I've been seeing many '73-and-newer El Caminos on Alameda's streets, but the earlier generations of truck-bed-equipped Chevrolet cars are harder to find. They tended to get beaten to death via overloading and/or hooned into oblivion, but this one is still alive and kicking in Alameda's East End.
Of course it's got the small-blockiest of small-blocks, the good ol' 350 (which means the original buyer didn't cheap out and get the standard 307 or the cheapskate six, though he or she also passed on the 400 and the big-blocks). Well, actually, only the owner knows what it actually has under the hood by now, what with the mix-and-match nature of Chevy A-Bodies and small-block engines. Hell, maybe the owner doesn't even know.
This particular El Camino is fairly rough, but it's been spared the horrific rust that assails these cars in the salty-roads regions of the country.
It's a bit odd seeing a semi-wretched-looking El Camino that doesn't have any broken household appliances, cylinder heads, or 40-dog bottles in the bed. Maybe the owner just cleaned it out.
However, the bed does feature what appears to be a healthy coating of bathtub caulk on some of the seams.
Looks just like a Chevelle from this angle, don't she?
It would be nice to set up a drag race between this car and the Evil '69 Ranchero that lives a half-dozen blocks away. Might not be a fair race, though, since the Ranchero has a 4-speed and looks suspiciously like it's got Enhanced Meanness under the hood.
It's a bit sad looking at this car/truck, knowing what we do about the less-attractive designs and low-power engines that afflicted the '73 and later El Caminos. Perhaps a shipment of Holden utes would cheer us up, GM!