This El Camino is owned by a friend of mine named Alex, who I’ve known since before I could drive. I’ve watched this car (truck?) evolve from after-school project, to an autocrosser, to a jack-of-all-trades sports truck.
- Car: Chevrolet El Camino
- Location: Somewhere en route to Utah
- Photog: Alex Giesey
- Camera: Unknown
As the car’s owner told me (edited for formatting):
“I bought it on eBay in 2008 in pretty rough condition. The VIN says it started life as a six-cylinder automatic car, but when I bought it it had a 305 with a rod knock and a four-speed Saginaw transmission. It was supposed to be my first car that I would drive to high school, but I only drove it a few times. Had to replace the floorboards and freshen up the front suspension and brakes, among a lot of other things. We got it running and decently reliable the summer after I graduated, then sent it to get painted my entire freshman year of college. After that, it was my main car for the rest of college, and I drove it from Kentucky to Utah and back multiple times. It’s super practical as a college car, since you can fit all your junk in the back for the road trip and two seats is plenty for taking someone out on a date every weekend.”
Now, Alex’s truck has a small block Chevy 355, along with Dart heads, Edelbrock 650 carburetor, and a few other goodies to make it go fast and sound nice.
The real story is probably the suspension. “QA1 coilovers, Hellwig sway bars, Hotchkis style tubular control arms, Speedway G-comp tall forged spindles, Pro-Forged & Afco ball joints, 4 wheel disc brake conversion from The Right Stuff, Vision wheels (18 x 9.5″ all around), and 275/35/R18 Bridgestone RE-71R tires front & rear,” he told me, via email.
The truck absolutely dominates on the autocross circuit, much faster and better handling than people would expect an old boat to be.
I mean hey, track racing isn’t just for cars.
