While the 1967 Corvette Sting Ray was initially intended to feature the daring new Mako Shark show car-inspired body style, concerns about production readiness voiced by Corvette Chief Engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov delayed it to 1968. While potentially disastrous, this situation yielded the final, and what many believe, the best of all second-generation Corvettes produced with clean, uncluttered styling. A total of 22,940 Corvettes were produced for 1967, of which 8,504 were coupes. A small number were built for 1967 under Chevrolet’s COPO (Corporate Office Production Order) system, normally used to process large fleet orders. However, the COPO system was also utilized for small batch orders of special vehicles intended for company use, show duty, dealer conversions, competition or for extremely special order requests by discerning buyers. This example is one of the rarest and most interesting, sporting a COPO color combination of Silver Pearl paint with a Bright Blue interior. In 1967, Silver Pearl Corvettes were only available with Black or Teal Blue interiors, and this car was built through the COPO program with a Bright Blue interior. The NCRS Shipping Data Report shows a production date of May 26, 1967 and delivery to Haney Chevrolet in Orlando, Florida. The Haney Chevrolet-issued Protect-O-Plate warranty card shows the Corvette was sold new to S. Russel of Orlando, Florida, on August 23, 1967. The next owner was Will Meade of Kissimmee, Florida, who sold the car to Jimmy Harrelson of H&H Corvette in Orlando. Danny Hall of Augusta, Georgia, acquired the car from Harrelson and commissioned H&H Corvette to restore the car. Hall sold the car to Ralph Miller of Atlanta, Georgia, who owned it for many years and eventually sold the Corvette to the current owner. Additional features of this COPO Corvette include its matching- numbers 427/390 HP big-block V-8 engine, 4-speed manual transmission, rare factory headrest option, transistorized ignition, side exhaust, a Delco AM/FM radio, power 4-wheel disc brakes and Rally wheels with redline tires. Outstanding documents and features include the Corvette Order Copy tank sticker, Protect-O-Plate and trim tag, all showing Code 001AA Special Paint with a Code 414 Bright Blue interior. The tank sticker is intact on the original fuel tank, which is included. The known ownership history since new includes a copy of the previous owner’s Florida title from 1980 and a letter about the car from the previous owner.
