Vehicle Description
1978 Chevrolet El Camino
Rumor has it that Mattel's Elliot Handler, (the 'el' in Mattel),
spotted designer Harry Bradley's El Camino in the Mattel HQ parking
lot and commented, "Those are some hot wheels," coining the new
name for Mattel's line of toy cars, Hot Wheels. In fact, Elliot was
so impressed by Bradley's custom El Camino, he insisted that Mattel
use it as a model for the first line of Hot Wheels toy cars. And
the rest as they say is history.
All starting from an Australian farm wife wanting a vehicle she
could use during the week on the farm and then drive it to church
on a Sunday, the concept of a car with a truck bed was born. The
Chevrolet El Camino, (literally translated to "The Way"), is in our
massive facility and stands out as a nice example. Dressed in
charcoal gray, with some orange highlighting, this car flexes its
muscle with a swept back hood scoop, wider rear tires, a roll bar
with racing buckets, and a stout 383ci V8. It's a fast worker
during the week, and a speedy goer to church during the weekend,
that Australian woman would be proud!
Note: Due to modifications of the emissions control devices
installed by the manufacturer, please check your local, state, and
federal laws to determine if this vehicle is applicable for use on
public highways in your area.
Exterior
This...uh truck...uh car, has seen some customization with a grayed
out factory grille, no badging, and a metallic gray painted front
bumper, and square headlights. Body panels and doors are rust free
and have nicely minded gaps and these too are bathed in the gray.
For the upper side of the car there is a large rear facing scoop
for the hood and it presents in orange. The roofline also is orange
as are the B pillars and bed edge tops. For the bed, it's nice and
shiny and is gray with a rear plastic window that has the supports
running through it to mountingin the bed. A nice edge delineation
between the orange and gray is made up of dual pinstripes, one
yellow one blue. On the tailgate and bed sides these stripes turn
into EKG mountains and valleys. Below that gate is the inset rear
bumper in metallic gray with inset tail lights. 15-inch polished
wheels are wrapped in staggered rubber with the big rear tires
weighing in at 28x9.00x15. looking very spiffy against the orange
and gray.
Interior
Nicely preserved black vinyl adorns the doors, along with a bottom
molded central arm rest, and fine cranks, manual locks in the upper
doors and handles. High back racing seats are showing in black
vinyl with some orange inserts and opening surrounds for the
integrated headrest. Orange piping is seen on the edges. In the
center a B&M T style shifter and a custom plastic black cup
holder now has a shift light tachometer facing the driver. The dash
is now fully custom made from aluminum and some chromed diamond
plate steel. Various gauges, lights and toggles are in this field
of dreams! A wood rimmed rally wheel on a tilt billet styled column
is fronting the dash. Black carpeting is in the floors and as noted
the roll cage is protecting all of this.
Drivetrain
Under the pinned and hinged hood we see a screamer in beautiful
chrome and cast parts and miles of braided stainless. It's a souped
up 383ci V8 with a cast crank, forged rods, and SP pistons. The
mill also has Dart Pro 1 aluminum heads. It sports a Holley
4-barrel carburetor above an Edelbrock intake. On top is a dual
intake chromed air cleaner covering. A TH350 3-speed automatic
transmission attached to the rear. Ford 9 inch differential takes
the power from the mill/transmission setup and puts it to the rear
wheels. The mill is rated at 460hp.
Undercarriage
Only surface rust here and it's very minor, the tubs are sturdy,
and some scratching off of the paint on the rockers is seen but the
majority is finished in a pleasant matte black. Independent coil
spring are on the front and rear has a 4 link with the coil springs
suspension. Brakes are power disc up front, and power drums on the
rear. Dual header exhaust, sans catalytic converters, snake their
way out of the engine bay and send spent fossils through Pypes
mufflers before exiting the bottom.
Drive-Ability
A quick starter and decent driver. Thanks to the powerful V8 engine
acceleration was splendid and shifting was smooth but firm. All
functions were working at the time of my drive save for the reverse
lights and horn. The wipers have been deleted, and the car pulls
left.
Here we have a good example of the El Camino in custom racing form.
Well running with a nice powerful drivetrain, and in overall very
good to excellent condition. Look it's a car, no its a truck, no
it's an El Camino! Come into Classic Auto Mall and we will show you
"the way" to see this!
1W80M8D513590
1-Chevrolet
W-El Camino
80-2 Door Pickup Delivery
M-200ci V6
8-1978
D-Doraville, GA Assy Plant
513590-Sequential Unit Number
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 850 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display. This vehicle is located in our
showroom in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, conveniently located just
1-hour west of Philadelphia on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The
website is www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888)
227-0914. Please contact us anytime for more information or to come
see the vehicle in person.
