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1966 Chevrolet Rough Camino

Desired by many, the 64-67 El Camino’s just don’t seem nearly as common as the later models. For someone who desperately wants one, this could be a possibility, but that possibility is going to come with a lot of work. Relatively complete for a project, this V8 Chevrolet needs a complete restoration, although I have seen far worse off cars revived.  Available with a title and key, this El Camino is offered for the buy it now price of $1,100. Take a look at it here on ebay out of Osprey, Florida.

Relatively basic, but powered by a 283 V8 and a powerglide, this muscle pickup could be a blank slate to restore, or to build as you see fit. With manual brakes, and no other apparent special accessories, this Chevy could be easily hoped up with power brakes, and other systems. The engine appears to have been untouched for many years, with what appears to be a bird or rat nest near where the distributor would live. The fender liners have been removed, but as a whole the engine bay looks manageable with no significant rust on the fire wall.

Relatively complete, the interior has some rather apparent issues. We all enjoy mashing the “go“ pedal every now and again, but be cautious with this Chevy as the go pedal looks as if it would blow right past the floor into the lower portion of the engine compartment. The carpet is still in place but is ripped and heavily worn. The steering is heavily worn, but there appear to be no cracks. The thiny laid paint on the dash is chipping off, revealing what looks to be red paint, or perhaps brick colored primer. Surprisingly the seats are in fair shape, but the passenger seat had a rusty metal item left on it leaving a rust stain. Each door panel has been exposed to moisture and heat causing the panels to curl downward.

You probably noticed that this El Camino has a ’64 style front end, but the seller clearly states having a title for the car, and the front end components appear to be a different color from the rest of the vehicle. My guess would be that either the front end was converted, or the seller is mistaken on the year of this Chevrolet. Rust is just about everywhere that you look, but there are some redeeming factors about this El Camino. For the most part the body appears fairly straight, but there is some rot to contend with. The passenger lower door, the passenger rocker, and the lower passenger rear quarter all have some level of rot present. The driver side is nearly mirror image with its rot, and there is also a minor dent in the lower rear quarter on that side. The floors are questionable, but it looks to nearly be a Fred Flintstone special with the rot in the accelerator area. Also the bed is cautiously hidden throughout the photos, but you can see there is some nasty rust in the bed as well. Certainly not for the faint of heart, this ’66 El Camino is going to need extensive work, but I am sure there is someone out there up to the task. Are you a fan of this body style of El Camino?

Comments

  1. Avatar ROTAG999

    This is a 64 Camino.

    Like 1
    • Avatar john dump

      Junk! POS

      Like 0
    • Avatar tom schweikert

      yup its a 64 front clip and taillights match

      Like 1
  2. Avatar SAM61

    These are cool. I’ve been driving by one sitting in a field for 25 years…buried past the rocker panels. I missed another nice “65 survivor/driver 3 yrs ago for $4,500.

    I think this one was pulled out of a swamp or the Florida salt air did a comprehensive job of rusting it out. I like the “Magic Mirror Acrylic Lacquer” reference.

    Like 0
  3. Avatar RoKo

    At least it doesn’t have a price inspired by Barrett Jackson.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Nrg8

      Give it a month, on a trailer, more flattering pictures, and some claim of rarity that will justify a 10000 the new asking price.

      Like 0
  4. Avatar Jay M

    Yikes! Such a waste…

    Like 0
  5. Avatar Mountainwoodie

    It appears that the seller ought to pay you to take this off his hands.

    Like 0
  6. Avatar JW

    Parts car.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Alan Brase

      Parts car? SERIOUSLY? I parted out a few VW buses 30 years ago. Being the thrifty type, I still have glass and door panels and trannies and misc parts. I suppose if one had a full time parts business, you could do fine, selling what you could in a few weeks and then running the rest over the scales, but DAMN, that seems like a lot of work. I’ve often been more of the school of: plugs, points, fuel pump, rebuilt the carb and add a lawn mower gas tank and a new battery, and make it run. If it will move, then do the brake hydraulics and then sell it as a restorable driver. So many people have big fear of some of that stuff. I figure if a motor will turn over I can get the car to move in about 3 hours tops.One VW van I bought that had not run for 12 years, with 2 hours work, I had it driving, then drove it 1200 miles home. But that was the exception. Usually ya gotta fix what was broken that they stopped driving it.

      Like 0
      • Avatar AMX Brian

        My grandfather bought a 52 Ford F1 out of West Virginia for parts for his 51. After getting it back home, he got the old flat head running with a little work and a gas can. It was all original and after really looking it over he decided it was too nice too strip so he sold it. He made 3x what he paid because he put a little work into it to get it running and driving. The money went back into the 51. Good thing too the only parts original to the truck the way we found it were the cab and hood. And it took 4 cab corners and patches in the hood to fix them.

        Like 0
  7. Avatar Alan Brase

    A friend of mine had a nice 1965 along about 1973 and he’d let me drive it a few times. 283/ 2 bbl with 3 speed, that thing was pretty peppy. A lot of fun. A 327/350 and 4 speed and it would be nuts.

    Like 0
  8. Avatar CCFisher

    It’s not just the front end that is inconsistent with a 1966 El Camino. Rear quarters, taillights, and dashboard are 1964-spec.

    Like 1
  9. Avatar Dirks Bently

    Elcaminos rock! Someone should buy it and rebuild the engine and drive train and then drop the 15 k in the body needed!

    Like 0
  10. Avatar Skip

    Oh….did I ever have to do a double-take while looking at the pix of this one! In 1963 my grandmother bought my dad a brand new 1964 bright red El Camino. Oh….did I ever lover that little pick up. It came with a 283, which Dad had rebuilt long after 100K; and at nearly 300K his mechanic talked him into replacing the 283 with a 327. Big mistake. It was never the same.

    Technically-speaking that pickup was left to me in Dad’s will; but a good friend of his who had taken on all of Dad’s business affairs after Dad had suffered a severe stroke during open-heart surgery, sold the pickup, despite my objections and the fact that it had been left to me was in writing. That’s not all the guy did, but I don’t dare go any further than that. I had waited more than 40 years for it to be mind: and was prepared to wait another 40 if it meant keeping Dad around a while longer.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Alan Brase

      why didn’t you like the 327? They were great strong motors. But I hear you- too much race car, not such a good daily driver? Go past anything but a gas station? My friend’s 283-2V was a lot of fun. Maybe put on a power pack 4V to give a little more passing power might be good.

      Like 0
  11. Avatar Del

    Definitely not a 66.

    Probably not a 65 either.

    64.

    Parts car. Seats and dash panel and wheel and maybe a few emblems. Even hood may be worth a few bucks. I guess for half what he is asking you cpuld buy it and part it

    Like 0
  12. Avatar ACZ

    Nothing left but patina.

    Like 0
  13. Avatar Country Joe

    That’s a 64 El Co. My Dad bought one in probably 1972. It was Candy Apple Red, it was originally a column shift car. Someone had started hack sawing the shifter off the column, got impatient and decided to just bust off the lever. It had Chevelle SS seats and center console swapped into it, when we pulled the interior and carpet out to rebuild the rusted out floor pans, it appeared that they used an ax to cut the hole in the transmission tunnel for the shifter on the M-21 Muncie. Pulled the valve covers off the engine in preparation for overhauling it, found aluminum valve spring retainers and the block numbers show the engine to be from a LT1 from a 1970 Corvette. We started to figure out why that little truck was so damned fast….

    Like 0
  14. Avatar 55chevy Chuck Foster

    Definitely 1964, I had one and those tail lights are hard to find, neighbors drunk friends backed into mine one night.

    Like 0
  15. Avatar newfieldscarnut

    Florida rust is the worst .
    Once left to the elements too long in Florida there is no return .

    Like 0
  16. Avatar 1st Gear

    Love these “2ed Generation” El Camino. I hot rodded a ’64 in the ’70s . It ran low 12’s on just motor. Many late nights were spent in the garage back then…

    Like 1
  17. Avatar Troy S

    Big piece of junk really, but any better and the price would be a lot different. The term “muscle” seems to get thrown around a bit loosely now days ,especially here, big difference between a 283 and a 396 which would be considered real muscle for cheverolet. Just sayin’.

    Like 0
  18. Avatar Maestro1

    It is a 1964. And resurrection is North of $30,000.00.

    Like 0
  19. Avatar Kevin Lee

    I really appreciate the custom work done to make this ’66 look like a ’64! Nice metal work!

    Like 0
  20. Avatar pauline

    should buff right out

    Like 0
  21. Avatar Dt 1

    1100 for that I wouldn’t give you $11 dollars

    Like 0

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