Revamped along with the Chevelle from which it was derived, the '64 El Camino was essentially a 2-door Chevelle 300 2-door wagon with a pickup bed where the load area would be. It even came with the same 115" wheelbase and carried "Chevelle" badges on the front fenders to complement the "El Camino" ones on the rear quarters. I came with either the Hi-Thrift 194 cubic inch inline six as the base motor or the Turbo-Thrift 230cid inline six, producing 120 and 155 SAE gross horsepower, respectively.
Optionally available were two flavors of the 283 cube Turbo-Fire V-8, in either two-barrel 195 horsepower form, or with a four-barrel carb and dual exhausts for an output of 220 horsepower. The "V" badge on the fender and the left-side exhaust outlet visible at the rear would indicate that this one's got the hotter of the two small blocks.
Grumbles in the press of the time complained that the midsize Chevelle and its hybrid El Camino cousin lacked really powerful engine options so halfway through the model year Chevy added two flavors of the new 327 cubic inch small block: A 250hp two-barrel motor and a high-compression four-barrel with dual exhausts and a rating of 300 SAE gross horsepower.
This super-straight Ember Red example has the "V"-badges on the fender denoting a V-8 and dual exhausts, so it has one of the spicier powertrains. It was photographed with a Nikon D700 and a Nikkor 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-D "street sweeper" zoom lens in June of 2019.
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