In the next section, learn how - and when - Chevrolet countered its rival's "surprise." But Ford had another surprise in store for the competition in 1957. The Cameo no doubt inspired Dodge, International, and Ford to offer flush-side cargo boxes on some of their 1957 pickups. (The drawing was, however, the first in a chain of luxury pickup explorations that led up to Jordan's design for the Cameo Carrier.) Jordan also recalls there was a later sketch done of a passenger-car pickup based on the 1955 Chevrolet design. It was Earl, Jordan says, who suggested, "taking the Chevrolet passenger-car sedan and making a deluxe pickup out of it."īut Jordan says that his 1952 drawing had no direct connection to the original El Camino he had already been named chief designer in the Cadillac studio by the time the 1959 Chevrolet styling program got under way. Jordan recalls that the design sketch resulted from a discussion with GM's legendary design chief, Harley Earl. One of Jordan's early renderings for GM showed a 1952 Chevrolet passenger car with an integrated pickup box. "Chuck" Jordan, and he was destined to retire from GM in 1992 as its fourth vice president of design. The Cameo Carrier's genesis can be found in design exercises executed in the early 1950s by a talented and enthusiastic young stylist in the GM truck design group. Two-tone paint, smooth V-8 power, an automatic transmission, a relatively luxurious interior, power assists, and more were among its attractions. Although a truck in every sense, the Cameo offered an unprecedented array of car-like features. (GM's export organization offered a Chevrolet utility as late as 1952, and GM's Australian Holden model line continues to feature a distinctly El Camino-like "ute.")Ĭhevrolet's truly stylish Cameo Carrier pickup, introduced in mid 1955, also helped pave the way for the El Camino. These Aussie "utes" typically combined the styling of a five-window coupe body with an integrated pickup box. GM, Ford, and other automakers manufactured and marketed "utility" coupe-pickup models in Australia as early as the mid 1930s. If anyone is interested in finding about their project, the truth about it's origns let me know.Ĭheers to the grand-daddy of all El Caminos.There are antecedents to the Ranchero and El Camino, however. I do not however want someone to scope up my hard work for their profit. I am doing this for the betterment of the hobby and I am not selling any of it. I am interested in sharing this data with any 59 owner and I welcome any reciprication. The other factory codes are still a little merky but I am collecting information on a weekly basis. Los Angeles had their own set of accessory codes. This is still a work in progress for most of the factories because not all factories shared teh same codes. The accessory codes are my next area of discovery. While it is harder to determine which V8 the truck came with, there are some hidden ways that suggest if it was a big block or a small block. I have also established that only about 60% were built with a V8. If you have a truck from and of the other plants, I would appreciate any information you are willing to add to my research. Most of the trucks were made in Los Angeles and Saint Louis. I have only collected a little over 1% of the total production around 300 vehicles. Where were they built? How many came from which factories? What options were offered and how rare are things like a padded dash, AC, or even a 348? In 4 years I have collected a lot of data and I am starting to get a grip on the facts. In addition to how many have survived, I have also asked myself a few more questions. ![]() The 59 and 60 models have also been the ugly step child for some time and thus not saved over the years. On the possitive side, these trucks were primarily sold in California, Arizona, and Texas. ![]() I also know that many were discarded because the floor were produced so thin that they rusted out. ![]() I know that these were used as trucks and thus many were not cared for. I had been showing my ride expecting that eventually I would see others with these models. A few years back I started wondering the same question. I have owned 59 El Camino, and even a 60 at one time over the years. I know this post is a few months old but, this is a question that I have been researching for over 4 years.
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