A car and a truck

Car-based pick-ups were nothing new; the Model T pick-up was a car with a truck bed on the back and Australia had a wide range of ‘ute’ models, but making trucks luxurious was an innovation. Chevrolet launched their El Camino (Spanish for ‘The Road’ or ‘The Journey’) in 1959 in response to Ford’s Ranchero; both were pick-ups based on full-size, two-door station wagon models. While Ford downsized the Ranchero on to the 1960 Falcon, Chevrolet dropped the El

Camino for 1961. It returned in 1964 on the Chevelle/Malibu platform and gained many of the same performance options as the cars. Martin’s is one of 35,119 sold in 1966 and would have cost around $2500.

The El Camino wasn’t officially badged as an SS396 until 1968, but it effectively was one. The models followed the muscle car trends with large engine and performance options until 1988 when the model was discontinued.