Each of the 50 cars received a black vinyl interior and was offered in only five colors: Cortez Silver, Fathom Green, Dusk Blue, LeMans Blue, and Hugger Orange. Ten cars were built in each color, and those ten were split between four equipped with M40s, and six with M21 transmissions. The exterior trim was limited to blue Bow Tie emblems on the grille and rear panel, and Camaro badges on the header panel, fenders, and deck lid. The grilles were Argent Silver. And while iron big-blocks were always painted Orange, the ZL1 was left au natural aluminum.
The first COPO 9560s were assembled the third week of December. Two Dusk Blue ZL1 Camaros were delivered to Gibb's dealership on New Year's Eve 1968. The rest of the 50-car order began arriving between February and the end of March, and when the invoices showed up in the mail, Gibb was apoplectic. Chevrolet hadn't informed Gibb that, beginning with his COPO order, a new corporate policy was in effect. Instead of absorbing the costs for the research and engineering that went into a COPO order, Chevrolet was now passing those costs on to the dealer. That meant instead of the $400 option cost for the ZL1 that Gibb had been expecting, he was hit with a whopping $4,160 addition to the Camaro's base price, resulting in a sticker of over $7,200. Few dealers could finance that kind of floor plan or sell 50 Camaros that cost more than a $4,700 Corvette (two ZL1-equipped Corvettes were built, with a sticker price of more than $9,400).
Gibb felt Chevrolet had ambushed him on the price of the ZL1, and he was able to negotiate a deal to send 37 of the COPO 9560 Camaros back to Chevrolet in late May 1969. It was the first time Chevrolet had even allowed a volume dealer return, however they had no choice since there was no way Gibb could afford to finance the cars or sell them at that extreme price. Chevrolet was able to reinvoice and redistribute the 37 cars into the dealer network, and other dealers ordered 19 additional COPO 9560 Camaros. In total, 69 ZL1 Camaros were built in 1969.
To get an idea of just how fast the ZL1 Camaro was, a stock version was capable of turning 13.16 at 110 mph, while an unmodified Hemi 'Cuda clicked off a 14.25 at 101.0 in Car Craft magazine. Popular Hot Rodding tested Harrell's race-prepared ZL1 with the M40 in the July 1969 issue, and recorded an 11.78 at 122.5 mph. Harrell took this car, carrying Gibb's dealer name on the doors, to an AHRA world record and was the 1969 AHRA World Points Champion. The ZL1 Camaro was the last big-cube COPO ever offered specifically for racing, and it was undoubtedly the greatest.
A Look Back PHR ZL1 Drag Test-July 1969Popular Hot Rodding was fortunate to drag test a ZL1-equipped Camaro for the July '69 issue, which was conducted at Kansas City International Raceway, using a car that was prepped by Dick Harrell. Rather than try to explain it, here's the pertinent excerpt from the original article:
"Together with Dick Harrell, we took over Kansas City International Raceway for some test runs on the ZL1. The results were pretty amazing. Our combination included 8x14 M&H Racemaster tires and began with a Holley 850-cfm carburetor with manually operated secondaries. The rearend gears were 4.10:1. With the headers closed, we managed a best of 12.14 at 117.80. Opening the headers (made by S&S) and installing a set of N3 Champion plugs produced a 12.11 e.t. and a 119.34 mph speed.
A quick switch to vacuum operated secondaries with the same model carb produced interesting results. The tires, which to this time had been smoking all the way, bogged off the line, resulting in an 11.92 e.t. at 120.11 mph. A few minutes spent resetting valves, a timing boost to 42 degrees and richer secondary carburetor jets produced readings of 11.78 at 122.50."