1959 Chevrolet El Camino
Chevrolet’s answer to Ford’s Ranchero, the El Camino arrived for 1959 wearing the most extravagant styling the division had yet produced. The so-called “batwing” tailfins swept dramatically rearward over a wide rear deck that dropped to a low V at center, with the distinctive teardrop-shaped taillights set into each fin.
Up front, quad headlights flanked a wide grille of horizontal bars, while jet-inspired design themes influenced the overall front-end treatment in keeping with Chevrolet’s 1959 passenger car lineup.
Underneath the showmanship sat practical engineering. Built on the same B-body platform as the Impala and Biscayne, the El Camino used Chevrolet’s “Safety-Girder” X-frame with cab reinforcements, double-walled cargo box sides, and a steel bed floor (Chevrolet promoted it as their first pickup to forgo a traditional wood floor).
The available 348 CI “Turbo Thrust” V-8, offered in multiple states of tune up to 335 horsepower with Tri-Power induction, gave the car genuine performance credentials alongside its cargo utility.
More than 22,000 found buyers that first year (22,246 were produced), outselling the Ranchero handily.
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