When folks think of the 1960s and 1970s “gentlemen’s pickups”, they usually mention the car-based Ford Ranchero and Chevy El Camino. But there was a third that sold in much smaller numbers, the GMC Sprint. It was an El Camino that was marketed at GMC truck dealers with just changes to the badging. This 1976 edition was owned by a “little old lady” who must have been pretty cool given the wheels and stripes. With low mileage, it only needs some TLC. From Tacoma, Washington, this snappy truck is available here on eBay where the no-reserve auction has only reached $3,550.
Chevrolet had the El Camino from 1959-60 and then again from 1964 to 1988. It wasn’t until 1971 that GMC decided they wanted a piece of the action. But they barely put a dent in Ranchero and El Camino’s market share. For 1976 (when the seller’s Sprint was built), Chevy produced 44,890 El Caminos while GMC only mustered 5,436 Sprints. And the Ranchero was somewhere in between at 16,073. The GM products shared the Colonnade styling adopted by the rest of the company’s intermediates between 1973 and 1977.
Low sales of the Sprint probably weren’t a huge issue because they were the same as the El Camino except for emblems. GMC used the Sprint name through 1977 and then the Caballero moniker for the rest of the truck’s production life. They also shared Chevy’s engines and transmissions, which in this case is the 350 cubic inch V8 and an automatic transmission (likely a TH-350). We don’t know the history of the seller’s car other than the mileage is apparently low at 33,000 (the little old lady owned it for the past 10 years). We’re told it runs well and apparently needs no mechanical tinkering.
The seller says the dark blue paint is older, which suggests a prior repaint, but it still comes across as good. The white stripes look like an afterthought as opposed to something installed by the plant or dealer. The interior is in mostly good shape with the driver’s swivel bucket seat needing new upholstery. For what might end up not being a small fortune, this could be a nifty pickup for light use and weekend outings to Cars & Coffee.
Nice honest truck it looks to be.Love swivel buckets.The stripe is cool except they should have stopped at the fender, on the hood they don’t look good imo.Worth around 10k imo.Glwts.
Agreed, that stripping on the hood is just absolutely awful!
I don’t think I’ve seen one with swivel bucket seats…usually a split back bench. Nice find….deal if you can get it around $5000
There is no such thing as a 1988 El Camino. The last year was 1987.. there were some left overs.. like mine.. that were sold in 1988 but were still 1987’s. Also.. for the 4th gen like the one featured.. swivel buckets were a common option just like with the Malibu.
It’s altogether likely that all but the most dedicated shopper even knew about the Sprint. Your first encounter would have been at GMC truck center or Pontiac Buick or Cadillac dealer that just happened to have one. I imagine these spun some folks around thinking it should have been an elky. Nice looking for a ’76.
For 33K miles that front seat has seen some abuse; or was it the poor quality vinyl? Overall, a nice ride.
‘No longer avail’. I wish I had just 1 years worth of uncollected fee’s Ebay loses when sellers end listings because of a cash offer. Just list with ridiculous reserve that will never reach, auction ends, then people email or call with the ‘too much to describe, so for more info call’ number in ad.