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I always liked the El Camino. My favorite year is a 73. I know that's not considered a muscle year, but there's something about that generation of El Caminos I really like. I remember seeing the 73 on the showroom floor. I instantly fell in love with it. Now to have a brand new one with a custom 500 horsepower 454. Life would be good.
I like the 1973 El Camino also.
I don't care too much for the ones they made after 1976. I think 1977 was when they downsized it.
1978 is when they downsized the El Camino. 1976 and 1977 look the same, which are the same as a 1973-1975 only exterior difference is 1976-77 had stacked quad headlamps.
1978 is when they downsized the El Camino. 1976 and 1977 look the same, which are the same as a 1973-1975 only exterior difference is 1976-77 had stacked quad headlamps.
That's exactly right. After they downsized them and took out the big block, I lost interest.
GM as usual got it wrong. What they needed to do was downsize the body and make the Big Block standard.
Well you have to remember back in the late 70's we were going thru another fuel crisis so GM decided to downsize their cars so they wouldn't need a big block. That way they'd be more fuel economical.
Big blocks in the late 70's were reserved for dump trucks and such.
I suppose offering a big block as part of a high performance package would not have been bad but I think in the late 70's, "performance" was no longer what GM was after. I think it also had to do with the ever stringent smog laws. They might have been more lenient on the big trucks, that might be another reason why only the big trucks got the big engines in the late 70's.
GM as usual got it wrong. What they needed to do was downsize the body and make the Big Block standard.
Ya, I hear you on that. It would be OK if styling didn't suffer when downsizing occurs, but it usually does. The big GM cars never did return to their former glory after downsizing hit in 1977. Smaller cars, less weight, smaller engines, less attractive body and styling and higher price tags - not exactly what I'm looking for.
After all that downsizing of the seventies and early eighties, it took me years to accept smaller cars and then only in the Camaro/Firebird/Corvette line of cars. I purchased a 1990 Chevy SS 454 pickup specifically to buy a new big block vehicle since they were long gone in cars. Now you would have to buy a Kodiak to get one - I actually considered that a year ago.
Really, GM started to get things really right in the modern era in 1955. From 55 to 57 they were on a roll, then somewhere there was a serious wreck at a race, some fans got killed, and they went into this "we ain't racers" mode in 1958. They never really recovered from this wrongheaded crap. From time to time some internal mavericks like Arkus-Duntov and Bill Mitchell got some good cars built despite the Soviet-like general management structure, but it has always been hard.
Back before the modern era, back before WWII, someone else will have to comment on that era.
Yeah, I do distinctly remember the downsize of '77, and thinking that GM (for that matter Detroit) would never build a car I wanted again.
You have to remember the general bad taste that was in style in the '70s, too. The cars were ugly because it was just an era of fugly design.
Location: Just East of the Southern Portion of the Western Part of PA
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Ah yes, the El Camino. The only car where you can haul firewood and cruise for chicks at the same time....
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