1973 El Camino
Chevy’s tentative jump into the “sedan/pickup” segment finally stuck with the return of the El Camino in 1964. Originally available in 1959 as a response to Ford’s Ranchero, it was based on the full-size B-body that included everything from Chevys to Cadillacs. After 1960 it was discontinued, while Ford shifted their Ranchero from full-size in 1959 to their new Falcon compact platform in 1960. Ford had a car/utility, or “Ute”, passenger car going all of the way back to 1932 in Australia. Continued strong Ranchero sales in the US prompted Chevy to jump back into the segment with the 1964 El Camino. From a tooling standpoint this body style only made sense (or cents) as a derivative of a two-door station wagon platform, and Chevy had that with their new A-body Chevelle. For its first couple years Chevy marketed the El Camino as a light utility truck, and so did not make available any of the performance engines and packages found on Chevelles. Finally in 1966 they added the 325hp 396ci big block option. When Chevelle got a new 116-inch wheelbase A-body in 1968, the El Camino also picked up the new design, as a variant of the four-door wagon. Options like power disc brakes and posi-traction made for well-rounded packages depending on whether you wanted more utility, more performance—or both. With a slight redesign in 1970 also came the LS6 454, with 450hp. In 1971 came GMCs version of the El Camino, dubbed “Sprint”. With the new A-bodies in 1973 the El Camino and Sprint picked up the new styling. Three- and four-speed manual transmissions were available, as were Turbo-350 and -400 automatics. The 454ci big block was dropped in 1976, and the 400ci small block was dropped in 1977, which was the last year for this generation of El Camino. The more conservative 1978 117-inch wheelbase A-bodies included the El Camino. From 1978 until the last year in 1987, the El Camino got modest changes and further weakening of power output, while adopting all federal safety and emissions mandates. V6 options ran side-by-side with V8s. Rectangular headlights were the most apparent change in 1982, along with minor interior upgrades. By 1985 production was less than a third of what it was in 1978, so production was moved to Mexico, and a new 4.3L V6 was the standard engine available. While production ceased with the 1987 model year, 420 El Caminos and 325 GMC Caballeros were sold in 1988 as 1988 models, but no El Caminos or Caballeros were actually produced that year.
1973 El Camino
The GM A-body was all new for 1973, termed “Colonnade” for the coupes and sedans. The El Camino, based on the station wagon inner structure, ran on a 116-inch wheelbase and came in at over 3800-pounds, making it the largest and heaviest since the 1959-60 El Caminos. The El Camino Estate aped trim and interior appointments from the Malibu Classic, while the base and SS El Caminos were cleaner with less trim. The base engine was still the 250ci Straight-6, with the 307-2bbl the base V8. The big block was still available, as was the Muncie four-speed. With the switch to unleaded gas mandated by the Feds hardened valve seats and different engine tuning made Chevy engines ready for the stricter emission standards.
AVAILABLE MODELS:
1973 El Camino
- Engine Options
- 250-1bbl cubic inch Straight-6, 100hp
- 307-2bbl cubic inch V8, 115hp
- 350-2bbl cubic inch V8, 145hp
- 350-4bbl cubic inch V8, 175hp
- 454-4bbl cubic inch V8, 245hp
1973 El Camino VIN Decoder:
First Character: Division
Second Character: Model Series
- C ~ El Camino
- D ~ El Camino V8
Third and Fourth Characters: Body Style
Fifth Character: Engine
- D ~ 250-1bbl Straight-6
- F ~ 307-2bbl V8
- H ~ 350-2bbl V8
- K ~ 350-4bbl V8
- Y ~ 454-4bbl V8
Sixth Character: Model Year
Seventh Character: Assembly Plant
- Y ~ Wilmington, Delaware
- Z ~ Fremont, California
- R ~ Arlington, Texas
- S ~ St. Louis, Missouri
- B ~ Baltimore, Maryland
- 1 ~ Oshawa, Canada
Eighth through Thirteenth Characters: Basic Production Numbers
Production sequence numbers.
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