable as one of the special edition 50^th Anniversary models, but it now also has the pedigree of a true “NHRA Winner”.