Who would have thought that in the 21st century, auto manufacturers would again be building factory-backed and assembled drag cars? Particularly GM, who has been through more drama these last few years than any company deserves to. 

The original '69 COPO, although primarily built with drag racing in mind, was still a street legal car. The new one? Not so much...

Being huge fans of basically everything General Motors, we support their decision to market machines like the COPO Camaro – a car that was reincarnated from it’s 1969 version. This time, strictly for the dragstrip to compete with Ford’s current Cobra Jet Mustang beginning in 2012.

Just like in ’69, Chevrolet Performance produces a total of 69 COPO Camaros every year, but instead of it being a hush-hush program like it was in the ’60s, this time around, it’s widely publicized. The catch-22 is, that they start at $86,000 and you have to put a formal request in for one.

It’s not just about having the money to buy one, it’s about actually being lucky enough to have GM pull your number when it comes time to decide who actually gets one.

The big news for 2013 though, is that Chevrolet Performance is not only adding a manual transmission to the option sheet, but there will be three new V8’s as well!

According to the recent press release, the engines in question will be a 350CI (325 HP), 396CI (375 HP), and 427CI (425 HP) – all of which will be naturally aspirated LS powerplants. There are several other cosmetic and safety features that have been changed up for 2013 as well, including a new grille, graphics packages, front racing springs, and other enhancements to provide the COPO competitor a much more effective racing car.

You can learn more about the changes for 2013, along with the finer details, by heading over to the GM Media site by clicking the link here.

The final 2012 COPO, number 69, was an Inferno Orange droptop. We can only wonder what GM will put together for the final 2013 model.