I have always wondered. I have seen them listed as

Car
Truck
Small Truck
Muscle

ect..

Well, that depends. I can't call mine a muscle car, it's a 250 cu in 6 and numbers matching. Many refer to the Elky as a cruck. I call it it art.

If the Chevelle variant with equivalent engine is considered a muscle car, then so is the Camino variant.

My opinion, at least.. don't see why they wouldn't be.

8) Unfortunately, no. :( The ElCamino is even rejected among it's own kind, the Chevelle. A lot of Chevelle enthusiasts turn their noses up at the ElCamino. At some shows they do not want us next to the Chevelles and we often are sent to the truck section which also rejects us. The truck guys say we are still a car and it is unfair competition, so we end up stuck off in some remote area next to...well...should I say it?..... the Rancheros! :barf:
8) The term Muscle Car has been so overused and bastardized that it is no longer clear just what the term represents! :?

It's a truck

The genre of musclecar is very overused as said above. You just need an older vehicle with more than average HP. A 75 Z 28 camaro is not a musclecar but a 69 302 is...so if you have an older vehicle with a higher than avg hp rating then I say yes. My 68 is a built 327 w 375+hp and all I call it is a :) Daily Driver :) lol

I guess it all comes down to what you have under the hood.......as long as it's not a DOHC

Tecnically it's a truck afterall it does have a bed, but it would be real hard to say a 70 SS with a 454 LS5 or LS6 wasn't a true factory muscle car, along with other 3rd Gen versions. The "factory muscle car" era ended in the early 70's (IMO it ended in 1970) but a 4th Gen with a denutted 454 could still $#!+ and get. There definately were no factory produced 5th Gen muscle cars...you gotta make your own.

I have to pay an extra $30 a year for truck plates so it s a muscle truck....


Rob

Unfortunately, no. :( The ElCamino is even rejected among it's own kind, the Chevelle. A lot of Chevelle enthusiasts turn their noses up at the ElCamino. At some shows they do not want us next to the Chevelles El Caminos were produced before Chevelles/Malibus were, and the production of Elkys ran 6 years after the last rear wheel drive Malibus were produced. We Elky owners have a longer history then Chevelle/Malibu owners...they're just jealous, and with good reason, afterall the Elky does have better styling and is more versatile...lets see if a Chevelle owner can haul a 4'x 6' piece of plywood or turn his trunk into a rolling hot tub. However, if any 70 SS 454 Chevelle owners wanna trade me for my 5th Gen Elky, I'm open to negotiations...gots me a full size pickup for haulin stuff :)

This is what Wikipedia has to say on the subject
A muscle car is a high-performance automobile

An alternate definition is based on power-to-weight ratio, defining a muscle car as an automobile with (for example) fewer than 12 pounds per rated hp

Another related type of car is the car-based pickup. Examples of these are the Ford Ranchero, GMC Sprint, GMC Caballero, and one of the most famous examples, the Chevrolet El Camino.



With the right factory equipment(BB 396,402,454) an El Camino IS in fact a Musclecar by definition.

I guess it all comes down to what you have under the hood.......as long as it's not a DOHC

Sweet! I guess that means my Civic is a muscle car, since it only has a SOHC... :)

BTW, I've always called the Camino a truck, and had truck plates on it, but it IS built on a car frame, and shares a lot of parts with a car...

Either way I still think some 3rd gens are muscle cars...

8) Unfortunately, no. :( The ElCamino is even rejected among it's own kind, the Chevelle. A lot of Chevelle enthusiasts turn their noses up at the ElCamino. At some shows they do not want us next to the Chevelles and we often are sent to the truck section which also rejects us. The truck guys say we are still a car and it is unfair competition, so we end up stuck off in some remote area next to...well...should I say it?..... the Rancheros! :barf:
8) The term Muscle Car has been so overused and bastardized that it is no longer clear just what the term represents! :?

Some people that run the shows, just don't get it.
A sedan delivery will end up with the cars--and many of those need to be registered as trucks.

59-60 are body style of the Biscayne----1100 and 1200 series tell you that
64+ are Chevelles period! 13000 series

Me personally---don't care, If car show people want to park me by a Honda or a Ford----so what---I will still have a good time at the show.

My 59 ends up in the pre 66 truck class all the time---well, it does have 1959 truck plates.

Bryan

It's kinda like a penguin. High in omega three's but taste's like chicken :roll:

it does have 1959 truck plates.

I know this is getting off the original topic but a number of owners have indicated their Elky's are plated with commercial truck plates, mine has regular passenger car plates.

According to the VIN Plate the 80 is;

The format for 1972 to 1980 VIN's is as follows:

1 – General Motors Division Code

W – This is the Model Series Code for Malibu Classic and El Camino

80 – Body Style, 2-Dr. Pickup Delivery

H – Engine Code (V-8, 305cid)

The 72 is

1 = Chevrolet

D = El Camino Custom

80 = 2dr sedan pickup

U = 402cu 240hp

2 = 1972

So, it's a 2 door Sedan Pickup

Some will get it and some will not, it has always been a little bit of an argument. The diffinention as given in one post is close to correct, a Muscle car is a hi peformance factory built special order or such car or truck. In some 15 years of shows I have had my 69 SS has only been put in truck class 3 times. "Always" Chevelle, El Camino or Muscle Car never truck with the excepetion of when I choose to put it in truck class due to to many Chevelles, than that has even been an argument as the truck guys call it a car so ???

Than there is this fact the only El Camino's that are qualified as a muscle car are 1966 to 1972 optioned with a Big Block or SS option and the correct HP rating. The 64,65 had no BB and after 72 the HP did not qualify. This information comes from ACES, Super Chevy, Muscle Car club and many individual shows that use clases or park by car type or model. OH yes it is all up for argument and how one wishes to look at it.
I rate my El Camino as a Car with Large Trunk or a Car/Truck or just "Carol & Jay's SWEET RIDE"

I was looking for a muscle car when my Elky crossed my sights.

I bought it because it had everything that a 70 454 Chevelle muscle car had except for the huge price tag.

Therefore, I hereby edict "Elkys are muscle cars". :lol:

Most elkys are midsized, RWD, have a v8 and has had a performance model or features for most of it's history, and most are based off of the chevelle/malibu. if it's not a musclecar it's pretty darned close. I like the "muscle truck" idea myself :cool:

It's registered as a truck in Canada, and it has a bed...So technically...

When I mention my 69' El Camino to almost any grown man, their eyes light up, they swear at me and tell me where to go and how to get there!

If that isn't muscle car status...I don't know what is.

3rd gen and earlier with a nice performing engine = muscle truck!


Mike.
69' El Camino.

3rd gen and earlier with a nice performing engine = muscle truck!
69' El Camino.

:mad: ANY gen El Camino with a performance engine= muscle truck

I think most places it is registered and titled as a truck. Me personally, don't really care, mine still turns heads, causes double takes, and sounds as mean as it is- even in it's "in the midst fixin up status" more than enough personal gratification for me
As soon as I finish the paint job I already have the perfect sticker for the tailgate, just like the new dodge pickups, except mine will read "Yeah, it's NOT a HEMI" :P

I like to just think of mine as muscle.....period. :D

Here's MY OPINION:
1. My elky does not have enough ground clearance to be a truck.

2. 70 SS 454 BIG BLOCK. That doesn't sound like a muscle car to you?

3. If a car isn't Fuel Injected, and it has more than 350 horsepower...It 's a muscle car.

4.They still insure it as a pickup. :?

It's muscle car that will haul on the road, or haul your stuff. As my Father once said: "It's not really a car...It's not really a truck...it's...well...it's just an El Camino. :P And the sneaky people who designed it tried to get your insurance rates down! :lol:

In summary: We deserve our own place in the car show :usa:

Oh yeah, and I don't know many trucks that can outrun my buddy's Mustang :laughing3:

Huh, old thread, oh well...

My registration says 1/2 PU. That's funny to me just because I doubt 1/2 a ton would do too well back there.

The El CAmino's were based on mid or full sized, dare I say it, station wagons. That's why you have a smugglers box under the plate in the bed on the gen 4's. That area was actually the footwell for the second row of seats.

So technically it's based on a car, not a truck but because it has an open bed it's called a truck. I wonder what the Subaru Brat's were classified as??

As far as I'm concerned any Elky with cahoneys is a muscle car/truck no matter what the car show weenies think.

:D

I don't think anyone has mentioned this but I think it's pretty important in the whole "truck" argument. Even though some are plated with truck plates, which mine is not, and has a bed, structurally the rest of it is a car. My biggest point is the fact that it's a a unibody, how many trucks do you see with unibodies? Usually the bed and cab are split, in which the El Camino's is not. Also, trucks commonly have leaf springs, yet mine seems to be lacking these. So just because it has a bed doesn't necessarily define it as a truck. As they said in 'Dogma' "Breasts don't make a woman"!
As for muscle, I find they can be quite beefy, why not be a muscle car?

Ford produced an F100 pickup truck in the early '60's. The bed was part of the cab. Very rair to see one today. Chevy used, first torsion bars in front and coils in back and then coils all the way around through the '60's in all their trucks up to a ton.
Most muscle car book will have at lest one year of the El Camino listed somewhere. So they are recognized just to a much lesser degree.
Plus no one is here because they like to be the same as everyone else.
Mike

Plus no one is here because they like to be the same as everyone else.
Mike

Well said friend.

[quote="UnclesCamino"]I have to pay an extra $30 a year for truck plates so it s a muscle truck...."

That's the coolest thing I've ever heard "muscle truck". Can I use that?

...and I'd like to add there's nothing wrong with aftermarket fuel injection. It's amazing how many street rods and muscle cars are at least running TBI.

Well I think you can classify the older El Camino (1959-1972) were the ones you could call muscle car and the other El Camino (1973-1987) I do not think are considered muscle cars. Just really great old cars. They did not have powerful engines and they have a lot of parts that can be upgraded the the value of the car does not go down. So yeah with all of that the older model El Camino (1959-1972) were the really only muscle trucks.

No, it is not a muscle car. But, when properly modified, it can eat one for breakfast and the car won't even know how it happened. Gulp.

Be thankful it's not. Otherwise you couldn't buy a nice one for around $10K.

Take care.

Hi! This is the topic that led me to join the forum!

I know the El Camino was marketed as a truck. Old brochures group it with the Suburban and other trucks. Also, GMC made its own version, so to me this cements its status as a truck.

But will certainly hold its own with any of the muscle cars.

abyss

My though with the Elky is that its a truck that can embarres all those muscle cars.

I've always been a fan of it being a 'cruck', how bout a muscle cruck?

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I think we have an official answer on the topic question: Is an "El Camino a Truck or a Muscle Car?"

Check out Page 76 [and following] in the July 2008 edition of the authoritative and much respected Chevy High Performance magazine. It never once refers to the George Suviate's 71 Elky as a "truck" or a "cruck". (BTW George, if you're watching.....Nice Ride!!! and Congrats on a great writeup)

Quoting George, it even uses the words "muscle" and car" next to each other in the same sentence and on the same page as the phrase "hot rod".

So, there you have it folks. Debate ended forever........ :lol: :beer:

This is the longest tread on a personal idea yet. This will never be decided. The only way to settel this is for each person to take his or her stand.
Even a vote will not change me so why do it, let all of us make our own idea what it is.

Its simple in the muscle era only certan vehicles were considered muscle and what was the most deciding factors for m,ost cars and CHEVY lets see Big BLock and SS but not always both IE: COPO. With the ELKY if you don't have a factory BB or and SS I say your an El Camino which is Just another cool neat car/truck or Cowboy Cadallic .
The other option is the next time you pull up next to a none SS Elky that is jumping off the group at a stand still and has enough muscle to dig a hole up to the frame you tell him his Elky is not a muscle car, cause I am leaving the sean with a right turn...

IT"S ALL GOOD right

"MUSCLE"

The El Camino will always be a car to me. It doesn't have the ground clearance a truck has and it doesn't have a truck frame. None of them ever came 4x4 whereas most major truck makes come with the option. The only thing that makes it like a truck is the bed. I would not feel very safe at all carrying a half ton of anything back there, even with the well built 350 I have.

The El Camino is a "pickup," not a "truck." It's a cool looking station wagon minus a roof.

Perhaps the Elk should have been classified as a "Coupe Delivery". I agree with Mike (mnunn) it's over, muscle car forever. Yeah baby...

It's a Chevelle with the back seat and trunk turned into a truck bed. Except for the 4th. generation, which is a station wagon with the full back turned into a truck bed.

However, GM titled them as trucks.

Mine will do a standing burn-out, so it's a muscle car/truck/car/truck.............uh?

Who cares, drive them like you stole them and have fun.

Elky77

I vote muscle car, because of the extreme ease at souping up the hp levels with a simple engine swap.

I would like to challenge everyone's opinions with some thoughts.

Ground clearance: customizers drop fullsize trucks all the time, that doesn't make them any less of a pickup. Typhoons and syclones were pretty low too. Police cars sit pretty high, doesn't make them trucks. Jeeps sit real high, most definitely isn't a truck, but it is an offroad vehicle. Hence, ground clearance = off road >=< truck = hauling.

Trucks are anything that requires a CDL to operate. Therefore, an F350 is not a truck. Its a pickup, a passenger vehicle in the pickup form, instead of an SUV, sedan, coupe, convertible....

Many full size trucks used coil sprung suspensions, even today. Springs work the same way whether straight or curved into a coil.

Pickups are not built any differently than a traditional body-on-frame RWD car of the past. It's just that some are built with thicker gauge metal, sometimes. Many parts come from the same bin. If stripped frames were sitting in a junkyard, most people would have no clue as to what frame was a station wagon or a pickup without looking at reference charts. El Camino's are not unibody any more than a chevelle or a suburban. Honda's and BMW's are unibody. No frame, just sheet metal.

1000 lbs in a fifth gen is no problem so long as you have the air shocks jacked up (i distributed newspapers when younger, DITY moves later in the Army). Braking and acceleration are adequate, and so is handling as long as you can see over the nose and/or keep the front suspension alignment in a position to work at the intended pitch attitude. Just don't put any weight on the tailgate.

I dislike the fact that elkys dont get the respect they deserve. I have seen many big block and small block elkies that would put the whooping on MANY vehicles. It does not matter to me if they are considered a muscle car or not, the bottom line is that they are awesome vehicles with a ton of character!!!!!

It does not matter what class they put us in we will always dominate!!!!

I have to pay an extra $30 a year for truck plates so it s a muscle truck....


Rob

Muscle Truck... I like that term, that's what I'm going to go with :D

elky77
I may have miss understud you but. The 3rd Gen is built on a station wagon frame also and the 1st and 2nd I don't think they are 1st is an impala 2nd is a chevelle 4th you say is a station wagon 5th is not.
Muscle all the way for some of the elky's from 66 to 72 and cool for all.