I’m not sure why, I guess I don’t recall things as I used to, but I’ve never submitted a post on my El Camino. So I better do so now, especially since I just traded it in on another Curbside Classic about three weeks ago. I’ll do a write-up on that in a few days, but for now, let me tell you about my 1974 Chevrolet El Camino, the vehicle that inspired me to use Elky as my CC handle and avatar.
It really begins with my son in law, Dylan, a genius with a wrench. He is entirely self taught, and like so many geniuses, he can watch a YouTube video on repairing this or that and can instantly do the same job himself. With that in mind, and with my idea of getting a classic Elky, he and I set in place a search for one. My goal was something cheap and repairable. I soon found out that cheap and repairable is easy enough, but expensive to repair is always a foregone conclusion.
Anyway, in 2019, Dylan showed me a carport find and after some consideration, I bought it for I think $850.00. It had been off the road for many years, but Dylan took on this project and slowly brought it back to life. A 1975 Chevelle made for a great donor car and parts for a 350 V8 were easily available.
The plan was to get the car running and driving well, and after many thousands of dollars on my part, Dylan did just that. Since then, the Elky has only been used as a weekend cruiser, but after 6 years, there have been NO mechanical breakdowns. The El Camino may not look concours ready, but it runs and drives great. Even the A/C has remained charged and blows cold after 6 years.
Did I just suggest the Elky is not that pretty? Well, it’s certainly better now than when we first flatbedded it out of the carport, but despite my intentions to repair and repaint it, that never happened.
So Dylan did some patchwork here and there, and rattle canned some places.
On the average, it looks OK. But there are still underlying rust issues, and the idea of spending upwards of $10,000 or more to restore it properly was just not financially workable for me. So I drove it as is…
…. and just about everywhere I went, I got compliments. This may not be the most desirable model of El Caminos, but people liked them anyway.
Here in the Texas Hill Country, there are ample opportunities for car shows and road trips and Elky and I have enjoyed many such shows and trips. Until now. Now that I’ve traded him off to Dylan for another Curbside Classic.
What did I get? What’s now in my driveway? You’ll have to wait and find out. I’ll be submitting a new post on my new classic in a few days. But I’ll give you a clue and see who can guess now:
Hmmm. A square Chevy pickup in your future. I know it’s probably just me, but are there pickups in Texas that aren’t various shades of brown?
Nice Essay on the El Camino. I hope that it brings miles of smiles to Restorer Dylan. As for your new driveway gem, I cannot afford to lose sleep trying to figure this out. I do wait for the BIG REVEAL. A few matters:
1. Has Elky gone to a drive-in for burgers or dogs?
2. Has Elky gone out for ice cream?
3. Have any women hovered over Elky in admiration?
4. Does Elky talk to Rancheros?
5. What is the name of your dog?
Keep the information coming!
1. Has Elky gone to a drive-in for burgers or dogs? Yes. In one of the pictures above, we see Fat Boys Sandwich Shop. They sponsor the local classic show on the first Friday of every month.
2. Has Elky gone out for ice cream? Sure.
3. Have any women hovered over Elky in admiration? Do occasional glances count?
4. Does Elky talk to Rancheros? Just once. In passing.
5. What is the name of your dog? Rockwell. And he will also be making an appearing in my follow up post.
Early to mid-eighties Chevy squarebody. I like the El Camino too!
I like El Caminos, turns out I’m not alone, never sold here at all we got Aussie utes new, But there isnt a shortage of the US version of utes here Rancheros included, I was going past a daily driven 60 model delivering to Watties during harvest season brush or broom painted not sure far from pristine, and looks great in orange.
The color combo is especially flattering to the “EC”.
Interesting that the initial pictures of Elky show open rust holes in the rear fenders but not the later pictures .
The El Caminos remain very popular in Los Angeles, one of my work mates had his parked all the way up his driveway touching other cars fore and aft yet they managed to silently steal it away late one night .
This brown paint scheme must have been very popular as I remember them well .
I enjoyed my 1976 GMC 3/4 ton long bed square body pickup and I imagine you will too.
-Nate
The blue ‘77 El Camino I posted as a neighborhood outtake is still living around the corner from me, price reduced from over $10k (11? 13?) to $9K. I saw it this morning on my usual dog walk, and then to round things off, I saw a new-to-me final generation Falcon Ranchero about a mile from home. Both are stock looking, no resto-mods.
Dear Elky, thanks for the update on your Elky’s social life. Have fun with the vehicle!