Ford designer Lew Bandt developed a suitable solution, and the first coupé utility model was released in 1934. įord Australia was the first company to produce a coupé utility as a result of a 1932 letter from the wife of a farmer in Victoria, Australia, asking for "a vehicle to go to church in on a Sunday and which can carry our pigs to market on Mondays". The concept of a two-door vehicle based on a passenger car chassis with a tray at the rear began in the United States in the 1920s with the roadster utility (also called "roadster pickup" or "light delivery") models. Renamed Caballero in 1978, it was also produced through the 1987 model year. GMC's badge engineered El Camino variant, the Sprint, was introduced for the 1971 model year. Production resumed for the 1964–1977 model years based on the Chevelle platform, and continued for the 1978–1987 model years based on the GM G-body platform.Īlthough based on corresponding General Motors car lines, the vehicle is classified in the United States as a pickup. Introduced in the 1959 model year in response to the success of the Ford Ranchero coupé utility, its first run, based on the Biscayne's B-body, lasted only two years. Unlike a standard pickup truck, the El Camino was adapted from the standard two-door Chevrolet station wagon platform and integrated the cab and cargo bed into the body. After ’74 there would be no more four-speed manual transmission offered (until a brief return in the fifth-generation ’78-’80 Camino) and the 454 engine got the bum’s rush from Chevy intermediates in March of ’75 – this example is bumping up against the beginning of the end.The Chevrolet El Camino is a coupé utility vehicle that was produced by Chevrolet between 1959––1987. Yes, it needs some work but this is a great find nevertheless. Nevertheless, a 454 could still pull a stump or two. Also, note the tachometer, the red-line, which has faded to a white line, is 4,750 RPM – that’s how smog motors slow rolled in those days. The instruments are a bit cloudy and the odometer reflects 4,800 miles but it’s an irrelevant measurement at this point. The seat’s condition speaks for itself and the last-year-employed nylon loop carpet has faded to a dirty brown but the SS badges are still affixed to the still existing door panels. Interestingly, this Chevy has a four-speed manual transmission, complete with a non-original T-handle equipped shifter, but no center console and a bench seat – not a common arrangement. Typically, this El Camino’s outboard front filler panels have disintegrated away. The ramming-speed front bumper, used on both the Chevelle and El Camino, required a sizable plastic filler to “mind the gap” between the body and the bumper’s rear edge. Beyond the surface corrosion, there is some rust-through percolating in both lower fender legs. It’s the same issue with the cargo bed though it still shows as solid, and is probably reflecting this Camino’s original blue shade. The paint has flaked off, and its exposed flanks are sunburned to the point of surface rust. The exterior, while appearing to be mostly solid, has done a turn or two in the box with the hot, southwestern sun. The only thing noted is the lack of a drive belt for the A/C compressor. The engine in this example looks amazingly original and non-modified. The owner of this example states that the 245 net HP engine, “ Runs and drives will need to be trailered“. The owner of a Chevrolet dealership where I worked those two years ordered up a small fleet of so-equipped El Caminos in the spring of both years because he knew they were popular – and they did sell by mid-summer. What did sell in ’73, and ’74 was a Camino equipped with a 454 CI V8 engine and a four-speed manual transmission – and that’s how this example is outfitted. But it’s the previous generation (’68-’72) that gets most of the market attention. Why no love for this generation? Could it be the expanded girth with its jutting 5 MPH jaw? The Clean Air Act loss of power? Or just the general styling? Hard to say but according to 71K copies saw the light of day for the ’73 model year an absolute one year, high watermark. This unusually configured El Camino SS is located in Pahrump, Nevada and is available, here on Barn Finds Classifieds for $6,900. ![]() ![]() Is it possible that the fourth-generation Chevrolet El Camino (’73-’77) is the Rodney Dangerfield of Caminos? You know the one that gets no respect? Well, if that’s the case, this specific 1973 example is due a tip of the hat as a result of how it’s equipped.
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