CHEVROLET

El Camino

The Chevrolet El Camino was a coupe utility that blended the comfort of a passenger car with the load-carrying practicality of a pickup, and it became an American icon over a long and varied production life. Introduced for the 1959 model year as Chevrolet's answer to the successful Ford Ranchero, the first Chevrolet El Camino was based on the full-size Brookwood/Biscayne B-body and instantly stood out thanks to its dramatic 1959 "batwing" tailfins; this first run lasted only two years, with 36,409 examples built before it was paused. Chevrolet revived the Chevrolet El Camino for 1964 on the mid-size Chevelle platform, and this is the form most enthusiasts cherish, as it allowed the car-pickup to share the Chevelle's muscular styling and powerful engines. The golden era came at the turn of the 1970s, when the Chevrolet El Camino SS could be ordered with Chevrolet's monster 454-cubic-inch big-block V8, including the legendary LS6 of 1970 rated at 450 horsepower, turning the humble hauler into a genuine muscle machine. The fourth-generation cars of 1973 to 1977 grew larger on the wagon chassis, and the final fifth generation, built from 1978 to 1987 on the GM G-body platform, downsized the Chevrolet El Camino for a new era of efficiency. Production finally ended in 1987 as the compact S-10 pickup took over its role. Equal parts cruiser and pickup, the Chevrolet El Camino remains one of the most distinctive and beloved vehicles Chevrolet ever produced.