Vehicle Description
Gateway Classic Cars Houston Showroom is excited to offer this
sublime 1960 Chevrolet El Camino. For starters, any 1960 El Camino
is a bit of a rare find: Chevrolet only sold a little over 14,000
units in its second year; after having a very good first model
year's sales of over 22,000 units, wherein it outsold Ford's
3-year-old Ranchero by more than a 2:1 ratio (22K El Caminos vs.
14K Rancheros). The dramatic downturn caused Chevrolet to shelve
the El Camino until it reappeared in 1964. This unique 1960 El
Camino also presents one of those uncommon situations, wherein no
matter how good it looks in the photos, seeing it in person allows
one to better "visually digest" the color palette used, and see how
VERY attractive this truck really is: it'll really grow on you in
person! For starters, the two-tone greens for this paint scheme
appear to be along the lines of a Light Olive over a Pale Avocado,
with a brilliant Electric Orange stripe along the flanks, beginning
in the accent cove midway back of the front of the doors and
continuing down the trailing molding that accented the rear
quarters. Although the paint is not of the "ChromaFlair"
(color-changing) type, it does appear to take on slightly different
hues depending on the lighting, and they're all handsome! The
chrome bumpers look like new, and the stainless trim is in very
good condition, so the brightwork isn't going to need any
restoration work soon. The weatherstripping and window felts also
look like they were all replaced during the build. A set of U.S.
Mags aluminum wheels further enhance the look: the fronts are 17"
diameter, with taller 18" units out back. Fresh P225/45ZR17
performance radials wrap the fronts, and the backs have meatier
P245/45ZR18 skins. Front and rear swaybars have been added to take
advantage of the improved handling that the radials provide. The
beauty of this truck is more than the proverbial skin deep: it's a
well-executed build throughout. Under the hood is a mildly enhanced
350 CID V8, which is topped by an Edelbrock Performer aluminum
intake manifold and Edelbrock AVS 4BBL carb. Exhaust is via cast
iron "ram's head" manifolds, which feed into a custom dual setup
that has just the right sound. There's also plenty of chrome to add
some visual pop in the engine bay: air filter housing, valve
covers, alternator; along with a polished Sanden A/C compressor.
The V8 is kept cool by a new high-capacity vintage style aluminum
radiator, and a flex fan in the stock-style fan surround. You also
get power steering and power brakes, thanks to a new CPP master
cylinder, proportioning block, and brake booster, which provides
enhanced power assisted braking to the front disc/rear drum brake
setup. A 4-speed manual transmission sends the power to the 3.08:1
gears in the stock rear end, and makes this quite a fun truck to
drive. Inside the cabin, occupants will discover that not only does
it look better than new, it also hides nicely executed sound system
in a custom enclosure behind the seats. In the center of the
enclosure is a Sony AM/FM/CD/SiriusXM head unit, with a full USB-A
port and an Aux port (complete with Aux-to-USB-C converter cable).
A set of 6x9 Kenwood speakers pump out the sound from the 55-watt
per channel head unit. Get in and get settled in the new orange and
black houndstooth cloth and synthetic leather seats, buckle up,
fire it up, and let the full set of AutoMeter gauges and the giant
speedometer provide instrumentational feedback once you're headed
out to your next horizon. You'll find yourself wanting to do that
quite often in this special El Camino!
