The "Other" El Camino....That actually came first!

The Chevy El Camino has a bit of a "cult" following and often the Ford Ranchero has taken a backseat in the eyes of performance buffs. A lot of people don't know it-Ford introduced the Ranchero in 1957 based on the Fairlane chassis. The El Camino was introduced in 1959 and returned for 1960 on the Impala chassis, then took a few years off, before being re-introduced in 1964 on the "A" body Chevelle platform. In the early and mid-'60's Rancheros were based on the compact Falcon platform. There kind of rare, but if you can find one their cute, and light, and with a 289 ( or a 302 / 351W swapped in ) they can really run. You can't really haul anything in the smallish bed, and a 1960-65 Falcon suspension doesn't have much load capacity but they'd be a fun driver / hot rod. The 1967-76 Fairlane / Torino based versions are the most desirable from a performance / utility standpoint. The bed is big enough and the suspension beefy enough where you could actually haul something up to about 1,000 lbs. Engine choices range from the 289 / 302, 351W, and 390 V8s up until 1969. 1970-76 models offer 302s, 351Cs, 351 / 400Ms, and a few with 429 / 460s. The 351C versions will be the most plentiful and probably give the most "bang for the buck". 1977-79 models are the largest and most luxurious, based on the LTD II platform. Most of these will have 351 / 400M power. They were considered "dogs" because they had 2bbl carburation, single exhausts, and salt-flats gearing like 2.56:1. Give them a 4bbl carb and intake, some dual exhausts and some 3.25:1 or 3.50:1 gears and they would really "wake up". A few '77-78 models may have 460s, but their rare. The 460 wasn't available in 1979 for some reason-I don't know why-Federal and California emission laws didn't change from 78-79. Although the El Camino soldiered on until 1987, the Ranchero was dropped after 1979. Anyhow, if your a Ford guy, or just want a nice ride that you don't see every day and can haul a few things, but don't really want a truck, a Ranchero may be the way to go. Mastermind