All this week General Motors has been highlighting some of the most important vehicles from its past as part of its “Cruisin’ the USA in Your Chevrolet” online-only enthusiast event, which it launched with the intention of entertaining car fans amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among the vehicles that the automaker drew attention to this week for the online celebration of all things Chevy is the Chevrolet El Camino – particularly the 1959 Chevrolet El Camino Custom. Many GM fans will already know that 1959 was the very first model year for the somewhat weird car/pickup hybrid that was the El Camino. At the time, GM marketed the El Camino as “more than a car – more than a truck” as it blended the general styling of the 1959 Chevrolet passenger cars with a practical 34 cubic-inch pickup truck bed section and a respectable 1,150 pound cargo capacity. The ’59 El Camino’s bed section also had a double-wall design for added durability with built-in steel skid strips.
For 1959, the El Camino was offered in thirteen solid and ten two-tone color combinations. The cheapest V8 283 cubic inch TurboFire V8, which was available with either two- or four-barrel carburetion. GM also offered a 348 cubic inch V8 with either two-barrel or four-barrel carbs and a 282 cubic inch fuel injected Ramjet V8. Base models had a 235 cubic inch inline-six. Three- and four-speed manual transmissions were also on offer in 1959. Prices started at $2,352 when new – equivalent to around $20,941 USD today, by our calculations. GM managed to sell just over 306,000 examples of the El Camino in its first full year of sales.
The subject vehicle for Chevrolet’s recent video on the 1959 El Camino is the two-tone Aspen Green/white example that currently sits in the GM Heritage Center in Michigan. This car, which left the factory with the 282 cubic inch V8 and available automatic transmission, also has a matching two-tone green interior to go with the unique exterior hue.
Hear what else GM has to say about the first-generation Chevrolet El Camino in the video embedded below.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more Chevrolet El Camino news, Chevrolet news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comments
BEAUTIFUL
What 282? There was only a 283.
The video is wrong, too–it lists a 238.
You’re correct, the 59 small block was a 283, not a 282, and the 348 was only available with a 4bbl or 3×2’s, not a single 2bbl.
The Chevrolet engine line up in 59 included the base 6 cyl, the 283 V8 in a 2bbl, 4bbl, and 2 fuel injected versions, and the 348 V8 in 2 single 4bbl and 2 3×2 versions. There was also a 3 speed manual, a manual 3 speed overdrive, a 4 speed manual, and 2 automatics, a 2 speed Powerglide, and a 3 speed Turboglide. To the best of my knowledge, all of these engines and trans were available in the El Camino.
There was only one El Camino model in 59, the El Camino, there was no El Camino “Custom”. Finally, Chevrolet never sold anywhere near 306,000 59 El Camino’s. 59 El Camino production was a little over 22,000 units.
I love El Caminos and have owned several, including a 71 that I’ve had since new. The 59’s were far from the most attractive, but they’re still one of my favorites.
Also a 34 cubic inch pickup bed is really small!
While I really like the ‘59 Chevrolet ‘ute’ or utility as we Australians called them, it is important to mention that 1959 was not the first year for this unique design. Chevrolet, through General Motors – Holdens produced passenger car fronted. sedan based utilities back the 1930s
In fact the 1949, 1950, 1951 and 1952 versions used fully imported American front sheet metal which GM-H then matched up with Australian designed utility rear sheet metal. The end design was a passenger car / truck (utility). GM in Australian went on to build hundreds of different car based utilities and came very close to offering a G8 Pontiac Utility.
So, a good 20 years before this 1959 version was released, this body style was regularly seen on Australian roads down under. Loved the video nevertheless.
Also, let’s not forget that on U.S. soil, Ford beat Chevy to the punch with the Ranchero.
it’s missing a 409 and m22 rock crusher trans….
also locker rear end ….
with the sleeper look…
IMHO…
The 409 didn’t come out till 1961. The 348 was top dog from 58 to 60.
This is a GM backed site? You almost could not make more mistakes in an article of this size. Pathetic. You like to think that certain qualifications would ensure believable facts. I guess not. Offer me a job editing and I, without having a day of editing training, will promise you this type of drivel will never be posted again.
Could you please specify those “pathetic mistakes” to make your complaint understandable? At least one?
As to your question about this site being “a GM backed site” or not, I have read repeated assurances that GMauthority is completely independent of any company.
But let the editors speak for themselves, if they care. I am also just a reader of this site.
What a crazy or even non-sensical vehicle!
On loading and unloading one would risk everytime to scratch the glossy paint of the sculpted body.
Besides — being parked with such on open trunk, everybody can take out whats in there or throw in any trash in it.
Bettter have a real truck, or a real passenger car, but not such a crazy mixture.