I remember being home sick one day back in high school, and I spent a couple hours watching a VHS copy of Two Lane Blacktop to pass the time; while I watched it for the cars, I was somehow affected by the hopeless mood of the whole thing. That final scene when the film freezes on James Taylor’s “Driver” and the celluloid is allowed to burn away haunted me for days, but I remember one other thing: the ’70 El Camino SS454 that was racing Taylor’s ’55 Chevy. It was an interesting choice of street machine, as trucks are anecdotally light in the tail, but perhaps the El Camino’s longer wheelbase (when compared to a Chevelle) balanced things out. Regardless, here’s a ’70 El Camino SS (a 396, in this case) on eBay in Carlsbad, California, with a “Buy It Now” price of a heady $19,000. Is it worth the money?
The 454, in LS5 or LS6 guise, was a late (and optional) addition to the Chevelle and El Camino line for 1970, but the standard SS powerplant was the 396 (actually a 402, of course). This car has the standard 350-horsepower version hooked to a Turbo 400 and a 3.31-geared 12-bolt. Car Life tested a 396/350 Chevelle in 1970 and came away unimpressed by its acceleration of around 15 seconds flat in the quarter-mile, but they praised its general athleticism and practicality as a sporty family car. So much for scaring people off with the badges. Still, a 15-second quarter is fast enough to have fun, although you’ll be doing it with a later block in the case of this El Camino, a 1972 casting. The seller says that the heads, intake, and carburetor are original, but the block must have been a warranty replacement early on; it’s clearly been with the car a long time. A “CE” coded 396 (dated within a month of the car) is available from the seller at extra cost.
The seller mentions that the floors and bed are “mint” and that the smuggler’s box is “perfect.” The only rust on the entire vehicle is on the lower driver’s fender and a few “50 cent spots” on the rear quarters. There are plenty of pictures in the ad that show how solid the car/truck is.
Make no bones about it, this El Camino will clearly need a restoration, but it will look amazing when it’s done. Picture it now, a new Cortez Silver paint job and a new black vinyl roof, the optional cowl induction hood flap doing its thing with every twitch of your right foot. You may not be taking out any street-racing ’55 Chevrolets with your 396 El Camino, but you’ll certainly look good trying.
Aaron, I wouldn’t consider the 454 options in 1970 late. The memo that came out to dealers showing its availability I believe was dated mid September, only a few weeks into the 1970 production year
In my head: “How did the turn signals get on top of the headlights?” “It looks weird.” “What an odd rust pattern.”
Asking BIN is about $10k more than its worth, cant blame for trying. But someone will pay more just to say they ‘won it’ on an auction.
$19k? *maybe* if all the extra “not included with the auction” parts are thrown in, again, maybe. Mine has buckets, console, AC, Dakota digital dash, Sniper, hydro-boost braking, it must be worth $40k!
As with all classic cars, the money lies in authenticity as well as condition. If your car is a real SS, you can prove it, it has the original drive train, and the bottom is as clean as the top, then I would say that yes, your car is worth $40k. If it were a Chevelle, even more so. The El Caminos just don’t bring the same for some reason.
19sixty5 as a former owner of a 1970 Hugger Orange with a black vinyl roof and interior to another 1970 El Camino owner I’d like to congratulate on your beautiful vehicle. I love it!
Let me know if he drops the price down to $2500. That’s about what it’s worth as it sits.
The current high bid is $8,800. The BIN of $19,000 is unrealistic, so is $2,500.
Steve R