Danbury Mint 1:24 1967 Corvette Coupe "FSO" Think the Holiday season is a good time for car in Goodwood Green? Tony thinks so... Review by Tony Perrone

Overview

Most of us have heard of the COPO Chevrolets that outfitted Camaro and Novas with special high performance engines, parts and accessories. The Central Office Production Order process was not so much a secret, back in the day, as it was inaccessible to the normal buyer. So what is a FSO? It stands for Factory Shop Order. Corvette built four FSO cars between 1967 and 1970 for Bob Wingate of Clippinger Chevrolet in California. Bob sold more Corvettes from the dealership than anyone and led the nation, more than once, in selling Chevy’s sports car and high performance parts. But in 1966, Joe Pike, General Motors National Sales Promotion Manager for Chevrolet, learned that Ford’s Lee Iaccoca invited Mr. Wingate to Dearborn to see if he could sell Mustangs and Cobras with the same results as his Corvette orders.

Since he was already being furnished with Corvettes to drive, Pike wanted to up the ante by granting Bob a very special Corvette incentive to stay put. The Factory Shop Order was made in August, 1966 for a new 1967 Corvette coupe 427/435 hp. It had options that no other customer could order. It was a non-Corvette color, candy apple green and wearing a blue stinger stripe. It featured flared fenders, blended-in turn signals and other custom touches. But after a GM dignitary viewed the car as more of a custom than a Corvette sales ad, it was decided to replace Bob’s car with a less customized model while still retaining the essential “California Look” that Bob helped mold. The replacement was the second FSO and the Danbury model you see depicted here. Still a 427/435, it had an M-20 four speed with 3.55 rear axle.

It came equipped with American Torq-Thrust® racing wheels shod with blue streak tires, six taillights replacing the standard four and sans front bumper to mimic the then current Southern Cal trend for Vettes-of-the-day. It was outfitted with a wooden Nardi® steering wheel and painted a standard Corvette color, Goodwood Green, and given a stinger stripe with matching roof and tail stripe in white. The third FSO car that Bob received was a 1968 L-89 coupe and the last a 1970 LT-1 roadster. The ’67 Goldwood Green coupe is the only known FSO survivor today. Restored to perfection, it is a wonderful model to be replicated in precision 1:24th for us Corvette, muscle car and sixties fans. Thanks to DM, we can own this legend in all its restored glory.

Danbury’s Corvette masters crafted a historically accurate gem. Their only other sixty-sevens were a coupe in Sunfire Yellow, issued in 2005 and they followed up with a roadster in Rally Red for 2007. All three are configured differently and distinctly and each is gorgeous. But for the antiquity and unique nature of this FSO, I tip my hat to the DM boys. As always, the paint is sumptuously applied, all pieces fitting precisely well and details flowing like the ample horsepower found under the hood. The metal-foiled crossed flags emblem on the nose, “Corvette” script on the rear deck and the “427” badgings on the hood cowling are simply awesome. The fuel filler door opens to reveal the gas cap and the antenna is suitably slim. Talk about scaled to size, check out the pinstripe that borders the broad white center band. Incredible!

The engine detail is quite phenomenal. You will swear you’re looking at the restored car. The same goes for the chassis appointments and interior pieces. The suspension is functional and the tire carrier opens to drop the blue streak spare. DM nailed the period-correct license plate and the “Clippinger Chevrolet” plate holder. The bumperless front end is fabricated perfectly and the twin light pods revolve to open. I absolutely love the way DM is doing their research and offering us these rare historic autos. I could only hope that they do so well with this ’67 that the encouragement to render another FSO Corvette is overwhelming.