DAILY DRIVER AND NEXT MONTH
Gary Petersen looked long and hard for the right vehicle before he found this very tidy example of a Chevrolet El Camino pickup in Palmerston — the southerly version — just north of Dunedin. A 1985 model, it’s powered by a 350-cubicinch (5.7-litre) small block Chevrolet V8, over bored 60 thou, returning 380bhp (283kw) on the dynamometer, running through a shift-kitted 700R4 automatic transmission, and it came with its factory canopy.
Affectionately known as the ‘The Mad Modeller’ (see Gary’s story in this issue of New Zealand Classic Car), the Chevrolet has a huge rear well-deck providing a secure, lockable, and alarmed covered area for carrying his displays. He has also fitted the personalized plate from his recently sold Holden Commodore V8 station wagon. The Holden didn’t have quite enough room for his and wife Tracey’s luggage as well as the model displays when heading for car shows.
The straight white panels on this car are set off nicely by 17x8-inch American Racing alloys. Gary spent hours on them, bringing them back to their shining glory. The car will shortly receive a burgundy mid-section panel to match the interior upholstery colour.
“It looks like an earlier owner drove it in Texas — so nice and dry there. The previous owner at Palmerston spent a lot of money on the transmission and I’ve just had Dion King at the Old Iron Garage at Dipton rebuild the cylinder heads after we found a few issues,” says Gary.
A drive in the El Camino shows that Gary has bought a good one. The ex–mike Gearing V8 has plenty of shove, accompanied by a great exhaust note. Ride quality is typically American smooth and the big comfortable cabin has plenty of head- and legroom.
“It’s not too bad on gas either and it’s never working hard with so much low down power. It’s in such good shape I’m not inclined to be too hard on it,” he says.
With just a little bodywork requiring attention, and some work in the engine bay to upgrade the factory air-conditioning / heating system, Gary definitely has a keeper.
Discontinued in1987, General Motors could also be re-introducing a coupe utility Camino in 2020.