I have just acquired a 1979 GMC Diablo from the owners family. The Diablo was owned by an 83 year old woman who bought it new when she was 59 or 60. The vehicle is in good shape but, some maintanance has been neglected and it has been in storage for 2 years.

My Questions :

How rare or desireable is the GMC Diablo compared to the Royal / Black Knight Chevrolet?

How many were produced and what years of production cover Diablo's?

I have never actually seen another Diablo but I have seen other Knight packages. Have you seen one and if so, do you know of any parts car source for the small trim items that are now obsolete?


Your input will be greatly appreciated,

THx,

Diablo :evil: Doug

They're not all that rare. I don't know what the exact number that were produce someone here I'm sure will help you with that...ElkyPete maybe. A friend of mine also just acquired one a couple of months ago for $4000. It has 51K miles and is in GREAT shape. What trim parts are you needing? There are plenty of sources here for parts. New and used.

They're not all that rare.

I'd like to see some numbers too, but GM probably didn't keep track of that sort of thing :? I have never seen one in person. Only once in a great while I come across one on the 'Net. My opinion, they probably are quite rare, but theres more than likly no numbers to find out for sure :(

Dan Smith has the number of all the years production and can tell you how many of each were built each year. I know that the total build for the year was 58,008 one of the largest production years ever. Dan can break that down and tell you how many of each model they built. We have quite a few GMC's in this area but I am sure that in some parts of the country they are very rare.

Thanks for the plug, Mike. General Motors did not keep (or did not publish) records on how many Diablos/Black-Royal Knights were produced.

If we were to accept that a model is "rare" when no more than 5% of the total model year production was that model, then if we found out that 348 1979 GMC Caballero Diablos were produced, then I'd call it rare. But I don't believe we know the numbers.

How desirable are Diablos when compared with Royal Knights? This is a personal taste question. Me, personally, I'd prefer a Royal Knight over a Diablo, but I'd prefer a Diablo over a regular El Camino. I've found that GMC models do, generally, sell for less than El Caminos.

I, personally, don't see many GMC Caballero Diablos. Maybe two in this area in the last three years. Also, have only seen two original Royal Knights in this area. Haven't seen a '78 Black Knight in the Chattanooga-No. Georgia-No. Alabama area.

I'd be interested to know if you have the build sheet or window sticker from your Diablo? Does it show RPO Z16 or RPO Z15, or both?

See my 5th Generation Super Sport article for some more information:
(Note-- you have to open the bullit under "where do GMC Diablo's fit in...")
http://www.elcaminocentral.com/article-34--0-0.html

1980 GMC Caballero Diablo:
http://www.rivercitycorvetteclub.com/images/80_GMC_Diablo.jpg

Hey Doug, I too have a Diablo and have found that information on them is hard to find. As for actual obsevation, so far I've only met one other person that had/has one so i tend to think they're pretty rare. while the VIN numbers suggest the production numbers where high for "81, i don't know here they're hiding. talking with the previous owner of my ride, all his parts he found stateside so I wouldn't recomend looking in Canada. If you find a great place, I'd love to hear about it. Did your Diablo come with a full Decal set? Mine doesn't have the hood design and that may be the orignal owners choice but still... :?

let's not forget the really cool dash logo! I wouldn't mind have a spare of one of those.

In Monty montgomery's book production #'s for 1979 as follows:
1979 El Camino = 58,008 GMC/Caballero =6.952. This = 10% were GMC's. I believe the pricing is similar leaning towards GMC as Prod. #'s were lower.

Here is one place for some info on Elkys its Chevells.com. Dan Car put up some information a millennia ago @ http://www.chevelles.com/elcamino/index.html also Ernie (87ElCamino) has his site with lots of information @ http://www.geocities.com/MalibuNirvana/

Life is good! 8) You own an El Camino!

We have a real clean blue 79 diablo running around here in Halifax its the only one that ive seen around or know of.

I don't think it makes them worth any more than a regular Elky.

My $.02

:mrgreen:

Oh great Ernie..go ahead burst the bubble! :(

OK so it is obvious that no one thinks Diablos are rare..... but nobody can find more than 1 anywhere! I guess that by definition maybe if something is really scarce and is of sufficient noteability that folks are looking for them ..... then maybe they are rare? Stickers or not, it will be hard to find a mating pair if you want them to reproduce.

Diablos, for the record were SS type based ( gauges and the the trim )... so a $ 75 sticker package is going a bit light on OEM cost. Say SS + Stickers and trim and many had the optional 350 ( not the vernable 305 ) so all things being equal... I'll take an SS, Knight or Diablo before a garden variety unit, wouldn't you?

Poll Question : If I reproduce the sticker package, how many takes would there be? I know I could use the first one.


Thanks for listening while I rave on...

Diablo :evil: Doug

GMCDiablo,
See this thread about the availability of Diablo graphics:
http://www.elcaminocentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=467&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=diablo

I HAVE A 79 ROYAL KNIGHT AND IT IS AN SS AND IT HAS A 350 AND ONLY 31 ORIGANAL MILES HAHA SISSY GIRLS

I HAVE A 79 ROYAL KNIGHT AND IT IS AN SS AND IT HAS A 350 AND ONLY 31 ORIGANAL MILES HAHA SISSY GIRLS

Huh? 8O ***? Who cares?

I HAVE A 79 ROYAL KNIGHT AND IT IS AN SS AND IT HAS A 350 AND ONLY 31 ORIGANAL MILES HAHA SISSY GIRLS

I think you could laugh more if you got a life.

I just bought my 1st. I was looking for a elky but ran across my 82 CABALLERO DIABLO. It is a farly low mile car. Whin i got it the speedo cable
was broken. miles were 65,555. So i figure i'll add 5,000-10,000 more to be safe. The car is white w/ dark red on the bottom. int is dark red-oxblood?
full guages(all work)spit bench p/w p/l cruse, bla bla! I love it! It rides so nice. It will be better when i put on the f-41 sway, and braces, shocks and stuff. Tonite i put on the new wiper motor.Oh yea i'v had the Diablo for 2 mo. And i have not seen another.I live in Tulsa, Ok

Since were on the subject of GMC's, Diablo's, Caballero's and the like. I bought my Sprint almost 4 years ago and I haven't seen another Sprint since then. I'm a truck driver and travel quite a lot and I keep my eye peeled for any elcamino. Whether it be a Elco, Sprint, Royal Knight, Diablo.

How rare is a GMC Sprint? From what I've remember reading between 3800 and 5000 were built in 71.

Brian

Right on with just a "trim" option. BUT it was a cool trim option. 8) Mine came without the gauges as well. Yep I got the super duper cool dash plaque, fully agree I'd love to have a spare, just like I'd like to have a spare square hood ornament.

I'd agree, rare. Desirable? In the eyes of the beholder, I wouldn't trade mine for 4000 one dollars bills. :P

RARE=DESIREABLE=VALUABLE Nah.

I know there is a junk yard in Weatherford, Tx called Texas Auto Salvage that has a 79 Diablo sitting out there. Its pretty strait but has no tailgate

got the same problem ..live in new york but got mine in south carolina..mine is an 80 diablo which makes things worse..only 4700 gmc's made that year and some items like the grill were only made that year..i feel i got a pretty rare car but few seem to care except camino people...they dont know what they are missing...love mine

I just bought a 1982 caballero here in Oklahoma city last month and havent seen another one here in the city. I am the second owner this truck is nice, dark blue top and silver sides. Blue velour interior, tack still works as everything else. Its my daily driver so I can keep the miles off my corvette. 1982 caballero's only 2,600 produced that year. I love it

6609 in 78 i got number 1709. I would say rare.

If you look at GMCs overall, they seem to have nicer interiors and paint options than the Chevy. I had a 1972 Sprint that wood grain dash, Pontiacs radial tuned suspension with flexible rubber wheels. Much nicer than an Elky. :smile2:

1982 Caballero #605, has everything except electric windows. Got it in Indiana, and its almost unbelievable no RUST. It belonged to an elderly lady who hauled some brush in the bed one time.
It sure is nice just to be a plain JANE.:neutral2:

Just a few months ago a 79 Diablo in very good shape with pro plate and other paper work was for sale and sold, as two weeks after we viewed, the car was back at the show with new owner. Elky sold for $7,700.00 and need no work to be a weekend fun car that was mechanicaly solid said the new owner. Gave him the site info and talked about NECOA he to had never heard of the club or site? I now of two other Diablo's in the Tampa area and both have been owner customized, no badges and engine mods with paint work, and now are lowriders or lower cars.

Where the hell are ya'll finding these Diablos? I've never even seen one, or a Caballero for that matter, in person. They've been for sale on Craigslist, but I've never seen one around town.

Personally, I think the Diablo looks badass so congrats to all you that have one.