Features EL Camino and Ranchero picture thread

1959

Hello,

A matching blue 1957 Ford Ranchero was the sight from my advantage point near the starting line at the 1959 Riverside Raceway All Star Drag Race event. We had seen Don Hampton/Eldon Dye with the Bronze Competition Coupe at Lion’s Dragstrip, but this Blue paint with the White stripe version was new and totally exciting.

1959 Riverside Raceway fire up Dye/Hampton 1959-60

Jnaki

Then a couple of months later in March of 1960, we traveled to the Bakersfield Smokers March Meet #2 for that historic drag race event. Again, we saw Eldon Dye-Don Hampton’s Competition Coupe in the staging area. What a day, performances and a historic event!




Note: Don Hampton is the same from the current Don Hampton Superchargers in So Cal.
https://www.hamptonblowers.com/superchargers

 

Maybe with a Toronado/Eldorado front wheel drive transaxle and a well designed trans adaptor it could work.....

 

At the Southeast Gasser race yesterday

 

Hello,

Having owned a 65 El Camino in the fall of 1964, I have always enjoyed the cool car that is/was useful for all purposes. It was primarily going to be used for the long haul to northern California and back to So Cal during college vacations/holidays. I got used to driving up and down all of the major highways from 99 to I-5 to 101 and even a slow trip up the coast along Highway 1 to give myself a vacation prior to the hard semester of college coming up ahead towards summer.

The El Camino got great gas mileage and handled well on all twisty roads and straight aways.

The usefulness of the El Camino was from loading trees and plants for my mom’s garden, to motorcycles for our desert racing program road trips and even plopping in and securing a surfboard for our trips to the coastal regions of So Cal.

It was a road warrior with usefullness well beyond a normal cruising sedan. Comparing the El Camino loaded with two Greeves Desert Racing Bikes was so much better than towing a small trailer behind the 58 Impala on a hundred mile road trip and back.

Jnaki

So, after all of the uses of those road trips, when it came time to do the up the coast road trips with my girlfriend, then wife, our suit cases got thrown in the back bed. My camera equipment got the special treatment in the small behind the seat location for comfort and security. And we were happy cruisers on our many coastal northerly road trips during our 20s-30s.

But, every time we stopped for lunch or dinner, we had to move our suitcases inside the cab and take any valuables out of the open bed to secure inside the locked doors. And, after finishing what we left to do, then the reverse procedure happened time and time again.

The one thing not used was this special place I found in the close area behind the cab, in the bed. One day, I noticed a bunch of screws in a nice pattern across the ribs. Normally, the tool box, motorcycles and what not got shoved on top and it was a forgotten space. But, now, opened, it was a huge drop down area great for some storage. But, what storage?

It was not a waterproof sealed storage area and only because the chassis is similar to a station wagon, the drop down area was used for the rear footwell locations. But, in the El Camino, the screwed in place panel was a cover of sorts. It was not advertised as an extra storage area, for fear of factory water leaks and wrong usages in construction, etc. It was just sitting there.

So, inquiring minds would like to know if any HAMB hot rod folks have converted the empty space in the bed for storage and have a lockable, waterproof compartment for normal usage.

Note:

There were a couple of projects, but not in a 65 El Camino. The differences might be negligible as the bed in a 64 to 67 were pretty much similar in measurements. But to keep the HAMB 65 or older parameters going… any takers?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=uKeV5bfbA5M

a different version...

Some go one step more but, is it sealed and lockable?


So, with an empty open area in place, what say you hot rod builders?


How did you make a finished special box area?

 

I did away with the "smugglers box" on my Elco in favor of a custom wood floor. Here's a pic of it before I finished it.

 

NICE

 

Shameless repeat.
I had my ElCamino for quite some time in the early 70's before I discovered that hidden footwell, probably because I was more concerned about the things young car guys concern themselves with, you know, engines, four speeds, mag wheels, etc.
My 65 came with a tonneau cover (we called them Tonto covers) and when my mom needed more groceries than would fit between us on the bench seat we would put them in back out of the weather, I put a sheet of plywood under the tonneau cover because the rain always turned it into a small pond of water (I did say I'm in Oregon), was handy as I had hinged the rear 1/3 and generally only needed to undo two pair of snaps for groceies.
Later I bought the aluminum canopy for fishing/camping, etc and I think that is when I discovered that hidden compartment, though I never did use it.

 

Hello,

Having owned a new 1965 El Camino since the fall of 1964 and getting the last vestiges of our old cars sold to fund the new, away from home college years, it has had plenty of road miles. Mostly in So Cal, but plenty of road trips to Northern California for car shows, photo shoots and just good old vacation times along the coastline roadway.

It also had gone into the high elevation mountain range near Reno and Lake Tahoe in the Northern region. Then down Highway 395 all the way South to So Cal. But, several times when the business/vacation took us North, we went on the usual high speed open highway 395 past the Mammoth Mountain Region on one side and the desert on the other.

By the time we sold the El Camino we were married and living in small house in the coastal region. It had 125k miles and was for us, the best running, most reliable car that we had ever owned. It must have been made in the GM factory in Fremont, CA on a Wednesday… ha! Just a few miles north of my college apartment.

Those road trips were mostly in So Cal, but there were surf trips to Baja, Mexico for those empty, pristine waves. A great car for couple of coastal beach lifestyle folks that could hold a ton of stuff in the back, but was usually empty, other than a series of surfboards from 10 foot long ones to a short 6’ 10 inch custom single fin.

When my wife was with me, the suitcases were relegated to being strapped down in the back. Whereas, the camera/lens protective case was tucked behind the seat safely from the elements and prying eyes. For us, it was a perfect two person car and way to get close on our long distance travels.

Where we put on over 125k miles of road trips and neighborhood drives in my college 65 El Camino, we have only seen one 65 El Camino on the road in recent pandemic times.

Even before that dreaded 2020 month, the El Camino was a rare bird as far as sightings on the roads or sitting somewhere on business. I did not count the time I saw our old red El Camino, painted Blue, going down Coast Highway towards Dana Point.

But, we have seen several Ford Rancheros driving around the coastal area, parked in residential areas and one in front of an auto parts store.

This one had nice chrome reversed wheels and had the stock look. Although it did have a good stance and those rims obviously were not stock. There definitely is a difference between chrome wheels and chromed reversed wheels.

Jnaki

If we were to keep score and not count the smaller Ranchero style pickups, here is what the score was at the time of the photo array.

So, El Camino: zero Ranchero: 3
My jaw dropped when I saw this Orange 1965 El Camino with a 4 speed lever coming out of the floor.
4 speed transmissions were in the dealer's showroom floor and in the parts department, but it was not a factory stock order item for the El Camino in 1964-65 years. In 1966, a close friend special ordered a 4 speed, 396 motor for his new El Camino ride. The factory relented and made them (larger motor + 4 speed) available to the general public. What was odd, in 1965, the 4 speed + 396 motor was available in the Malibu Chevelle sedan, only and not for any El Camino model. Boooo!

Once I got over that new transmission addition, then the wheels made the El Camino looking rather exciting.

The S&S wheels were within reach of our own purchase back then, but I wanted to save money for longer surf vacations and road trips to Baja, Mexico. The S&S wheels made this orange El Camino look cool and racy.

But, as I was wandering around taking some photos, I noticed a different addition:
A keen eyeball spotted something unusual: A 350 c.i. 1965 El Camino? Wow!

So: El Camino: 1 Ranchero: 3 YRMV