Add to this the stronger V-shaped front end and sleek bench interior and the rubber floor mat design from the Chevelle 300 series, and you had style. 1966 saw the addition of a new instrument panel with the classic horizontal sweet speedometer in the new 1966 El Camino. Comparing engines, the 1965 327 ran low 15s in a ¼ mile at about 90mph, but the 1966-1969 models kicked it up to the high 14s. In 1966 the 396 cubic inch V8 was added to the El Camino, rated from 325 to 375 horse power. In 1965 the El Camino got an upgrade with the higher performance version of the 27 engine rated at 350 horse power. It had both the Chevelle and El Camino badges, it was marketed as a new utility vehicle. Chevrolet also included the option two different versions of the 327 cubic inch small block V8 rated at 250 and 300 horsepower. The V8 was a 283 cubic-inch Chevy small block with two-barrel carb and 195 horsepower with options such as a 220-horsepower 283 with four-barrel carburetor and dual exhausts. The fuel-injected version with 375hp was not available for the El Camino. Both a six-cylinder 194 engine with 120 horsepower rating and a 230 cubic inch engines with 155 horsepower rating were available. From the B-pillars forward the El Camino was identical to the Chevelle. Four years later, in 1964, the new mid-size El Camino was resurrected. 1964-1967 EL CAMINO The El Camino got an upgrade Chevrolet discontinued the first generation of El Camino in 1960 due to its falling sales and a changing market. The El Camino was a cross-over that didn’t carry enough passengers, with no more than three people being able to ride comfortably. The 1960 model El Camino started at just $2366 for the six-cylinder model, with a V8 upgrade with a two-barrel 283 available for another $107.00 Some believe the reason for the lack of sales in 1960 was the baby-boomer generation. While many call the El Camino a car, it is actually classified as a truck in North America. fun facts: The name El Camino means “The Road” in Spanish. With a total first generation production of 36,409, General Motors decided enough was enough and discontinued the model. Unfortunately, sales were an abysmal 14,163 in total for 1960. Fuel-injected engines were gone and the 283-cid V8 was tuned-down for fuel economy, dropping the rating down to 170 bhp. There seat was made of cloth with vinyl facings, and the trim shade options were grey, green and blue. In 1960 a more conservative design came out. In fact, there were only 21,706 Rancheros made in 1957. In 1959 only 22,246 El Caminos were produced, but that was still more than the Ford Ranchero which sold around 14,000 units that year. As for performance, the engines offered were a 283-cid Turbo Jet V8 with 2-barrel or 4-barrel carburetion, Turbo-Thrust 348-cid V8s with 4-barrel or triple 2-barrel carburetors producing 335 bhp and 250 and 290 bhp 283 cube Ramjet Fuel Injection V8s. It had a payload rating ranging from 650 to 1150 pounds and gross weights from 4400 to 4900pounds. Chevy would describe the El Camino as “more than a car, more than a truck” and it was promoted as the first Chevrolet pickup built with a steel bed floor, which was corrugated sheet metal. The chassis was Chevrolet’s “Safety-Girder” X-frame design which was introduced in 1958.

During 1959, Chevrolet introduced the bat-wing Chevys and the El Camino was available with any of the trim and drivetrain options that the other cars had. When the El Camino production began in 1959, the Ford Ranchero had already been in production for two years.

Chevrolet would respond to this competition with the 1959 El Camino. In 1957 Ford introduced the Ford Ranchero. During this time GMC had the Suburban Carrier with all the same features. Chevrolet introduced the Cameo Carrier pickup truck in 1955, and while it was a type of light-duty pickup like the Chevrolet Task Force, it had fiberglass rear fenders, a great interior, slick two-tone paint and a V8 engine and automatic transmission. Later, from 1937 to 1939, Studebaker manufactured the Coupe’ Express. In 1935 the Australian subsidiary of General Motors’, Holden, came out with a Chevrolet coupe utility as well. While the body style of the El Camino didn’t make its debut on the North American market until 1957 with the Ford Ranchero, the first company to actually build a coupe utility was Ford Australia back in 1934. The El Camino had the body of an Impala with the Sedan pickup-truck back end and was one of the most iconic muscle cars of the 60’s and 70’s. 'El Camino 1959-1960 EL CAMINO Business in the front, party in the back Known as the “business in the front, party in the back” vehicle to some, the classic Chevrolet El Camino combined both style and functionality in one vehicle.

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