The El Camino's unique attributes were designed in a special GM Styling studio that handled station wagon development. Although he did not "father" the Chevelle, Knudsen would proudly introduce it to the automotive press several months before the public introduction. The Chevelle would be the division's fifth car line, joining the regular Chevrolet, Corvair, Chevy II, and Corvette in Chevrolet showrooms. He was about to lead Chevrolet into some of its most exciting and successful years as well. Knudsen, a car guy in every sense, had made stodgy Pontiac into a stellar performer, style leader, and stunning sales success starting in the late Fifties. "Bunkie" Knudsen replaced Ed Cole as Chevrolet's general manager in late 1961. Thus, the 1964 El Camino was apparently a work in progress by the time Semon E. Even so, after many meetings, the decision was made to build the new El Camino on the forthcoming Chevrolet intermediate platform. The only problem was timing: For three model years, Ford would have the passenger-car-pickup field all to itself. And the new full-perimeter-frame chassis could add the durability an El Camino needed.
The robust and proven Chevrolet powertrains to be offered in the new car would contribute the power. A two-door station wagon was already proposed for the new-car line such a vehicle could contribute structure and even body panels to an El Camino. Subsequent evaluation determined that the Chevy II wasn't really suited to becoming a truck.īy early 1961, the team had begun to focus on the 1964 Chevrolet "intermediate" then under development. Skowronski recalls that a Chevy II wagon prototype was modified into a pickup. The team next turned to the soon-to-be introduced Chevy II compact, which would be built on a conventional rear-drive chassis. Called the Trailblazer - a name that would return at Chevrolet decades later - it quickly came to naught. (Besides, Ford also had a more direct competitor for the Rampside in the Econoline.) The dealers wanted another El Camino.Īccording to Skowronski, the planning team initially flirted with a somewhat El Camino-like concept featuring dual Corvair engines. The short-term solution offered by Chevrolet - the 1961 Corvair Rampside pickup, with its rear engine and bi-level load floor - was simply too different to compete against the small, but thoroughly conventional, Ford. They were also aware, of course, that Ford was still very much in the game with the new compact Ranchero, which was selling well. They had liked the extra sales provided by the half car/half truck. Some Chevrolet dealers were disappointed with the El Camino being dropped for 1961. Skowronski's very first assignment: help Chevrolet Truck Sales Manager James Conlon and his product planners research a replacement for the 1960 El Camino. When Eugene "Geno" Skowronski reported to work at Campbell-Ewald Advertising, Chevrolet's ad agency, on September 8, 1960, it was the start of a career that would span more than three decades and include dozens of new-vehicle introductions. However, your author did locate a member of the original concept team who well remembers the story of how the intermediate El Camino came to be. The exact chronology of events and who did what to bring the El Camino revival to market have become murky with the passage of time. However, when Chevrolet unveiled a new El Camino in 1964, Ford was immediately put on the defensive. The Falcon Ranchero consistently rang up around 20,000 sales per model year from 1960 to 1963. Meanwhile, Ford was busy transforming the Ranchero into a much smaller offering based on its new-for-1960 Falcon compact.
Chevrolet responded with its like-sized El Camino in '59, but would build it that way for only two model years. See more pictures of Chevrolet cars.įord, of course, had fired the first round in the sedan-pickup battle with its Ranchero, built from 1957 to 1959 on the full-size Ford platform. The 1965 El Camino combined the moderate size of a car with the performance of a truck.
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