It’s time for another model-oriented vintage gallery, this time featuring the rather distinctive Chevrolet El Camino as the star. In this gallery, the El Caminos show up, as they were, in daily action in the real world. All thanks to photos dating from the very late ’50s to the ’70s.
Not many owners on these, but a few highlights show the vehicles in some nice daily situations and quite a bit of racetrack involvement.
Nice .
That 1960 with the rails on the bed was a factory model, I forget the name but I tried to buy one in 1977 for $750…….
-Nate
I thought the 59-60 were cool looking. Though I’ve never driven one…yet!
Dad and my uncle had a building company in the 1970’s and my uncle drove the then newest truck, a 1978 F150 custom. Great rig with white over grey/black seats and little else. But my uncle felt that it was really more than he needed and dad did short term leases through Avis.
So my dad leased a brand new for the time 1979 ElCamino. With his business vehicles, he was just cheap!
So this a 305, automatic, hub caps and a/c. He went full boat and got a cloth interior!!
Remember a rather nice “78”, on a used car lot in the mid “80’s”. Seemed in good condition. I didn’t want to “not have”, a backseat though.
The cost of buying a “cap” for the back would a been another expense too.
Was yellow out, gold in.Tape stripes ,(black) were not factory. Looked nice though.
I was momentarily confused by the shape and wheels of the car in the background of the first photo. It looked very 1930’s or 40’s European. When I zoomed in I saw it was two cars! MG TD and a Chevy, I think.
Great pics! Love the chrome yellow, on the first example. Hoping such more exotic looking colours, make a comeback in automotive paints.
Seeing the three generations together here leads to a comparison. The 59-60 looks clumsy, almost homemade. The third gen finally got the same proportions and smoothness as Australian utes.
The 1959 El Camino is truly one of the more amazing vehicles ever built. It looks like a custom job, and not like a production vehicle. Maybe it’s my European background; no other single vehicle represents that era in Detroit better, not even the ’59 Caddy. Style over function, taken to an extreme.
I don’t know if I ever realized it before, but these photos of multiple 1959-60 models show that the first-gen El Camino had exterior trim corresponding to the Bel Air (not Impala) coupes and sedans.
That “mid-late 70’s”, plum color one is cool. The red, “59 sitting in the driveway, full of “50’s”, cars is a stunner too.
The pic of the gas pumps, outside “JC Penney’s” was a novelty.
I guess there were no 61 or 62 El Caminos. Was it because they were pushing the Corvair truck?
I remember when JC Penney and Sears had their own auto repair and gas pumps as in the above photo.
My first credit card was from Sears. I’d didn’t even request it; it just appeared at my parents house while I was in my senior year of college. The other gas stations only accepted their brand of card, so I got most of my gas at Sears for a while.
“Sears and “Montgomery Ward’s” both had the auto shops in my area. I think it was “M/W” had had the gas pumps for a while.
Don’t recall any “JC Penney”, auto shops.
I think the JC Penney auto stores were in certain regions of the US.
The local Penney’s auto shops were pretty great, you could buy speed equipment at both of the local ones, and the one near where I worked had a guy, just one guy, who would install it for you. I bought my first set of aftermarket plug wires there, ACCEL, the big yellow ones. I put them on myself. When I moved to Vegas, they also sold the same speed equipment at that JC Penney Auto Center, but they wouldn’t install it. No gas pumps at Sears or Penney’s in Vegas or Toledo.
Good Ole Days!
I got my first credit card before I could drive, at 14, I had a card from an electronics store, Burstein-Applebee, with a $400 limit! They had great deals on discontinued stereo stuff. Soon, my limit was $1200 in 1972 I controlled myself, somehow. I was floored when B-A sent me that card. I only applied for it because the sales person told me I had a good chance of getting it. I didn’t believe him, but it was true. Mom and dad just warned me to “be careful”. That card launched my fairly successful high scholl stereo business I had until 1975.
My Gulf Oil card came just before my 16th birthday, even though Gulf was pulling out of the Toledo area. By the time I was 18, I had Sears, Montgomery Ward, Sohio, Gulf, Amoco(Chevron), and the one I actually used to buy gas, Sunoco. When I moved out west, the Gulf and Chevron cards were used a lot, and I got an Arco card too. I just got something in the mail saying I’ve been a Visa customer since 1980. I am getting old.
I prefer the smaller 60s versions, but that red 59 with the period aftermarket wheels at what looks like a race meet really appeals. I wouldn’t have the red paint on the bumper though.
I have had 2 1967 el Camino’s and currently have one of them. , I really have fun playing around with them
I got to drive my Dad’s ’59 El Camino back in the mid ’70’s, it was bought as a used car, over 15 years old at the time. It was a 283 with a three speed that had been moved to the floor. It had the best sounding dual glass pack exhaust, which had been sourced from a wrecking yard. The sound made it fun to drive. My Dad found that the utility was poor with the shallow box. This was his first experience owning a truck, he preferred station wagons. He bought a new Chevy Step Side in 1975 and kept it for 30 years. He also had two ’81 Malibu wagons along with the Step side at this time.
I agree with Paul, the 59 Cateyed horizontal finned Chevrolets really had personality’s. Back in the 60s, by best friend’s parents owned a dark grey metallic Chevy Brookwood wagon. We were just 10 years old in 1965. I remember his mom driving us to the beach at Santa Monica and Zuma. We would sit in the way back and pretended we were on a ship in the middle of the Pacific. It was so big it was easy to do. My favorite El Caminos are the 67, 68, and 69. I didn’t like the mid-70s because of the non-discript taillights down in the rear bumper. IMO, they looked like a typical GM styling blunder. On the other hand my only real favorite Ranchero was the 1959s. Also IMO, the 59 Ford is one of the best looking cars ever made, sedans, wagons and the Ranchero, I love them all. As a Ford man, admittedly, from then on the Ranchero just looked like a Falcon without a long roof. Not that there’s anything wrong with a Falcon, after all, they are the under pinnings of the Mustang, loose front end and all. I had a 69 Mach I, that I will love until I die. But I chased front end issues due to that upper front spring over A-arm design consistently. It never really worked. Loose steering and poor tire ware was a constant problem. Everything else about the 69 Mach I was perfect, arguably the best-looking Mustang of them all. Mine was a 351 Windsor with a 4300 4 barrel Motorcraft carburetor. It was plenty fast for me, I got the tickets to prove it. I sure do miss when cars were works of art. Who knew they would all end up looking like used bars of soap made of plastic plastic and God-awful boring colors, all in the name of “better” gas mileage. Now I collect 1:18 diecast models instead of the real thing.
Nice selection of Elkys. As a former owner of one as well as a Ranchero I have to say that they were the most versatile vehicles that I have ever owned. Even today, if I had frequent need of a light truck I would be shopping for either one. They were very comfortable compared to the pickups of the time. Today, one would be much easier to maneuver than the giant beasts that we now have.
Lucinda Williams, “Lake Charles.”
At 1:50:
🎵”We used to drive from Lafayette to Baton Rouge,
In a yellow El Camino, listenin’ to Howlin’ Wolf…”🎶
https://youtu.be/5dglHW7rOwk?si=muLUQdf7XgiVOo6p
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Beautiful! I built that same El Camino from AMT in the 1959 version. I did it as a stock car in red and white. It does not seem to have survived house moves however.
I wonder if the third picture was taken at Ascot Raceway (wrecking yard now). The address on the El Camino is right down the street.
Penney’s had auto centers in some areas. Mom worked for them until we bought the auto parts store, and the last few years she was in the accounting office. One of her jobs was cutting the checks for parts and supplies for the auto center at the Meyerland Penney’s. JCP is still in Meyerland (SW Houston area) but the auto center is long gone. A big gym and a Chick Fil A are there now…..
As an owner of a 59 El Camino and a long time Florida Director for the National El Camino Association , I encourage you to join us at http://www.elcaminocentral.com . Tons of info , photos , meet up etc. Free to join .
Back in the early ’90s I visited a friend in NM (from the UK), saying that I was going to hire a car to have a couple of weeks drive around the South West, he gave me the keys to his early ’70’s El Camino pickup and said have a good time. I drove it about 2-3000 miles, sleeping in the back (it had a removeable hard top). Had a wonderful time, been back quite a few times, love the SW, so different from England.