#1980 el camino manual
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It's genuinely supercar quick, and yet rides and stops properly.”īeing offered with the sort of reserve that might as well be non-existent, it would cost you far in excess of the upper guide price for the parts alone, which means the base El Camino, the considerable labour and the impeccable provenance come free…Īaron Kaufman carried out some subtle alterations to the car’s stock bodywork including re-forming and narrowing the bumpers, a subtle change but one that totally transforms the look of the car. However, it does come with the caveat that “you are fully aware of the 600bhp available, even if the it actually puts that power down really, really well.” However, he does go on to say: “Be under no illusion. Only being offered for sale as he isn’t using it as much as he thought (largely due to COVID…), it is described as being in “turn key” condition and “ready to go.” Or not after all, few cars wear a patina better than this. It was acquired in the US by the vendor on a trip to the States a few years back he fell in love, and bought and shipped it back here where it was registered, MOT’d, and taxed.Ī genuinely top-notch job, it needs only gentle fettling to bring it back to show-winning standard. Of course, the brakes and suspension were upgraded to match and the end result is a car that goes, handles and stops far, far better than anything that ever left the factory.Īs you can see, it looks the part too and has only covered 1,000-odd miles since being completed.

#1980 el camino manual

Now boasting more than 600bhp, it feeds its prodigious power to the nine-inch rear axle via a six-speed manual gearbox.

#1980 el camino full

We’ll cover the full specification later but in short Aaron took a one-owner-from-new, rust-free car from a dry state and then stripped it to a bare shell before rebuilding it with a 416cu Chevrolet LS3-based V8 engine from Mast Motorsport. Many mourned when Aaron Kaufman leaving Gas Monkey Garage, so the fact that this was one of the last cars he worked on adds a bittersweet element to an already wonderfully appealing vehicle.

#1980 el camino tv

Improved over the years, both manual and automatic gearboxes were offered along with a range of V8 engines spanning the range between the 267 cubic-inch (or 4.4-litre in Euro-speak) with 90bhp through to a mighty 350cu/5.7-litre with a whopping (just kidding…) 170bhp.Ī favourite with both novelists and film makers alike, the El Camino even gave its name to a Breaking Bad prequel/sequel, which makes it very, very cool.Īnd is, presumably, why this one ended up featuring in two episodes of The Discovery Channel’s Fast ‘n’ Loud TV show, where the legendary Aaron Kaufman of Gas Monkey Garage built it to the stunning specification you see here.

No, we’ll stick with the small block V8 that any sane, self-respecting American would opt for, even if parsimonious owners could also opt for a Chevrolet or Buick V6 should running costs have been more important than self-respect.

Offered in four trim levels – Classic, Black Knight, Conquista, and Super Sport – we’ll pretend the Oldsmobile diesel-engined version never happened not least because its reliability was as dismal as its performance…. The fifth-generation cars you see here arrived in 1978.

Built between 19, the Chevrolet El Camino is a wonderful fusion of coupé and pickup, the likes of which make the Skoda Felica and Subaru Brat pickups look decidedly conventional.