Will the "mullet" return in 2011? Yea, the El Camino

[bull]

I didn't see this posted so forgive me if I missed it. I was at the eye doctor today browsing through a recent Road&Track magazine in the waiting room when I saw a picture and article discussing the possibility of a 2011 Chevy El Camino being produced. One possible design would be a copy of GM's Australian Ute.

There are probably some El Camino fans here but I'm not one of them. I like to refer to them as the gender-confused automobile, the automotive equivalent to the mullet, the answer to a question nobody asked, etc...(I feel the same way about any pickup/car hybrid). Still, the one question raised in my mind by this idea is why produce a El Camino but not a Chevelle? One possible answer I think is that they can pretty much create any design they want as long as it has a pickup bed on it and no one will complain. If they did the same design with a regular car and called a Chevelle they'd be hearing the same kind of howling they heard during the GTO debacle.

Anyway, here it is for your viewing pleasure:
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/07/06/chevy-el-camino-could-return-for-2011
http://www.cheersandgears.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=16611
http://www.sportscarforums.com/f8/2009-el-camino-22773.html#post645417

[Forza]

  God I hope they don't

[TruckDriver]

 

[rav440]

good god man ,,, that looks stupid 

[BrianShaughnessy]

   Chevy timing is impeccable.   Just like they brought out the HHR like 7 years after the PT Cruiser... now they can re introduce the pickupcar they introduced 50 years earlier to compete against the ph8cking ridgeline. 

   I had an 80 EC SS awhile back.  What a rusty heap-O-poo.    It wasn't good at being a car or being a truck.

[bordin34]

Looks like a Holden Ute.

[Chargen69]

I had a 1964 el camino, I wouldnt mind having it back, but it did have more character than the later years.

[Charger-Bodie]

in todays market where the auto makers are struggling to make as it is i don't think a model that will only suit a few will ever hit the streets, altleast not from a sensible business point of view.

[TK73]

Still don't "get" El Caminos     ...  asides that Trevor said that there is no market for two-door cars.

[71charger_fan]

If you think the mullet went away, you haven't experienced the Baltimore suburbs or central Florida.

[Ghoste]

I had a Ranchero many many many years ago and I have to admit I still have a soft spot for "the question nobody asked". 

[Brock Samson]

  I respectfully disagree here Bull, some el Camino's are pretty sweet lookin rides... not what i need, I'd prefer a back seat and lockable trunk, but some El Caminos and Rancharos are decent muscle cars and workaday haulers,.. the el Camino's make a great basis for customs and I've noticed change hands allot on auto trader...
i prefer the older ones pre '71 myself with the '59s being my Favorites.

  As regards the new GM speculation, the Holden sport utes are very popular down under and have been for some time, same in south America,.. I bet Natcho has seen a ton of them down there too...

The "hybrid" pickup i never understood was the aftermarket early '70s Cadillac Pickups and of course the Lincoln Blackwood that came out a couple years ago died the death... poor Lincoln, what's gonna become of them?..






the first el camino was a caddy BTW:



more of this wild custom..
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.jims59.com/other59s/theultimus/images/msRadicalCustom%26Ed.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.jims59.com/other59s/theultimus/&h=1145&w=1581&sz=355&hl=en&start=9&tbnid=0DEOhIjfoir1QM:&tbnh=109&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3D1959%2Bel%2Bcamino%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG

i may be somewhat prejudiced though, because Sammy, across the street owned one exactly like this marina Blue SS only with the stock rally rims,
for several years and it was allways parked in their driveway staring me in the face, intill he traded in in on a K-car station wagon, I gotta remember that when the next gas price hike makes me concider gas milage as a priority..

from this...


                                                            to this..   

[C_stripes]

Looks like a Holden Ute.

It is a Ute. They just change a bit of the sheet metal(plastic) and make it a left hand drive. Now it is a EL Camino. You know that that is what the new GTO is don't you?  Its just the Holden Commodore. Just re badged and such.  Aussie cars are cool.  I like the new TRD auron. It is basically a toyota Camry but looks much cooler and has the V6 with a Eaton supercharger from the factory.  I wish they would make cool cars like that here in the US of A.

Jeremy

[Ghoste]

  I respectfully disagree here Bull, some el Camino's are pretty sweet lookin rides... not what i need, I'd prefer a back seat and lockable trunk, but some El Caminos and Rancharos are decent muscle cars and workaday haulers,..

I'll agree and underline the statement about decent by adding that decent doesn't mean great.  The holdup to real musclecar performance with those things was traction and handling.  My Ranchero had a 351 Boss in it and could smoke the tires as long as you held your foot in it but I really preferred to run people from a rolling start.  It didn't handle worth a pile of squirrel snot either and would swap ends as easily as smoking tires.  A buddy of mine had a 70 El Camino SS years ago too and I could give that thing a real hard run for the money with my Omnicharger 2.2.  I couldn't beat it but I damned sure made him earn it.

[69bronzeT5]

   

[Silver R/T]

Subaru beat them to it Although I think 1st pic looks pretty good imo

[Brock Samson]

I didn't see this posted so forgive me if I missed it. I was at the eye doctor today browsing through a recent Road&Track magazine in the waiting room when I saw a picture and article discussing the possibility of a 2011 Chevy El Camino being produced. One possible design would be a copy of GM's Australian Ute.

There are probably some El Camino fans here but I'm not one of them. I like to refer to them as the gender-confused automobile, the automotive equivalent to the mullet, the answer to a question nobody asked, etc...(I feel the same way about any pickup/car hybrid). Still, the one question raised in my mind by this idea is why produce a El Camino but not a Chevelle? One possible answer I think is that they can pretty much create any design they want as long as it has a pickup bed on it and no one will complain. If they did the same design with a regular car and called a Chevelle they'd be hearing the same kind of howling they heard during the GTO debacle.
Anyway, here it is for your viewing pleasure:
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/07/06/chevy-el-camino-could-return-for-2011
http://www.cheersandgears.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=16611
http://www.sportscarforums.com/f8/2009-el-camino-22773.html#post645417

True that they don't make a Chevellebut they do make the Malibu which the newest iriteration of is reciving rave reviews thanks to Chrylser's ex-product man "Maximum" Bob Lutz, worst thing that happened to Mopars in the last few years was losing him to G.M.,I.M.O.
and while were on the subject, Dodge dosent' make a Coronet either, ..  or does it?.   

further reading..

    http://autoextremist.com/index.shtml

just you wait till the newest dodge rampage car truck hibred comes out of China, complete with the bulls eye grill...

[1FastCharger]

just you wait till the newest dodge rampage car truck hibred comes out of China, complete with the bulls eye grill...

Ha ha ha...actually that pic is in Vietman. I saw a bunch of stuff like that there. 6 people on a small cycle, transporting a HUGE piece of furniture on scooters etc.... They are very adept at getting the job done with what they have available.

[bull]

Looks like they could use some wipers.

[squeakfinder]

WOW!  One horsepower.

Oh wait, that looks like a donkey. So they must have to pull on the steering wheel to apply the brakes?

That the thing looks more creative than what chevy is doing. Maybee GM should go to Vietnam and hire some engineer's.

[66mopar]

The market can be a strange place. GM sold more El Caminos than Pentastar ever sold Cuda's and Challenger's. 

[bull]

WOW!  One horsepower.

Oh wait, that looks like a donkey. So they must have to pull on the steering wheel to apply the brakes?

That the thing looks more creative than what chevy is doing. Maybee GM should go to Vietnam and hire some engineer's.

No. That there is a member of the bovine family of critters.

[Brock Samson]

BTW:

This new GM platform that is the basis for their new CTS Caddy, Pontiac Gran Prix and Chevy Maiibu - is sourced from a car from what country?...

no not Viet Nam or Germany,.

[squeakfinder]

OK taking a closer look I see that it some form of ugly cow..

[mikepmcs]

 

[bordin34]

Holden Ute

[The70RT]

Seems to me like Mattel designs GM products.

[Brock Samson]

here's the only bulleye grill i wanna see commin out from Dodge.... 

 








credit ds440

   

[hutch]

they were fast as hell back in the day.  I have seen some hot ones I would drive.  But not my ball of wax.  Get a truck or get a car. Cant have both.

[Magnumcharger]

here's the only bulleye grill i wanna see commin out from Dodge.... 

 


credit ds440

   

Funny, I always thought the new 300 looked like a tank.

[Ghoste]

But not my ball of wax.  Get a truck or get a car. Cant have both.

But not much has changed really when you think about trucks with four door cabs and more luxury options than 68 Imperial.  And what about the entire sport utility market?  That whole thing is about having both a car and a vehicle for small workloads.

[Lowprofile]

Mullets rock! And so do El Caminos!! 

I am the former proud owner of a 68 SS 396/4-Speed car
Here's a pic from when I first got it.....

[bull]

Mullets rock! And so do El Caminos!! 

I am the former proud owner of a 68 SS 396/4-Speed car
Here's a pic from when I first got it.....

How about a picture of your mullet now?

[plum500]

Hey man, El Camino's kick ass. Only problem I see though, is that any concepts I've seen rendered fail to get the right balance of "is it a car, or is it a truck?". If you're not sitting there scratching your head asking that question indefinitely, then it's not an El Camino Little too much truck in that concept.

[Brock Samson]

it's truly amazing how popular this thread is... 

[Joshua]

Mullets rock! And so do El Caminos!! 

I am the former proud owner of a 68 SS 396/4-Speed car
Here's a pic from when I first got it.....

RULER! I can barely hear the Crue when viewing this pic.

Nice patina on the Elky........

I'd take a mid-60's 'Camino anyday over ANY '72 and newer Mopar junk heap.....

[CB]

I dig the old caminos 

'72 and up they looked like crap.

CB

[Mike DC]

 
Two pages on this thread, and I still don't think I've heard anyone hit on the most obvious reasoning to bring this thing back yet. 




Forget the nostalgia retro market, forget the sports car market, forget the SUV/UTE market, and forget even the "cute" market.  I don't think the real reason is anything nearly that fun: 


When we're talking about $3-4/gallon gasoline and draconian CAFE standards, the Elky/Ranchero models might become the only remotely affordable way to feed a vehicle with a pickup bed, period. 

[Brock Samson]

 I wonder if GM will survive long enough to bring the rancharo from down under back to the USA and, if they do... if they will sell enough to make it worthwhile to do so...
I  think the popularity of this thread is from El Camino fans Googleing El Camino and ending up here...
but i do know whenever i look to see who's online there's at least one guest on this thread... 

[Drache]

Buy a Dodge Rampage!  

Orignal:


Concept:

[Back N Black]

I have a buddy that is bald on top of his head and he has a scullet! but he drives a ford pickup, so i guess it dosent count. 

[Brock Samson]

 I hear this is what Chevrolet is gonna market as the next El Camino..



A good thing as i'm sure we'd never go for the Aussie Pontiac Version or it's stable mates...  

[Landonsrt]

I was in Cozumel three years ago and the El Camino was everywhere. Looked exactly like the one pictured. It might have been a holden version but i swear it had a bowtie on the front. Just like they still offer the Ramcharger in Mexico too.

[quapman]

That Holden thing doesn't look bad, but the Camaro version is  .

Rob Wolf from MCG still has a mullet. Then again, he still thinks he's 16. 

[GreenMachine]

   I saw a concept El Camino in person during the mid 90's. It was based on the Impala SS, I thought it looked pretty good. When I googled a pic of it, it's not as cool as I remember.

[Mike DC]

     
IMHO Elkys are cool as classic old V8 RWD cars first, and as Elkys a distant second.


If an Elky is not from a classic era then forget it.  That goes for re-introductions too.   

 

[moparstuart]

 

[b5blue]

Many don't know that they were a station wagon chassis modification.

[bull]

Seems to me they could have spent another $10/35 minutes on that white car and finished off the plywood tonneau cover. That or leave it shut.

[moparstuart]

Seems to me they could have spent another $10/35 minutes on that white car and finished off the plywood tonneau cover. That or leave it shut.

but then it wouldnt be whiskey tango ,  like an El camino

[aussiemuscle]

As regards the new GM speculation, the Holden sport utes are very popular down under and have been for some time

Damn Straight!!
much more useful than a sedan, They are great if you need carrying capacity or don't carry many passengers. i've owned a Ford Falcon Ute for two years now. If you like V8 power and rear wheel drive you might also appreciate it. Here's mine

Ford Falcon XR8 ute 5.4V8, 6speed auto, 6stackerCD, sports bar and hard tonneau cover. The cover is a good idea as it makes the whole back lockable.

[Manfred318]

Wow aussiemuscle that is one cool ass looking car  I would buy one of those if they had them here

[Khyron]

WOW!  One horsepower.

Oh wait, that looks like a donkey.

yeah, just like this idea, powered by an ass

[squeakfinder]

WOW!  One horsepower.

Oh wait, that looks like a donkey.

yeah, just like this idea, powered by an ass

[Khyron]

it was the pic of the donkey, donkeys are called ass's..... it was a play on the word

[Brock Samson]

[The70RT]

I can see why it's parked in a handycap spot 

[chargergirl]

Mark drives this back and forth to work every day and it used to be known as the Booger, green and ugly, until a few days ago. He has been pulled over by the cops wondering what it was. Poor guy sitting there thinking...was I speeding? Probably...dang! Another time he was driving thru downtown and was surrounded by three officers...wondering what he was doing there...um going home (DWW). They checked his ID, registration, when he pulled out his ID from work they let him go. Will haul a 440 bare block but will not a haul a 440 complete short block it's like poppin a wheelie without poppin the clutch. Has a 192 cubic inch engine 2.2 liter, 5 speed with overdrive and gets 41mpg. We had green down...buy American! My white 3/4 ton behind it...the dually is behind her...jet black.

[Nacho-RT74]

 
 As regards the new GM speculation, the Holden sport utes are very popular down under and have been for some time, same in south America,.. I bet Natcho has seen a ton of them down there too...

Not really they are REALLY WEIRD at least in Venezuela... maybe more to South they are/were more popular, but in Venezuela I think I have seen just 10 of them, fomr several gens, maybe less. And I think just ONE Ranchero.

In fact all EL CAMINO's I have seen are imported, and Venezuela on those years was more a car BUILDER than an Importer. All cars brands had assembly lines here, but not each model, we were afew on those years so not enough market to make all the variety of models available in USA.

Nowdays we have some VWs, Chevys too ( well really an OPEL with Chevy sign, the MONTANA ) and in 80s, also some Fiats with the "truck" cargo setup, called FIORINO ( they were also with closed rear cab )

Montana:


VW crossover:




Then inside the country ( and maybe in some areas of Caracas ) ppl is able to build Caminos/Rancheros from any Station Wagon available around, depending of what they need.

Once I saw a 75 Coronet SW converted in to El Camino/Ranchero.

An original El Camino down here would it be very valuable for the right ppl of course