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Smorgasbord! A Trio Of 1960 Chevrolet El Caminos

It’s a 1960 El Camino lollapalooza! But before you get too excited, let’s consider their condition which is less than optimal. Still, it’s interesting to find three, fairly obscure vehicles together. You have to wonder what’s up? Was this a collector? One who collected but never went any further beyond the acquisition phase? Let’s see if we can find out, these three gems are located in Patchogue, New York and are available, here on eBay for a current bid of  $2,000, reserve not yet met. Thanks to Larry D for this discovery!

Chevrolet built approximately 14K El Caminos in its sophomore year of 1960, about 36% fewer than in the 1959 inaugural year. Competition could have played a part as Ford moved the segment-starting Ranchero (or El Ranchero as I used to confusingly call it) down to the compact Falcon platform for 1960.  Whatever the reason for the reduction, the ’60 models are not a big draw, are not enhanced by scarcity, and don’t engender anywhere near the interest that Gen-2 (’64-’67), or in particular Gen-3 (’68-’72), versions do. Still, they occupy a unique market segment and could be outfitted from mild, with a two-speed automatic transmission and six-cylinder engine, to wild, packing a 335 HP 348 CI V8 and a four-speed manual transmission. And this is long before the days of a Super Sport variant being envisioned.

El Camino number one completely redefines the meaning of surface rust. The surface rust has surface rust! It does have what appears to be a 170 gross HP 283 CI V8 that I’d bet a 20 oz. Porterhouse hasn’t run in decades. While there are a ton of parts included, some may be only marginally better than what’s in place.

El Camino number two, which is our lead image, is in a similar condition as Camino number one except that the front clip is getting ready to fall off. The front blue and primered clip, positioned on an otherwise green and primered body, is probably a replacement for the original and it just hasn’t been attached – assuming that there is still something to attach it to. Number two appears to possess the same engine as number one and probably carries the same admonition regarding the last time it was operational.  The cargo bed is showing surface rust but it does not appear to be rotted through so there is some hope there. Of note is the cargo bed trim – it’s mostly in place and looks to be in fair shape – those pieces can be tough to find for this vintage Camino.

Number three is the fuggedaboutit example. There’s not much there, no clip, no engine, no steering mechanism, and probably no “a lot of other stuff” too though the windshield looks OK. As for the remainder of the body and/or the interior, there are no included images.

It’s hard to imagine what the reserve on this auction might be and how it would have been determined. One has to wonder seriously if you could build one useable car from combining all of the bits of Larry, Moe, and Curly. I suppose if you could get on the ground, and inspect each one, looking for some strengths, the future viability could be determined. At this point, I’d be inclined to suggest GLWTA, how about you?

Comments

  1. Avatar Bluetec320 Member

    Definitely not kings anymore. Looks like these guys partied a little too hard!

    Like 9
  2. Avatar Ike Onick

    The owner is clearly not the El Kamino King. More like the Court Jester.

    Like 6
  3. Avatar Troy

    I’m kinda curious what the reserve price is for all this scrap metal

    Like 4
  4. Avatar Rodney - GSM

    “El Camonyouvegottobekidding”

    Like 4
    • Avatar Ike Onick

      El Kabong

      Like 2
  5. Avatar Beel

    Growing up, my neighbor had one of these. “Useless as a pickup truck” (from which he traded), “useless as a car,” he would say.

    Like 1
  6. Avatar David G Green

    I’m trying my best at 65 years old to be wise enough to NOT consider such a project. The 18 year old kid in me says “it’d still be fun”. At my age, I can see myself falling asleep under it, laying on a creeper.

    Like 0
  7. Avatar David Teitelman

    I don’t get what a reserve price is: The lowest price that it’s willing to sell for?I’d take #1 for 2k if seller would pay the delivery price to south Mississippi !

    Like 0

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