1978 Chevrolet El Camino

1978 Chevrolet El Camino Rumor has it that Mattel's Elliot Handler, (the 'el' in Mattel), spotted designer Harry Bradley's El Camino in the Mattel HQ parking lot and commented, Those are some hot wheels, coining the new name for Mattel's line of toy cars, Hot Wheels.  In fact, Elliot was so impressed by Bradley's custom El Camino, he insisted that Mattel use it as a model for the first line of Hot Wheels toy cars.  And the rest as they say is history.  All starting from an Australian farm wife wanting a vehicle she could use during the week on the farm and then drive it to church on a Sunday, the concept of a car with a truck bed was born.  The Chevrolet El Camino, (literally translated to The Way), is in our massive facility and stands out as a nice example.  Dressed in charcoal gray, with some orange highlighting, this car flexes its muscle with a swept back hood scoop, wider rear tires, a roll bar with racing buckets, and a stout 383ci V8.  It's a fast worker during the week, and a speedy goer to church during the weekend, that Australian woman would be proud! Note: Due to modifications of the emissions control devices installed by the manufacturer, please check your local, state, and federal laws to determine if this vehicle is applicable for use on public highways in your area. Exterior This...uh truck...uh car, has seen some customization with a grayed out factory grille, no badging, and a metallic gray painted front bumper, and square headlights.  Body panels and doors are rust free and have nicely minded gaps and these too are bathed in the gray.  For the upper side of the car there is a large rear facing scoop for the hood and it presents in orange.  The roofline also is orange  as are the B pillars and bed edge tops.  For the bed, it's nice and shiny and is gray with a rear plastic window that has the supports running through it to mounting in the bed.  A nice edge delineation between the orange and gray is made up of dual pinstripes, one yellow one blue.  On the tailgate and bed sides these stripes turn into EKG mountains and valleys.  Below that gate is the inset rear bumper in metallic gray with inset tail lights.  15-inch polished wheels are wrapped in staggered rubber with the big rear tires weighing in at 28x9.00x15. looking very spiffy against the orange and gray. Interior Nicely preserved black vinyl adorns the doors, along with a bottom molded central arm rest, and fine cranks, manual locks in the upper doors  and handles.  High back racing seats are showing in black vinyl with some orange inserts and opening surrounds for the integrated headrest.  Orange piping is seen on the edges.  In the center a B&M T style shifter and a custom plastic black cup holder now has a shift light tachometer facing the driver.  The dash is now fully custom made from aluminum and some chromed diamond plate steel.  Various gauges, lights and toggles are in this field of dreams!  A wood rimmed rally wheel on a tilt billet styled column is fronting the dash.  Black carpeting is in the floors and as noted the roll cage is protecting all of this. Drivetrain Under the pinned and hinged hood we see a screamer in beautiful chrome and cast parts and miles of braided stainless.  It's a souped up 383ci V8 with a cast crank, forged rods, and SP pistons.  The mill also has Dart Pro 1 aluminum heads.  It sports a Holley 4-barrel carburetor above an Edelbrock intake.  On top is a dual intake chromed air cleaner covering.  A TH350 3-speed automatic transmission attached to the rear.  Ford 9 inch differential takes the power from the mill/transmission setup and puts it to the rear wheels.  The mill is rated at 460hp.  Undercarriage Only surface rust here and it's very minor, the tubs are sturdy, and some scratching off of the paint on the rockers is seen but the majority is finished in a pleasant matte black.  Independent coil spring are on the front and rear has a 4 link with the coil