COPO Camaro John Force Concept Looks Ready to Race in Vegas

By Brett Foote - November 6, 2019

Sporting unique paint and custom touches, one-of-one COPO Camaro bears the name of a legend.

One could argue that we’re once again living in the golden era of muscle cars. After all, you can head on down to your local dealership and buy a brand new drag car. Which includes, of course, the newest version of the COPO (Central Office Production Order) Camaro. Chevy sold its first purpose-built drag racing Camaro back in 1969, a car designed to compete in the NHRA Stock Eliminator series. The COPO concept was revived back in 2011 at SEMA, which also makes the perfect place to introduce their latest factory racer.

Behold the 2020 COPO Camaro John Force Concept, a car that bears the name of one of the greatest drivers in NHRA history. Like all COPO Camaros, this one’s ready to hit the strip as-is. But as a special one-off, it’s also headed to a Barrett-Jackson sale next year, where it’ll be auctioned off for charity. Of course, Chevy is building a total of 69 COPO Camaros for 2020, so you’ll probably have a better chance of getting one by registering for it here. But only one John Force car will ever be built, so that’s something.

There are a few notable options that set this particular car apart from the rest. And they start, of course, with that custom black exterior with metallic pearl white stripes. Force’s signature is all over the car in red, and there’s even a ghosted American flag decal on the hood. The Camaro is fitted with Goodyear drag tires in place of the production COPO’s Hoosiers. And there’s a special identification plaque numbered 2020COPO-FORCE just in case no one recognizes the car for what it is.

The rest of the Force Camaro is standard COPO. Which means a supercharged LSX engine, TH400 transmission, and a rear axle with aluminum center section and 35-spline axles. Lightweight adjustable struts reside up front, with a multilink setup and adjustable coilovers in the rear. Everything else here is purely for drag racing. Including manual lightweight brakes, manual steering, line-lock, a fuel cell, racing harness, wheelie bars, and a parachute. Heck, there aren’t even any side mirrors, because you don’t need them at the strip.

Chevy’s special John Force COPO Camaro is truly one of the coolest things we’ve seen at SEMA 2019 so far. But there are still lots of great rides to check out. So stay tuned, because we here at LS1 Tech are in Las Vegas all week bringing all of the action straight to your living room!