El Camino: the Dr Pepper of classic cars.

By Colin Date

The El Camino is a curious vehicle and, like the soft drink mentioned above, can be so misunderstood. I’ve never really met anyone (and I’m referring to “car people” here) who didn’t have a strong opinion on them one way or the other. Nobody seems to fall into that gray “umm, they’re alright, I guess” zone. More often than not I’ve found the subject of El Caminos is accompanied by puzzled comments and facial expressions. Personally, I really dig them (no surprise to you there, I’m sure). I have a bias towards the ’60s/early ’70s incarnations, especially the ’69, which just happens to be my favorite year of Chevelle. Make mine an SS 396, in Cortez Silver please!