In 1987, Chevrolet dropped the El Camino from its lineup for good. In 1968, the more powerful SS engine made the El Camino into one of the iconic muscle cars of the late 1960s and 1970s. In 1964, the company introduced a new version, this one built on the brawnier Chevelle platform. Though the Ranchero was a steady seller, the first incarnation of the El Camino was not and Chevy discontinued it after just two years. In the United States, however, ute-type vehicles were slower to catch on. The ute was a huge hit eventually, virtually every company that sold cars Down Under made its own version. In response, Ford engineer Lewis Brandt designed a low-slung sedan-based vehicle that was a ritzy passenger car in the front, with wind-up windows and comfortable seats and a rough-and-tumble pickup in back. Legend has it that a farmer’s wife from rural Victoria had written a letter to Ford Australia, asking the company to build a car that could carry her to church on Sundays and her husband’s pigs to market on Mondays. They also add a unique custom touch to show vehicles. These advanced materials dramatically reduce weight which can significantly enhance acceleration and handling. Since the 1930s, Australian farmers had been driving what they called “utes”-short for “coupé utility”-all around the outback. While most factory doors are made of stamped steel, it is possible to get replacement Chevrolet El Camino doors made of other high-performance materials such as carbon fiber. It was, ads trilled, “the most beautiful thing that ever shouldered a load!” “It rides and handles like a convertible,” Chevy said, “yet hauls and hustles like the workingest thing on wheels.”įord’s Ranchero was the first “car-truck” sold in the United States, but it was not a new idea. Inspired by the Ford Ranchero, which had already been on the market for two years, the El Camino was a combination sedan-pickup truck built on the Impala body, with the same “cat’s eye” taillights and dramatic rear fins. On October 16, 1958, Chevrolet begins to sell a car-truck hybrid that it calls the El Camino.
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