1968 El Camino

The El Camino was completely redesigned in 1968 and the press loved it. Apparently the public did also because sales jumped nearly. Muscle car lovers well not that this is the first year of the Super Sport. "As comfy and as powerful as a comparable Chevelle it'll take half-ton loads easily and has enough style and class to be parked in front of the Beverly Hilton without embarrassment." Hot Rod June 1968 "Chevrolet tossed a change of pace pitch this month in the form of their El Camino pickup close relative to the Chevelle. The SS 396 machine was used for everything from work to play from towing a dragster to races to brief excursions in the country. The SS Camino batted a thousand as it fielded every liner we could toss it including a brief drag session." Furthermore "One of the dividing lines between Supercars and just plain cars is a quarter-mile elapsed time of 15 seconds or less. The El Camino was a Supercar or even a Supertruck if such exists. Quarter-mile times were in the high 14s run after run. No drama no trick starts no between-run trips to the garden hose for emergency cooling just instant performance. Mind the El Camino wasn't equipped for the drags. The tests were with exhaust emission controls street tires and pressures and the standard 3.31:1 final drive gearing. The Turbo Hydra-Matic shifted quickly and firmly every time. Very impressive. Highway performance is just as good. Mentioning no names but there are high-performance engines on the market that are only suitable for racing being lumpy and intractable at less than full throttle. They come with transmissions which are either in or out. The result is road performance in a series of lurches and clanks. The 396/Turbo combination though is powerful and smooth all the way from traffic trickle to pure stock eliminator." Car Life July 1968