1959 Chevrolet El Camino

Sometimes even the perfect  ideas need a second chance, and so it was with the Chevrolet El Camino. The concept of a extremely styled, civilized pickup truck was definitely not new when the El Camino was introduced to the public in the 1959 model year, and it turned out that the ’59 Camino was more an artistic triumph than a commercial triumph, but that does not diminish the importance of the vehicle. After getting its second chance, it produced a line that would extend for 25 years.

Passenger Cars versus Trucks

Panel  trucks and pickups based on car platforms were relatively ordinary in the 1920s and 1930s. Since practically every vehicle on the road in those days used separate body-on-frame construction, it was a fairly uncomplicated task to build truck-like bodies and place them on car chassis.  Hudson,  Willys, and Studebaker were among the American manufacturers who offered car-based pickup trucks direct from the factory during those years, and panel truck and pickup  conversions of passenger cars done by aftermarket body-builders were far and wide available as well.

These days, when half of the light vehicles sold are “trucks” and when the vehicle of choice in the suburbs is a sport utility, it is hard to comprehend that 50 years ago there was a disgrace to driving a truck. Trucks were strictly commercial vehicles, so anyone who employed one for “personal use” was typing himself as a farmer or as a tradesman. The enormous middle class simply didn’t drive trucks; they drove passenger cars.

But in the 1950s,  all that started to change, though the change came with glacier-like sluggishness. As usual, the Chevrolet-Ford competition got things going. In late 1954, Chevrolet launched its landmark 1955 model-year line that included the not only the hardtop, classic sedan,  and coupe, but also a flashy new pickup  called the Cameo Carrier. Compared to the Chevrolet passenger cars of that year, the Cameo was a sheer footnote, but it pointed the way toward a new type of well-equipped, highly styled  pickup that would be acceptable as a personal car.

Competing against the opponent

The Cameo was no plain-jane with painted bumpers and rubber mats. It offered a two-tone paint job,  plenty of chrome trim, and a wealth of car-like options including power brakes, power steering,  and an automatic transmission.  The Cameo, of course, could also be equipped with Chevy’s all-new, high-compression small-block V-8 engine, which turned the truck into a bit of a hot rod.

As Chevrolet hit the market with its Cameo Carrier, the men at Ford were following a nearly parallel path to develop their own personal-use pickup truck, but they moved towards the exercise from a different angle. Instead of trying to add car-like characteristics to a truck chassis, they made a decision to take a car chassis — in this case the full-size Ford Ranch Wagon — and fix it with a pickup truck bed directly behind the front bench seat. They christened the resulting vehicle the Ranchero, and when it debuted in the 1957 model year, it rapidly began to outperform the Cameo Carrier by a wide margin. It not only rode better, as you would expect from a car-based vehicle, it was also significantly less expensive than the Chevrolet.

One thing about General Motors (and the whole American auto business of the era, for that matter), in those days, it could turn on a dime.   Indeed, when it realized that Ford had a better concept with its car-based Ranchero, it didn’t think twice about quickly phasing out the Cameo and moving on to page two.

Incidental compactness

In this case, page two was fundamentally a page from Ford playbook. The Chevrolet El Camino of 1959 was based on the ’59 Chevrolet passenger-car chassis with a truncated but very stunning greenhouse followed by a big pickup truck bed. Perhaps overly sensitive about price, Chevrolet product planners trimmed the new Camino out in Biscayne (bottom of the line) trim, but the result was still exceptionally gorgeous. There was nothing simple about the ’59 Chevy front end, bedecked as it was with quad headlights,  a full-width grille,  and chrome-surrounded nostrils. And the gull-winged rear end was flashy, as well. But with the flat roof of its cab held up by narrow pillars, the El Camino provided a lovely profile that conjures up a vintage powerboat.

There was nothing outstanding about the El Camino’s chassis. The X-type frame featured a lengthy 119-inch wheelbase, and the extended rear overhang of its pickup body gave it a 210-inch overall length, which is three inches longer than the present Cadillac DeVille. But the car still looked sleek.

Happily, when equipped with the right transmission and engine, the El Camino drove as good as it looked. Chevy didn’t stint when it came to alternatives for the El Camino buyer. In addition to the respected Chevy in-line six-cylinder engine, buyers also had the options of two V-8s, the 283 cubic inch version of the small block and the 348 cubic inch big block. Additionally, each engine could be had in a number of configurations that got as wild as the 335-horsepower solid-lifter 348.  Maybe a better  alternative  for all-around driving was the 230-horsepower hydraulic-lifter 283 backed by a close-ratio four-speed manual transmission. Or, if boulevard cruising was your objective, both Turboglide and  Powerglide automatics were offered.

If there was one Achilles’ heel to the ’59 El Camino, it was its rather little pickup truck bed. After all, this was a vehicle that was more than 17 feet long, yet its bed measured just 70 inches long at the top, compromised as it was by the ’59 Chevy’s radical modelling. And though the tailgate might be classed as the most striking ever to adorn a pickup of any type, it, too, had its utility compromised by style. But the El Camino’s major  problem was undoubtedly the fact that the average American had not gotten used to the idea of purchasing  a pickup truck for his or her daily drive.

Because of this, ’59 El Camino sales lodged less than  Chevrolet’s expectations. Some 20,000 went out showroom doors, which seems at first glance like an acceptable number. Though, to put it in perspective, those 20,000 El Camino sales came in a year that Chevrolet sold nearly 1.5 million cars.

When El Camino sales took a 30 percent fall the following year, Chevrolet execs opted to discontinue the El Camino after its short two-season run. And that might have been the end of it except that Ford, in an effort to rejuvenate its Ranchero sales, began manufacturing a new Ranchero on the compact Falcon platform, the same platform that would eventually produce the Mustang. With a new mid-size Chevrolet called the Chevelle waiting in the wings, GM decided that a modified El Camino, based on the more compact chassis would be worth a try. And they turned out to be correct. The Chevelle/Malibu-based El Camino then went on through four major body  innovations and more than 20 years before the shift to front-drive eventually killed it off, but not before El Camino engraved its name in the list of the greatest cars of all time.

Tagged with: Chevrolet • General Motors • vintage automobile

Filed under: Top Classic Cars