The passenger area of the vehicle was a big greenhouse affair, with a huge wraparound front window and equally large rear window. Although the width of the car was 79 inches, the tailgate only opened to 57 inches! Of course, one could get a sheet of plywood into the bed, but the overall "feel" of the car was that it wasted space. Aside from being a body shop's ultimate nightmare, those wings didn't lend themselves to being sliced to form a tailgate opening. One of the problems with the 1959 El Camino was with those gull wings. Stick and automatic transmissions, power steering and brakes, air conditioning and lots of other goodies were available.
The base, $2740, El Camino came with a huge list of options, though.īuyers of these pickups could choose engines from the "Stovebolt" six to a big, 348 cubic-inch V8 with triple carburetors and high compression. Chevy's El Camino, by contrast, was offered only in the bottom-of-the-line Biscayne trim which had basic, gray vinyl upholstery. In both cases, these pickup trucks were actually station wagons that were cut down to the configuration of a light-duty truck.įord's concept was to call the Ranchero a "sedan-pickup" and the vehicle was sold in standard and upscale trim.
Ford's was called the Ranchero and Chevy called theirs the El Camino. Both companies, therefore, offered upscale pickups. After all, one might want to unload the cow pies during the day and dress up for the theater on Saturday night. Chevy and Ford both believed that country people wanted some style (read: "class") in their pickup trucks.
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