El Camino: A Car Worth the Cash

I've been complaining all week about overpriced Chevys, so it's time to focus on the positive. Sweet cars are still available priced at less than half a new Toyota. This 1965 El Camino for sale in Northern Virginia is case and point. At $6,900, it's a bit beyond cheap thrill territory, but by the looks of it, this clean machine is worth every penny -- probably more. Appliance white with a red interior can't be beat in an old Chevy. The body on this one looks perfect -- at least camera perfect. We love the plain Jane dog dish hubcap look, especially since the El Camino has a hopped up 327 under the hood, not a six.
From what we can see, the interior looks as clean as the exterior. Under the hood, the Camino looks "well sorted" as they say in the English magazines. Yet no one, not even Brits, talks this way about El Caminos, which is why the price is as low as it is (if you could find a Chevelle this nice, it would probably cost you double, which is a lot of cash for a back seat).

El Caminos may be less desirable than Chevelles, but they are just as fun (more fun if you need to take a run to the lumber yard). My friend Rick Butterworth, a restoration specialist turned drag racing historian in Roanoke, Virginia, let me borrow his '69 several years back when the tail lights failed on my Volvo. It had been many years since I sat in a vintage Chevy maneuvering a Hurst 4-speed. The quick drive to the parts store did much to spark my memory about how much I love American muscle. For under $7,000, this one is going to make a local gearhead very happy. I predict it will be gone in a week.