El Camino By Chevrolet
El Camino By Chevrolet
ITEM E409
By Mike Mueller
By combining truck with car, Chevrolet made it possible for utility vehicles to exhibit style and flair like nothing seen before in the workaday world. Its cargo box plainly made the El Camino thoroughly practical. Throw in all the comfort, convenience and class available optionally to Chevy car buyers, and you had your cake and could eat it, too. It was all those multi-purpose features that made the El Camino so much of an attraction during its long-running career, and showing off all those attractions in close-up color detail is the goal on these pages.
The whole story is concisely told in short order, then it’s up to readers to let more than 125 pictures do all the talking. Look under the hood—at everything from mundane sixes to brutal 454 cubic-inch big-blocks. Get a feel from behind the wheel—surrounded by both Spartan accoutrements and lavishly optioned cockpits. See how everything worked—from stowing the spare to dropping the tailgate. Turn the last page, and you will know the El Camino inside and out.
Softbound, 112 pages, 105 photos, 8.25'' x 9''
Richly illustrated with 92 black-and-white and 12 color photos, Mike Mueller’s appreciative look at the Chevrolet El Camino spans concept to conclusion. The introduction explores the concept that Mueller dates to Chevrolet’s 1918 Model T one-ton truck, which was based on the company’s FA-series automobile, the half-ton Model 490, and the car-based roadster pickups produced by Ford from 1925 until 1934. With a comparative eye on Ford’s Ranchero throughout, the book’s four chapters detail the initial two-year run of the El Camino in 1959 and 1960, the Chevelle-based El Camino’s reintroduction in 1964 through 1972, the new 1973 Chevelle-based models, and the end of the El Camino and the GMC Sprint in 1988 (following the demise of the Ranchero in 1978). Excerpts from contemporary accounts including Motor Life, Hot Rod, and Automobile Quarterly enhance the story. Stylistically, Mueller enlivens his story, adding colorful references to Hannah Montana, Chevrolet’s “bowtie boys,” and “Dearborn’s daredevils.” Photos feature a variety of views of each model year, as well as interiors, engine compartments, and components. Questionable, however, is the need for full page views of an engine air cleaner, power window controls, or various emblems.
Book Review by Robert Gabrick
