American Muscles | Episode 11 – Chevrolet El Camino

9 April 2024 Redazione News, Supercars Lounge

Chevrolet El Camino

Words Christian Parodi / Photos GM Authority

I’ve always had a soft spot for the El Camino. It’s no news – you’ll say – after all, it’s easier to find a muscle car that I’am not particularly attached to, assuming that it really exists. But with this one it’s different and maybe precisely because of the fact that as a child I really didn’t want to leave my toy car. It was bigger than the others – out of scale – and since it had an entirely plastic body it wasn’t even well made. Only the driver’s side door could be opened, but with those muscles and the possibility of loading sand and stones into the back it was for the little-me the perfect meeting point between sports cars and those trucks that made me spend entire days with my hands in the dirt.

It goes without saying that finding an El Camino in Europe is an extremely rare situation, but in the States they are exceptionally used and preserved more or less well. After all, what matters is that they still know how to make the hood rise and raise dust as they did in the 60s and 70s, the golden years of this model. The El Camino was Chevrolet’s answer to the Ford Ranchero: it was defined as a coupa, but instead of a sinuous tail it had a real cargo bed which made it useful for those looking for a work vehicle and a fun one in just a single car. An unusual look which unfortunately has disappeared over time, leaving these models with a certain aura of magic that pervades you once you start the car and realize that the El Camino does not disappoint your expectations.

Over time it was aesthetically updated, while the engine came to include authentic performance figures, such as the 6.8-litre and even 7.4-litre V8s, for a maximum power of 450 horsepower and 678 Nm of torque. The American dream breathes deeply and no road will ever be dusty enough for an El Camino, one of the most extraordinary symbols of the star-striped freedom granted by those plains of gravel interrupted by a strip of asphalt that disappears towards the horizon. It’s the muscle car you don’t expect, the one you would like to take home and perhaps combine with a contemporary comeback. Do it, I would be first in line to buy one. Or two.