This Chevrolet El Camino has surely seen better days. Now, it sits in an auction yard, with the cabin severely deformed, looking like it was hit by a thunderbolt, and nothing can stop it from ending up in the crusher. Or is it really worth fixing and sending back to the road?
The roof of the fifth-generation model is covered with a tarp. It looks like it was T-boned on the driver's side. It has obviously suffered structural damage, and whoever bids for this will have to consider getting a new chassis. However, is it still worth fixing?
The force of the impact pushed the driver's door into the driver's seat, which moved toward that of the front passenger and over the center tunnel. It also severely bent the floor, while the dashboard jumped right out of its place. The door panel looks so deformed and terribly close to the light controller. The crash pushed the hood to the right side of the car and bent it.
On the used car market, the average price for a well-restored El Camino is around $30,700, as reported by classic.com. The most expensive example ever sold was a 1977 El Camino SS, which was auctioned off on January 27, 2023. The winning bid was an eye-watering $275,000. The one we are looking at is not worth a tenth of that right now.
The Chevrolet El Camino pickup sports the Conquista trim, which was the mid-trim for the model back in the 1980s, sitting between the base model and the top-of-the-line Super Sport.
The Conquista, which is Spanish for "conquest," brought two-tone paint, extra exterior chromework, and corresponding badging, as well as a classic bench seat on board. However, right now we could only call it "Perdida," which is "Loss" in the same language.
Photo: Auto Auction Rebuilds | YouTube
Surprisingly, the model is listed as a "run and drive," despite the contorted form it is in right now. "These old Chevies, you can fold them in half, and they still run," says Randy Shear of Auto Auction Rebuilds. He is the one who found the badly twisted vehicle sitting in an Insurance Auto Auction yard.
Randy pops the hood (in fact, it doesn't even close anymore!) to see that the components in there are mostly stock except for the aftermarket Edelbrook air cleaner. What powers the Chevy must be a 5.0-liter V8, rated at 150 horsepower and 239 pound-feet of torque.
But the bad news is that the firewall is cracked right down in the middle. However, this would still make a good parts car, with the engine being the most expensive of them.
This Chevy El Camino must have been fully restored at some point and was surely someone's apple of the eye before it was involved in the accident that sent it straight to the auction yard with a salvage title.
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