#59 EL CAMINO HORSEPOWER SERIES#

In 1957 a special version was made for GMC to be shown at national car shows called the Palomino, which had a Pontiac 347 cu in (5.7 L) V8 installed, borrowed from the 1957 Star Chief. As always, there was a GMC version offered during the same time, called the GMC Suburban Carrier with the same features offered on the Chevrolet. Although it was a model variant of Chevrolet's Task Force light-duty pickup, the Cameo offered an array of car-like features that included passenger-car styling, fiberglass rear fenders, two-tone paint, a relatively luxurious interior, as well as an optional V8 engine, automatic transmission, and power assists.

The mid-1955 introduction of Chevrolet's Cameo Carrier pickup truck helped pave the way for the El Camino. The body style did not reappear on the American market until the release of the 1957 Ford Ranchero.īoth the coupé utility and the similar open-topped roadster utility continued in production, but the improving economy of the mid- to late-1930s and the desire for improved comfort saw coupé utility sales climb at the expense of the roadster utility until, by 1939, the latter was all but a fading memory. General Motors’ Australian subsidiary Holden also produced a Chevrolet coupé utility in 1935, Studebaker produced the Coupé Express from 1937 to 1939.

#59 EL CAMINO HORSEPOWER SERIES#

Bandt went on to manage Ford’s Advanced Design Department, being responsible for the body engineering of the XP, XT, XW, and XA series Ford Falcon utilities. Ford designer Lew Bandt developed a suitable solution, and the first coupé utility model was released in 1934. Renamed Caballero in 1978, it was also produced through the 1987 model year.įord Australia was the first company to produce a coupé utility as a result of a 1932 letter from the wife of a farmer in Victoria, Australia, asking for 'a vehicle to go to church in on a Sunday and which can carry our pigs to market on Mondays'. GMC's badge engineered El Camino variant, the Sprint, was introduced for the 1971 model year.

Production resumed for the 1964–1977 model years based on the Chevelle platform, and continued for the 1978–1987 model years based on the GM G-body platform.Īlthough based on corresponding Chevrolet car lines, the vehicle is classified and titled in North America as a truck. Introduced in the 1959–1960 model years in response to the success of the Ford Ranchero pickup, its first run lasted only two years. The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Chevrolet El Camino page on, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.Ĭhevrolet El Camino is a coupé utility/pickup vehicle that was produced by Chevrolet between 1959–-87. The 2001 song 'Fat Lip' by Sum 41 begins with 'Strollin' to the party like my name is El Niño, Well I'm hangin' out drinking in the back of an El Camino.'Ī late 1960's custom Chevrolet El Camino appears on the cover of the 2017 book Dedd House by Jamey LeVier Our Privacy Policy is also available there.Ī 'pickup car,' a version of a regular Chevrolet car but with two seats and a pickup bed.

59 el camino horsepower