Curbside Classic CA Vacation Edition: Triple '67 El Caminos and Reclusive '56 Nomad

Paul Niedermeyer
by Paul Niedermeyer

I have a growing cache of Eugene El Caminos, and was going to break them out soon enough. But taking a stroll around San Mateo, I ran into three ’67s within a few blocks of each other, so let’s caminar down that long and fertile el camino of Chevy’s popular ute pickup, with this particularly popular year. And what’s that lurking in the garage? Let’s take a closer look:

Yes, this Chevy lover has a ’39 in progress, and a pristine ’56 Nomad in there, along with a cool pink slammed pedal-car. I tried to coax the Nomad out into the sun, but the wife’s Vanagon was getting serviced, so no such luck. The ’55 Nomad is my favorite of the three, and one of my all-time lust objects for American cars of that vintage.

We’ll save our Nomad ammo for a better day, and get back to the business pickups at hand. I’ve got a nice ’59 waiting for the beginning of the El Camino story, and a slew of later ones. But these ’67s are the last of the gen2 series that started with the very clean ’64s and ended up with the almost equally clean ’67s. Things got distinctly more “interesting” with the highly-styled ’68s and on, and we’ll see them soon too. But I suspect I’m not the only one who thinks that this generation may be the most palatable one of the whole family. As usually, that’s a highly subjective matter, and El Camino lovers are welcome to debate that point.

One thing is overwhelmingly clear: El Caminos are incredibly popular. I’m constantly amazed at how many there are on the streets, both here and in Oregon. The grossly outnumber the more pedestrian varieties of Malibus, and rival old Mustangs, Mercedes SLs, and old Caddys as the most popular “collector” cars that I see curbside. The number of last-gen El Caminos amazes me most of all; even in my neighborhood in Eugene, where old Chevies are not that common, there are several of those ’77 through ’87 s around. I have a “hybrid” version of one of those to share with you soon. Obviously, all the benefits of Chevy interchangeability and parts availability make these very easy to keep running and modify to whatever degree one’s heart desires. And nothing like being able to haul engines and other junk yard parts in one’s hobby car to make the job easier!

Paul Niedermeyer
Paul Niedermeyer

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  • Galaxy Flyer Galaxy Flyer on Jan 03, 2010

    I have never figured out why El Caminos were not more popular. Visit Australia and what they call "utes" are everywhere. The are used by tradesmen as utility trucks (very efficient), by kids as cheap cars and by the richer as sports cars. Wonderful vehicles they are. I wish Ford would import them, I'd get one the very next day

    • See 1 previous
    • Accs Accs on Jan 09, 2010

      But if this were GM... Theyd just tell you, oh the U.S isnt interested in such frippery. Yet they turn around and a sell us GMT800/900 shit.. and lots loaded with Lambas and Vues.

  • Lilpoindexter Lilpoindexter on Jan 03, 2010

    Judging from all TEH COOL junk in the driveway and garage of the first picture...I'm going to guess the guy isn't married?

  • Rochester "better than Vinfast" is a pretty low bar.
  • TheMrFreeze That new Ferrari looks nice but other than that, nothing.And VW having to put an air-cooled Beetle in its display to try and make the ID.Buzz look cool makes this classic VW owner sad 😢
  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
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