Hi Guys this is up for sale local to me and was wondering how the VIN decoded?

Ebay Elc (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/CHEV-1974-EL-CAMINO-454-SS_W0QQitemZ190233696294QQihZ009QQcategoryZ2030QQs sPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

VIN#ID80Y47414.

also was 454 factory option in 74?

Cheers
Oz c

ID80Y47414

Yes the 454 was available in 1974

1D80 - El Camino
Y - 454 LS4 235hp
4 - 1974
7 ?? not used, must be Z for assembly code for Fremont CA
414??? - serial number

Cheers z71

sorry still learning a lot about the El Camino.
I had a feeling that for the 4th gen they had phased out the 454.
Can you tell me what year was a 454 factory fitted was no longer available?

Was dropped for the 1976 model year, so 75 was the last year available but it could not be register in California. It could only be had with a TH transmission.

Back in 74,75, 76 etc we were going thru the same thing with gas prices and big engine sales fell off. Jimmy Carter was Pres, he and his Dem's passed a windfall profits tax on oil companies and there were gas shortages and long lines in some parts of the USA.

Hey OZ, you are not thinking about another El Camino in your stable are you? :lol:

This one might be one that was getting advertised in late 2006 that I enquired about although I don't remember it having the SS stripes. The one back then was the El Camino which featured in the movie Charlotte's Web.

Mate if she even found out I was posting a question on another car she would cut a certain part of my anatomy off.
my 71 is up on eBay again, along with my little 4x4 and the commodore sold last night so only 2 cars to go..

Cheers Z71
I am alway looking a the Elc stuff on ebay and this ss one caught my eye as different ( apart from being one of those gen 4 things.. :-P ) and BB
Does that mean that a genuine 454bb year 74 or 75 are quite rare due to the phasing out of the bb in this period?

I am really trying to build my El Camino knowledge, but this looked like a good buy genuine big block ss 2 or 3 years earlier model it would be more like 25 30K?? in Aust & recently I seen a really clean tuff looking black Gen 4 on eBay state side which raised my interest.

Was dropped for the 1976 model year, so 75 was the last year available but it could not be register in California. It could only be had with a TH transmission.

Back in 74,75, 76 etc we were going thru the same thing with gas prices and big engine sales fell off. Jimmy Carter was Pres, he and his Dem's passed a windfall profits tax on oil companies and there were gas shortages and long lines in some parts of the USA.

I think you're thinking of 1973. Ford was president then and the shortages were created by oil companies refusing to refine the oil that was sitting in tankers in port. The only thing that caused a shortage back then was oil companies' greed, kinda like now...

And personally, I'd like to see the windfall profits tax on oil companies now considering they've had record profits for the past 8 years yet have refused to increase refining capacity nor explore their exisiting drilling sites any further. I'm sick of hearing how hard the oil companies have it when they post record profilts and refuse to reinvest in their infrastructure. Profits are what you have after taking care of business operations, that's basic business 101. You can't have it both ways and they have for far too long.

You know why you don't have much choice in alternative fuels? Because oil companies haven't figured out a way to screw you for it. Don't expect 1.50 a gal. anything if oil companies have anything to do with it.

8-)