In 1968, Chevrolet stuffed its big-block engine under the hood of the El Camino and called it the SS. Chevrolet’s first crossover vehicle, the El Camino was 10 years old at the time. Sales were outpacing Ford’s similarly-styled Ranchero.
Today, 1968-1972 El Caminos, including this outstanding 1968 Chevrolet El Camino on sale now, are among the most collectible of the car truck’s 23-year production run. Concourse-quality El Caminos land approximately $27,000 according to Hagerty Insurance.
The Chevy Car Truck: How It Started
Classiccars.com editorial director Larry Edsall said:
Ford was first with a car-based pickup truck, originally built in Australia in response to a farmer’s wife’s request for a vehicle that could carry the couple to church on Sunday, but pigs to market on Monday.
“GM-affiliate Holden followed suit, and eventually in the US, we had the Ford Ranchero and the Chevrolet El Camino, which certainly became the most popular of the genre.
Business up front, party in the back. The ’68 El Camino SS hauls hay and burns rubber.
El Camino is Spanish for “the way.” Chevrolet’s 1959 model introduced in response to the Ford Ranchero was based on the Brookwood two-door station wagon.
General Motors showed up late to the dance. As a result, the first-generation car truck didn’t sell particularly well. GM discontinued the El Camino after the 1960 model year. In 1964, Chevrolet reintroduced its car-based truck—building it off the then-new Chevelle platform. A legend was born.
It was no surprise that the El Camino followed in the Chevelle’s muscle-car footsteps. An available 450-horsepower LS6 engine was available for the 1970 model year.
What could be better than a car that could go to church, haul hay, and burn rubber?
Why Did Cars with Truck Beds Go Away?
Blame it on the 1970s. In that era, oil embargoes and federally-mandated emissions controls wielded the death blow to big American muscle cars.
The Camaro and Mustang held out, but the proper muscle car with a truck bed was no more.
A downsized version of the El Camino for the 1978 model year was disappointing. The car truck’s mishmash of parts largely sourced from the Chevrolet Chevelle and Monte Carlo did not gain favor with fans.
Those not equipped with Oldsmobile’s disreputable diesel engines came with detuned Chevrolet small blocks rated at a paltry 180-horsepower. GM cut the Mexican-built car truck from the lineup after 1987, following the launch of Chevrolet’s compact S-10 pickup.
The Car Truck is Back
This could have been the end of the story. Thankfully some ideas are too good to fade away.
In January 2015, Hyundai unveiled its Santa Cruz car with a truck bed concept at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The little car truck wowed the crowd with its distinctive hexagonal grille, oversized wheels, and Brembo brakes. What’s old is what’s new again.
The all-wheel drive Santa Cruz is clearly the Millennial version of El Caminos past.
Will Hyundai’s tiny Santa Cruz car/truck concept see production? Only time will tell.
A wood cargo floor bed makes this blue 1968 El Camino stand out from the crowd.
Hyundai’s concept stole the show and kept on rolling, winning North American Concept Truck of the Year that July. In December, it won the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and European Centre for Architecture Art Design’s “Good Design” award.
Apparently, burning rubber out of the church parking lot never goes out of style.
See Chevrolet El Camino Cars for sale on eBay.
