As an Australian, I would like to take some credit for the development of vehicles such as the El Camino and the Ranchero. The first commercially produced “coupe utility” was actually developed by Ford Australia in 1932. The idea then took off around the world and resulted in cars like our feature Chevy. Listed for sale here on eBay and located in Pensacola, Florida, is this 1960 Chevrolet El Camino. Offered for sale with a clear title, the seller has set the opening bid at $12,500 but there have been no bids at this stage. As an aside I think that this generation of El Camino with the fins is one really cool car.

This El Camino was sold new in Big Spring, California, and resided in that state until 2016. It is said to be solid with no rot in any of the vital areas. The seller states that there is some minor rust in the floor and the rust that you can see in the outer rear quarter panel. Looking at the photos gives the impression that the rust on this side is worse than on the other side of the car, so that’s a real positive as neither side is particularly bad. It also appears as if all of the external chrome and trim is present and in good condition. The seller also states that this Chevy has undergone one repaint during its long life.

The interior shots are a little bit vague, but we can learn enough from them to put together a bit of a story about the interior condition. The dash and dash pad look like they’re in good repair, although there is an aftermarket radio/cassette player residing in the dash. From what we can see of the seat it appears that the seat and door cards have received a re-trim at some stage. The seat looks like it might be okay, but from the glimpses we get of the bottom of the door cards, it appears the trim on these may need some repair. It looks like it has a carpet and that it’s in fair condition, but with some fading. I think that maybe it’s a bit like those of us with silver hair and could benefit from a dye job. What is nice is those vents below the dash that confirm that this El Camino was specified with factory air con, although we don’t know if it functions.

When it comes to engine shots I’m afraid this is as good as you get. What I can tell you is that the engine is a 350ci V8 of 1977 vintage. Transmission type seems to be something of a mystery. The eBay summary indicates that this Chevy is an automatic, but on the interior shot I can see a clutch pedal and what looks like a stick shift, so I’m not sure on that one. The El Camino comes fitted with factory power steering in addition to the previously mentioned air con. We do know that there is some work to be done. The fuel tank needs cleaning and it needs brakes, but if that’s all that it needs then things are looking quite good.

The photos provided of this El Camino paint a really positive picture of a solid car that could either be restored, or you could choose to address the few mechanical issues and drive it as is. I did some scouting around at what is available at the moment. I have found a number of project grade examples that are cheaper than this one, but none were as solid as this one appears to be, none of them presented as well as this one, none had air con or power steering, and all needed significant mechanical work before they were going to run. If the mechanical issues can be addressed easily along with the rust issues as reported by the seller, then it would be very tempting to get this old girl going and drive her as she is.