One thing is pretty certain for the person who becomes the next owner of this 1959 Chevrolet El Camino, and that is that they will never go anywhere without attracting plenty of attention. This is not a car that could ever be considered to be subtle, but its ability to attract attention comes down to the fact that it is in fantastic condition. With the car set to go to a new home, it is possible that you could easily be the person attracting all of the attention. Located in Boulder City, Nevada, you will find the El Camino listed for sale here on eBay. Bidding has reached $25,200, but the reserve hasn’t been met. The owner also offers a BIN option, and this has been set at $30,000.
I’m going to stick my neck out here because even though I am a self-confessed Ford enthusiast, I have always felt that the ’59 El Camino is a better-looking car than the equivalent Ranchero. I know that there will be plenty of people who will be willing to argue that point, and I respect their opinion. Of course, style does come down to a matter of personal taste, so I’m just putting it out there. This El Camino looks extremely attractive finished in Crown Sapphire Metallic. The paint has a nice consistency and shine to it, while the panels are very straight. The owner makes no mention of any rust issues, and there are certainly no problems visible in the supplied photos. There is never any shortage of chrome on a ’59 El Camino, and this all appears to be in very good condition. The vehicle features tinted glass all around, and this seems to be as flawless as the chrome. The Chevy is also given a tougher look by dropping the ride-height a bit, and by the addition of the alloy Corvette wheels. That is one addition that I’m not 100% sold on, but I’m sure that I could learn to live with them.
Potential owners in 1959 had a veritable smorgasbord of engines to choose from in their new El Camino, and decoding the VIN reveals that this car rolled off the line in St. Louis, Missouri with a 235ci six-cylinder engine under the hood. However, that engine has gone by the wayside, and what we have here is a 348ci Tri-Power V8, which is backed by an automatic transmission. That piece of machinery will deliver 335hp, which means that the El Camino should really get up and moving if you give the gas pedal a bit of a poke. The presentation of the engine bay is not as nice as I was expecting, but the engine itself is nice and clean. It would seem that the next owner won’t be facing any work with the Chevy because the owner does say that it is in great running condition. The owner does supply a video of the engine running on this Facebook page, and it does sound really clean and strong.
The interior of the El Camino also presents nicely, with no obvious urgent needs. All of the upholstered surfaces look extremely clean, with no evidence of any rips or tears. The carpet and headliner are in a similar state, while the dash generally looks very good. There is some minor scratching and deterioration of the polished metal on the dash, but it is something that seems to only be visible upon close inspection. I suspect that returning this to perfection would not be a difficult task. Apart from the floor-mounted shifter, the only aftermarket additions are some gauges mounted under the dash, and a tachometer mounted on the steering column. The under-dash gauges look a bit untidy, so I would probably put some effort into improving their appearance.
With 22,246 vehicles rolling off the production line in 1959, Chevrolet found that they had a sales success on their hands with the El Camino. Today, these remain as popular as ever, and tidy examples can fetch some pretty respectable prices. There are plenty of examples of the ’59 model in the market that can be had for less than the BIN on this one, but the vast majority of those are going to need some work to bring their presentation up to the standard of this one. It’s also worth noting that you will be hard-pressed to find another example for this price with a healthy 348 Tri-Power under the hood. That is certainly something to think about.
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