Generally when you think of “barn finds”, classic first-generation Chevrolet Corvettes, a surviving Hemi car from the 60’s, or some priceless classic come to mind…not a car that was built less than three years ago. But for JC Beattie Jr. of ATI Performance Products, that was exactly the type of lucky find he recently stumbled upon and retrieved from a barn under a growing layer of dust and cobwebs.

Beattie Jr., who already has a 2012 Chevy COPO Camaro Super Stocker and a 2009 Dodge Challenger Drag Pak Stocker in his stable of race cars, learned of the existence of a COPO Camaro in his home state of Maryland without so much as a burnout on it that was just sitting idly waiting for some love and attention. And he did just that, acquiring the car as perhaps a new addition to the companys’ drag racing fleet or a piece to be sold to a fellow racer that will put it to  the use it deserves.

As the story goes, the unnamed individual who purchased the car, a business and retail property owner who had done quite well for himself over the years, had sought out one of the first runs of 69 COPO Camaro race cars to add to his collection — a collection that also includes a ZR1 Corvette and a 2010 Camaro street car (a car he’d added a 440-inch motor with a 2.9L Whipple blower to, no less).

When word of the COPO’s production got out, another individual with a certificate to purchase one of the cars was located who was willing to part with it. A deal was made, and the COPO was picked up from the General Motors Performance Build Center in Wixom, Michigan. Unfortunately, however, the owner learned within days of the purchase that he had developed Stage 4 lung cancer. At that point, he figured he would run the car and have some fun for a while and then pass it on to someone else.

But he never got quite that far with it.

The car was outfitted with six-bolt LSX heads and Holley EFI (both of which later became standard equipment on the COPO), tuned on a chassis dyno for competition, and then pushed into the corner, were it remained for more than two years. A theft of the gentlemans other Camaro, trailer, and all of its contents only furthered the delay in getting the COPO on the race track. And so it continued to collect dust.

After a long line of tire-kicker inquiries about the car over the course of those two-plus years, Beattie Jr. finally made a deal to buy it. According to the guys at ATI, the car still had the stickers on the front tires and the fuel cell was bone dry. Once home, it was given a thorough bathing and some fresh C16 fuel, the spark plugs were pulled, oil shot into the cylinders, and the assembly given a few hand rotations for good measure before firing it up. As with any other barn find, the dust had to be cleaned inside and out, and cobwebs had to be picked from every nook and cranny of the cars’ undercarriage.

And now, the 4.0L Whipple-equipped COPO — which will no doubt be a collectors item decades in the future — sits on a checkerboard floor in a heated garage under a cover, awaiting whatever comes next. And the original owner of said COPO? He’s now awaiting delivery of a 2015 Z06 Corvette to get in some trouble with.