It’s a good day when a car for sale sends me to the books to get the scoop on option availability, because then I get to learn something new and (if I’m lucky) a little obscure. In the case of this 1984 El Camino, I researched the Code “Z16” Royal Knight package, a decal option that could be added on top of the Code “Z15” El Camino SS. Since it wasn’t listed as an option in the 1984 sales brochure, I checked the El Camino boards, where most people seemed to agree that the Royal Knight was only available on 1979-83 El Caminos. This website claims that no Royal Knights were built in 1983 at all, let alone 1984, according to GM Heritage Center documents. Therefore, this example is probably just a nice souped-up El Camino with the readily available “Royal Knight” decals, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s currently for sale here on eBay in Port Charlotte, Florida, with an asking price of $19,990 or best offer.
I don’t know about you, but in my opinion, the fifth-generation El Camino had some of the best styling of all GM intermediates from the 1978-87 era. In general, they were boxy cars, and the neat swoop of the El Camino’s C-pillar mitigates some of those sharp angles. Plus, I think the contrasting blue and black of the “Royal Knight” decal package look great with the El Camino’s newer white paint. The body and paintwork had been done before the current owner bought the car, but they subsequently added the American Racing polished wheels, which were also a nice choice (and the tires are newer, too).
The engine is a Chevy 350 with a Holley Sniper EFI system on top. Since the top gas engine in 1984 El Caminos was a 305, this isn’t the original engine, but we can see that someone has added an aluminum intake and a set of headers, so combined with the 4L60E transmission, this is bound to be a fun driver with guts.
The seats have been redone with new upholstery and foam, and the modern Dakota Digital gauge cluster reads 3,816 miles, which probably indicates how many miles have been added since the car/truck’s refurbishment. It also has cruise control and an upgraded sound system. The pictures suggest that the new owner will want to replace the traditional GM sagging headliner.
The bed has been professionally coated with Rhino lining, which makes this El Camino one of the more practical collectibles you can buy. In addition to enjoying its ample power and good looks, the new owner can haul that new hot water heater home from Home Depot without damaging the bed. Royal Knight or no, this seems like a great option for anyone who likes fifth-gen El Caminos.
Nice write-up. I too appreciate the lines of this generation, and the upgrades make it even more attractive!
Very nicely done Camino and packing a punch!
I’d definitely rock one of these. I remember the original 305 ( a friend had one) wasn’t too weak in these cars either.. This has to be the only “Royal Knight” I’ve seen that wasn’t black with gold decals. I certainly don’t remember the “thunder chicken” or whatever that is on the hood. All it’s missing is a hood scoop. In other words, the decals aren’t needed.This is a nice car and if the price doesn’t go stratospheric it’ll be worth keeping in the garage or dropping in at Karz and Krack.
The hood decal is a stylized rendition of an armored knight’s helm and visor, flanked by a dragon on each side.
Is a helm the larger version of a helmette? Asking for a fiend…😊
Helmet is indeed a diminutive of helm, indicating a smaller or abbreviated variant, which makes sense in comparison to armored knights’ versions that covered the entire head and sometimes extended further to cover the neck and even part of the shoulders.
Always a bad idea to put an option on a car that wasn’t available. It diminishes the collector value.
I love el caminos and even if its not a true Royal Knight edition,one can consider it a great resto-mod and tribute. If I had the money it would be pretty tempting to me.
I always like this iteration of El Camino, although the only ones I ever owned were a 71 and a 77. A company I worked for bought these for their sales guys, I remember riding with one of them with another behind us, roasting the tire by power braking at a stoplight. Couldn’t even see the poor guy behind us in the cloud of smoke. Oh the good old days!
Goodnite 🐴 🏁
Wish this would have been available a couple years ago, as I live in an area of Port Charlotte. I was looking for a smaller pickup but will not buy something with 4 doors! I started out looking for and El Camino but couldn’t find one close enough worth replacing my 98 Corvette for. I did find a nice, 2-owner ’05 SSR up in Sarasota and bought that instead. I would have considered this.
In 1983 the Royal Knight option was an $84 sticker package. When ordered with both SS and RK options the RK stickers were used instead of the SS callouts. As the article states the option doesn’t appear to have been offered in 1984. Either way the stickers don’t represent much value.
Whatever value this base model El Camino had as a collector vehicle may have been lost with all the modifications. According to AutoCheck the vehicle has been damaged in multiple incidents. The seller may have been on the wrong end of quick flip.
The asking price if $19,990 is aggressive, especially with it being a bit rough around the edges. This generation of El Camino, especially with 4 headlights looks good. They have a following, but they are also relatively plentiful. Decal packages don’t seem to be as attractive to potential buyers as they used to be, which is a good thing. The bucket seats and console are a bigger selling point than the decals. It failed to sell last time it was listed on eBay and very well may do so again, there is a lot of competition from from other cars that have a moderate following, where price/value is often a big factor in the decision to purchase.
Steve R