Corey Behrens’ finds in the Netherlands keep on showing up at the Cohort, and this one cannot be denied. We are feasting our eyes on a Chevy El Camino, that’s been Lagunaized. As in having the Endura front end of a ’73-’74 Chevelle Laguna replace the original front end, which was never a thing of beauty, to put it mildly. This works so much better, and it’s hardly surprising, considering that the Laguna front end very much resembles the conventional front originally planned for the ’73 Chevelle family.
Here’s how they were intended to look. I seem to remember reading that the ’73 A-Bodies were originally intended to arrive in 1972, and thus without the 5 mile bumpers.
But due to strikes and/or other reasons, they were delayed to 1973, and had to have this rather crude front end cobbled up.
But by making a soft Endura version of the original design for the top-tier Laguna, one could enjoy the designers’ intention for a price.
And here one of them has found a home on an El Camino, undoubtedly not for the first time. I’m a bit surprised they didn’t offer it as a top tier variant of the Elky.
Unfortunately, the back bumper doesn’t exactly match with the front, but then that was the case with the Laguna.
And for good measure, here’s an original El Camino Corey found over there too. It’s nice to know that these Colonnade El Caminos are finding good homes in the Netherlands.
More:
CC 1976 Chevrolet Laguna S-3: A Beach Too Far JP Cavanaugh
It still amazes me that a corporation as large as GM with all the engineering resources available, thrust such a crude implementation of regulation upon the public. The Laguna cap was a definite improvement, but I prefer the later sloped nose variant. 🙂
One guy did just that by creating an “phantom” 1975 El Camino Laguna S-3. https://dailyturismo.com/hot-rod-truck-1975-chevrolet-el-camino/
I always thought the detailing of the slope nose was on the crude side, being a NASCAR homologation special. Painting the grille inserts black instead of silver helps 100%. Now I want one on a 4-door sedan…
The drawings look like a Vega front end, though one could say Camaro. Good thing they avoided that.
It must cost a fortune to drive one any distance in Europe.
Ugh – that last photo – quad stacked headlights and a camper cap!
I’m a fan of the ’73-74 Chevelle Malibu front end, but I agree the Laguna front on the red one is a step up.
The quad stacked headlights are definitely typical Malaise era! I think that’s what now makes it wonderful in its ugliness. I even did a drawing of it.
I love that drawing! It sure doesn’t have to be one of my beloved to get drawn sometimes, though. Here’s an LTD II I did last month. Happy trees!
Ooh I like your drawing, Dave! That one would also have a quad stacked headlights if viewed from the front.
Yes, if it had any at all. Thank you, you’re very gracious, but everybody has to start somewhere.
It would have stacked headlights if viewed from the rear, too…
Wow, that’s a great drawing. I hadn’t noticed the skeleton in the passenger’s seat just looking at the photo… but somehow it really fits in that car… ur… truck.
Only now did I notice the skull and the 350 badge on the blue Camino. Nice drawing! Love the shading you did.
The flat Endura bumper or sloped S3 Endura bumper were both factory options on the El Caminos mentioned. Google it.
I did. And although apparently some left the factory with them, it must have been under a COPO (Special Order) deal. It does not show up anywhere as a standard factory option. At least that’s from a guy who appears to be very knowledgeable.
Very first google result
https://www.elcaminocentral.com/threads/did-laguna-front-end-come-factory-on-73-76-el-camino.22167/
“ If your Elky has a Laguna front clip somebody has added it, never came from the factory”
Second result
https://gmauthority.com/blog/2019/10/this-1975-chevrolet-el-camino-has-a-rare-copo-laguna-front-end/
COPO is pretty murky as to whether it’s a factory option
‘Murky’ is right. If I had to guess, I’d say there are zero factory 1973-74 Laguna El Caminos.
But a ’75 or ’76? That one looks like there may be a few rare COPO cars, most likely under-the-table dealer special cars where someone had the kind of connections and pull to get them made at the factory with a special code not found anywhere on the books.
Rare Yes. Murky Maybe. Clearly factory available.
“this 1975 Chevrolet El Camino that will be soon be auctioned off at Mecum’s Chicago sale. It features the front end from a Chevrolet Chevelle Laguna, which was only available on the El Camino through the COPO order books. GM didn’t advertise the slant-nose Laguna front end as an option on the El Camino and as such, not many buyers even knew it could be added onto it. “
It’s amazing how unusual it looks seeing a faired-in, color-keyed, plastic bumper on a 1973 car, even though practically every new car in the 21st century uses them. Anyway, couldn’t the El Camino have used 1972-style bumpers because it was a truck rather than a car? Or did GM not think it worth the bother to design a truck-only bumper that wasn’t as strong even if it was cheaper? I recall though that Mitsubishi, AMC, and maybe a few others in the 1980s used smaller, weaker bumpers on their 4WD wagons because they could somehow slide them in as “trucks” for regulatory purposes.
Subaru did that right from the start, the 4wds always had the international-spec bumpers. I don’t think the AMC Eagle bumpers were any different looking from the Concord’s although I wouldn’t be surprised if they were on simple angle-iron brackets rather than the shock absorbing setup.
The Eagle bumpers are pulled closer to the body than in the Concord in 1980, as it was classified as a light truck for safety regs (but not for fuel economy IIRC; NHTSA and EPA sometimes didn’t agree on classification criteria) and didn’t have to meet the then-current 5mph standard. This may have changed in later years.
It’s quite common to put other front ends on Colonnade and final gen El Camino’s, to create Pontiac, Olds etc versions. This Laguna front looks best to me though. And a great find (actually two finds) for Europe.
Agreed. In fact, I dare say that the Laguna El Camino looks better than the real S-3 colonnade coupe. Just another GM missed opportunity.
I think I am in the minority (again) as never really having been crazy about the front of the 73 Laguna. I always found it too blunt, flat and character-free. Of course, it’s not like anything else in 1973 had a great looking front end. And it does at least look better than the low-rent Chevelle version. So I guess my vote is that the red car is an improvement, but not a huge improvement.
I agree it’s a slight improvement. But for some reason, it reminds me of a mustang II front end without the deep sculpting.
Or am I just seeing things weirdly?
Ford did a similar thing with the 72 Torino using a base “dumpy” front end and the cohesive Gran front end, though the take rate for a Gran Torino seemed substantially higher than the Laguna. Chevy design during the Collonade period looks to me as though they used the discarded scraps of BOP designs, the stillborn 1972 front end reminds me a lot of what Pontiac was doing with bumpers and grilles, and the production 73 base front end looks like a cheapened out Buick Century, I know GM was aiming for the kind of neoclassical vibe of the Monte Carlo had with Collonades across the board but I think the single round headlight motif limited ideas on how to extend it to five models, and Chevelles of this era always looked like the runt no matter what
Only been to Europe once about thirty years ago (makes me an expert!) but I do recall seeing a significant number of American cars in the Netherlands while they were virtually non-existent in England or France (those were the three countries I visited on my twenty cities in five days tour). Was it a difference in tariffs, or some kind of regulations? Anyone know?
It’s same in Switzerland, too.
The Dutch people like to convert the thirsty American vehicles to LPG or CNG, circumventing the heavier taxations and higher price of petrol. That is unfortunate because many of LPG/CNG conversions weren’t done well, namely the filling valves attached to the sheetmetal. They ruin the look. Over the time, one can see the rust streaking down from the filling valve covers.
Some European countries have what is called 5-metre length limit. If the vehicle is over 5 metres in length, the taxation is higher. That explained why Cadillac made a huge splash in Europe about its fifth-generation Seville STS (1998–2004) being under 5-limit length limit as to dispel the “Yank Tank” image. Seville STS for export markets has slimmer bumpers than for US/Canadian markets.
Same with engine displacement taxes in France and Italy with 2 litres as maximum. Larger engines mean higher annual tax. Even Ferrari offered the 208 GTB/GTS for Italian market in the 1980s with the embarrassingly weakest performance ever. In Germany, the annual tax included the displacement tax (bigger the engine is, higher the tax is) and the type of emission control.
For many years, the diesel fuel is priced much cheaper than petrol in reverse of what was in the US. Many North American-produced vehicles from Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors for export to Europe didn’t have any diesel engine options for many years. Chrysler did little bit better with entire Jeep fleet and with Chrysler Voyager (both were built in Austria with VM Motori-sourced diesel engines). So, lack of diesel engine option is what hurt the sales.
In the UK, the companies follow the strict stipulations for the fleet vehicles that their employees use. The vehicles have to be in specific category and have engines no larger than 2 litres in order to take advantage of lower tax.
Of course, one can buy biggest, thirstiest vehicles if they incline to do so as long as they can afford the higher insurance and road tax. That didn’t dissuade people from buying Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7-Series, etc.
Some people in Europe have yearning for Americana or want the attention by being unique. Some find the American vehicles better suited for their need. RAM trucks are popular in the rural areas in Austria and southern Germany as well as in Scandinavian countries.
Doesn’t do much for me. That front clip make is look kind of like a Mustang II.
It’s true that, “Unfortunately, the back bumper doesn’t exactly match with the front, but then that was the case with the Laguna.” The back bumpers of the Laguna Coupes and Sedans were painted the same color as the body of the car, so they didn’t stand out quite as much. The El Camino and wagon back bumpers were different from the ones used for coupes and sedans and incorporated the tail lights into the bumper.The back bumper of the Laguna wagon was chrome (just like the cheaper Malibu wagons) and was shared with the El Camino in addition to the wagons.
I actually always liked the front end and overall look of my 75 El Camino, but that Laguna front end would have looked really nice on it.
I really loved that truck. When I first bought it I was working in our small town and didn’t have far to drive there. I used it as a daily driver while my wife drove the ’79 Malibu coupe that I still have. I pulled a 24 foot camper with it, hauled loads of fire wood and used it in my business. Later, i got a job where I travelled all over the state and it was very comfortable on those long drives. The only reason I sold it was that the front end was going bad and my wife had passed away, so I started using the Malibu.
I sure miss that truck. I never refer to them or the Ranchero as a car. I had one of them, too and loved it.
Maybe I need to do a COAL on the Elky, I know I need to do one on the Malibu after owning it 42 years next month.
Again for me it all boils down to “how did HotWheels do it”. So a Grand Am swap would be my #1 choice.