![]() When I found this really cool 1st Gen El Camino “Show Car” in storage in the Desert Plains of Texas, I was excited! Stored for over 30 years, it was remarkably well preserved by the dry climate and limited exposure to the elements.Īfter bringing it back to the shop, we checked the fluids, hooked up a battery and an auxiliary fuel cell (the fuel tank had been removed and there appears to be a good, usable fuel tank included) and started it up for the first time in over 30 years! After adding brake fluid to the reservoir, the brake pedal showed signs of life and this El Camino moved under its own power for the first time in 3 Decades! And while this El Camino will run, it will need to be completely serviced and inspected as you would expect after more than 30 years of non-use before attempting to drive it for the first time to ensure safety and reliability ( due to our filming schedule, we cannot perform any additional work on the El Camino or build it for you). ![]() This means you can hit the Buy It Now button and own this sweet ride or take your chances and submit you best offer! Yes, indeed.1959 Chevrolet El Camino Show Car fresh out of 30+ Years storage offered by Gas Monkey Garage with a Buy It Now price or best offer. However, here at Hot Rods & Custom Stuff, we’re honored to have been selected to bring this obscure automotive icon back to its former glory. Just how the Concept ‘Camino managed to slip away to sanctuary in Wisconsin is unknown to this day. This was how the new models were debuted, and although prototype concept cars were exhibited as well, very few survived beyond those tours. It was a travelin’ show, kickin’ off in New York City, then proceedin’ to Miami, then Los Angeles, then San Francisco, and wrappin’ up in Boston. Motorama was General Motors’ annual promotional extravaganza. That said we have reason to believe that David French’s ’59 El Camino is not the ’59 El Camino that saw production, but rather the ’59 El Camino its designers had in mind-a prototype if you will-perhaps the celebrated Concept ‘Camino, which likely graced the turntable at the General Motors Motorama in late-1958. So, we’re lackin’ the conclusive documentation necessary to corroborate the rest o’ the story-and y’all are goin’ to have to just take our word for certain things. Now I’m tryin’ to remember how it went for sure, but I seem to sort o’ recall that the billion-dollar build sheet crumbled and vaporized into thin air when it was disturbed in the upholstery department. Okay, y’all grab your hankies ‘cause this next part’s kind o’ sad. That build sheet may have listed options which were absolutely unheard of at the time of the El Camino’s manufacture, like a fuel-injected 327 (rather than a 283 or 235), 4-wheel-power-disc-brakes, micro-computer-controlled pushbutton emergency brake, automatic/overdrive transmission and so on. Upon further investigation, a weathered assembly line build sheet was thought to have been discovered-still wedged ‘tween the springs ‘n’ stuffin’s of the El Camino’s ‘lectric headrest-equipped seat cushion. When a 3M Clean & Strip Disc-equipped die grinder revealed (roughly) the characters: H590000000, suspicions were raised. The rust-encrusted VIN number was like none we’d ever seen. French’s planned, subtle modifications could begin-and from that point, there’s been no turnin’ back.ĭuring the disassembly of this seemingly-ordinary, production El Camino, the keen eyes o’ the crew picked up a clue or two, which indicated that this particular El Camino may not be so ordinary after all. Serious reconstructive surgery would be required before any of Mr. Once the El Camino was stripped of its multiple layers o’ deceptive sin, you could say we were in deep. The ugly truth was first uncovered by HR&CS media blaster, Zach. Here in fact, an excellent cover-up job had been done. In certain instances well-hidden issues can escape even the well-trained buyer’s eye. Those who’re familiar with the earliest of El Caminos already know they’re vulnerable to rust, especially so in their floor pans and bed floors-and ‘the one’ that made the cut was no exception. ![]() After a thorough scouring of the greater United States area, the search concluded in Wisconsin-not in a dilapidated barn at an old abandoned dairy, not on the front line at Honest Guido’s abused car lot, but maybe, just maybe, buried at the bottom of a stack o’ soon-to-be-crushed salvage at Junkyard Johnny’s-as this version of the story goes. For the final five of the aforementioned fifteen or more, the search was serious. Hot Rods & Custom Stuff customer, David French had been desirous of a ’59 El Camino for fifteen or more years.
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