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Electric

Chevrolet’s electric Camaro drag racer is going up for auction

Fancy a one-off racer that won’t melt your ear drums? Step this way

Published: 14 Aug 2019

Don’t panic, but Chevrolet’s ridiculously cool, one-of-a-kind electric Camaro drag racer is going up for auction at the end of this week. Yep, it’s time to gather those pennies.

The car is officially known as the eCOPO Camaro Concept, paying homage to the dealer-modified Central Office Production Order (COPO) Camaros of the late 1960s. Whilst those came with cast iron 425bhp Corvette engines though, the eCOPO houses a suitably modern 700bhp electric powertrain.

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Sacrilege in a muscle car, you might think. And yet, given that the 600lb ft of torque is all available from zero rpm, this Camaro will do a standing quarter mile in under ten seconds. Vin Diesel would be proud.

The power comes from two electric motors which are connected to four separate battery packs. Handily though, drag racing calls for plenty of weight over the rear wheels, so two of the 80kg batteries are in the boot and two are in place of the back seats. Let’s have three cheers for weight distribution!

Chevrolet teamed up with electric drag racing team Hancock and Lane Racing for the project and originally unveiled the eCOPO at SEMA in 2018, but now it’s time for a private buyer to enjoy its silent speed.

Of course, the eCOPO isn’t road legal and we’ve no idea how much it will cost once the hammer finally falls at the Russo and Steele Monterey sale. Whoever does lodge that winning bid will certainly surprise a few at their next ‘run what you brung’ meet though.

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