Post Your "Should Have Been" el camino & Ranchero style trucks

[espo]

On 8/29/2021 at 4:10 PM, majel said:

This is my version of an El Camino NASCAR truck series "what if".  I thought it was a great idea,  unfortunately my execution of the build didn't live up to my hopes!  But I still think it's a cool idea and something NASCAR should have considered. 

I think it looks great. This wouldn't have worked for NASCAR since they would only have El Caminos and Rancheros racing but I think this looks as if it could have been. 

[KWT]

This is an awesome thread. Lot of talent and great "phantoms".

[ybsluos]

On 9/1/2021 at 12:00 PM, espo said:

I think it looks great. This wouldn't have worked for NASCAR since they would only have El Caminos and Rancheros racing but I think this looks as if it could have been. 

Indeed Jim, I’m with David.  It looks fantastic!- Mark

[#1 model citizen]

Finally finished the “CaraRam”

Should’ve been!

[fairlane1320]

[fairlane1320]

[espo]

8 hours ago, #1 model citizen said:

Finally finished the “CaraRam”

Should’ve been!

Beautiful looking conversion. The paint and the smooth body lines all look like they could be an OEM type truck. In my opinion looking at this from a production standpoint you have to wonder why Dodge didn't do something just like this.

[espo]

31 minutes ago, fairlane1320 said:

I would like to see your build on this. Judging from the above picture that looks like a 1:1 pair, this should look great. 

[#1 model citizen]

On 4/1/2022 at 9:01 AM, espo said:

Beautiful looking conversion. The paint and the smooth body lines all look like they could be an OEM type truck. In my opinion looking at this from a production standpoint you have to wonder why Dodge didn't do something just like this.

Thank you! OEM was my goal. I do think Dodge would have had a hit with a light duty, low easy to load tailgate pickup. I chose red as this seems to be a popular choice in Dodge advertising. Dodge did consider a FWD pickup…

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by #1 model citizen

[espo]

14 hours ago, #1 model citizen said:

Thank you! OEM was my goal. I do think Dodge would have had a hit with a light duty, low easy to load tailgate pickup. I chose red as this seems to be a popular choice in Dodge advertising. Dodge did consider a FWD pickup…

 

While this Dodge concept looks interesting, I find your design far better looking and as I mentioned it would cost far less for them to produce. They could use an existing chassis, this can save a big expense, and it would share much of its body parts with existing vehicles. 

[#1 model citizen]

11 hours ago, espo said:

While this Dodge concept looks interesting, I find your design far better looking and as I mentioned it would cost far less for them to produce. They could use an existing chassis, this can save a big expense, and it would share much of its body parts with existing vehicles. 

Thanks for the compliment! I have to agree it would seem a cost effective no brainer. 

[tim boyd]

Here's a phantom 1/1 scale car pickup with a model car connection, no less.   

This phantom 1959 Pontiac Bonneville car/pickup caught my eye, and my camera lens, at the 2022 Detroit Autorama a few weeks ago. 

According to the new issue of GoodGuys magazine, the builder/owner is Kenny Yanez.  Now Ken just so happens to be the longtime owner and president of Special Projects Inc, or as it is known in the Detroit OEM world, SPI.    In the auto industry, SPI is considered to be one of the very top builders of 1/1 scale concept vehicles and prototypes in the entire world.  Kenny's fabrication facilities in Plymouth Township, Michigan, are highly impressive to say the least.  This car is very subtle, but fully respective of that capability.  

The model car connection?  Kenny , as a kid, was not only a then-world class model car builder (he showed me his work dating from 1965 or so, and it was definitely fully competitive with anything in the pages of CarModel and Model Car Science at the time), but those models got a very young teenage Kenny a job working for the world famous Alexander Brothers in Detroit, and look what that led to.  I

just love stories like these.  I think the world would be amazed to learn just how many people in the automotive industry got their start, so to speak, from skills and knowledge they learned as model car builders earlier in their lives. 

TIM  

[ozmodeler]

On 4/4/2022 at 12:52 PM, tim boyd said:

Here's a phantom 1/1 scale car pickup with a model car connection, no less.   

This phantom 1959 Pontiac Bonneville car/pickup caught my eye, and my camera lens, at the 2022 Detroit Autorama a few weeks ago. 

According to the new issue of GoodGuys magazine, the builder/owner is Kenny Yanez.  Now Ken just so happens to be the longtime owner and president of Special Projects Inc, or as it is known in the Detroit OEM world, SPI.    In the auto industry, SPI is considered to be one of the very top builders of 1/1 scale concept vehicles and prototypes in the entire world.  Kenny's fabrication facilities in Plymouth Township, Michigan, are highly impressive to say the least.  This car is very subtle, but fully respective of that capability.  

The model car connection?  Kenny , as a kid, was not only a then-world class model car builder (he showed me his work dating from 1965 or so, and it was definitely fully competitive with anything in the pages of CarModel and Model Car Science at the time), but those models got a very young teenage Kenny a job working for the world famous Alexander Brothers in Detroit, and look what that led to.  I

just love stories like these.  I think the world would be amazed to learn just how many people in the automotive industry got their start, so to speak, from skills and knowledge they learned as model car builders earlier in their lives. 

TIM  

Wow, what an outstanding conversion. The OEM look of this Pontiac "camino" belies the amount of effort required to integrate the tub into the Pontiac body.

I would love to see what he did with the tailgate.

[Sam I Am]

On 4/3/2022 at 7:52 PM, tim boyd said:

Here's a phantom 1/1 scale car pickup with a model car connection, no less.   

This phantom 1959 Pontiac Bonneville car/pickup caught my eye, and my camera lens, at the 2022 Detroit Autorama a few weeks ago. 

According to the new issue of GoodGuys magazine, the builder/owner is Kenny Yanez.  Now Ken just so happens to be the longtime owner and president of Special Projects Inc, or as it is known in the Detroit OEM world, SPI.    In the auto industry, SPI is considered to be one of the very top builders of 1/1 scale concept vehicles and prototypes in the entire world.  Kenny's fabrication facilities in Plymouth Township, Michigan, are highly impressive to say the least.  This car is very subtle, but fully respective of that capability.  

The model car connection?  Kenny , as a kid, was not only a then-world class model car builder (he showed me his work dating from 1965 or so, and it was definitely fully competitive with anything in the pages of CarModel and Model Car Science at the time), but those models got a very young teenage Kenny a job working for the world famous Alexander Brothers in Detroit, and look what that led to.  I

just love stories like these.  I think the world would be amazed to learn just how many people in the automotive industry got their start, so to speak, from skills and knowledge they learned as model car builders earlier in their lives. 

TIM  

Beautiful car.

GM actually did a one off prototype based on the Catalina but never put it into production.  It was restored and auctioned off in 2018 at a Mecum auction. 

Edited April 5, 2022 by Sam I Am

[tim boyd]

10 hours ago, Sam I Am said:

Beautiful car.

GM actually did a one off prototype based on the Catalina but never put it into production.  It was restored and auctioned off in 2018 at a Mecum auction. 

Yes,,,,and when I first saw Kenny's car, I thought maybe it was somehow related to this one.  But since his is Bonneville based instead of Catalina based.....

Quick war story...very early in my Ford career i was a Zone Sales Manager (aka road rep) for Ford in the thumb of Michigan.  When not staying there overnight, I would commute back and forth to the District Office and my apartment in Lansing.   Between Lansing (olds) and Pontiac (Pontiac/Flint) headquarters, there were various prototypes on the roads I traveled.  One time I saw an then passed - very slowly - that 1978/79 Grand Am /El Camino prototype that Pontiac put together as a one-off, and has since been restored and seen in the Pontiac buff books et al.  I remember thinking at the time that it was very sharp and exceptionally well finished for a one-off prototype.  End of war story....  TB  

[thatz4u]

or build your own to scale....

[TooOld]

22 hours ago, thatz4u said:

or build your own to scale....

 

In 1968 a Pontiac dealer in Western New York did build one and presented it to the GM brass and tried to convince them to put it into production . GM said no way , but then introduced the GMC Sprint the very next year .  They should have built the Pontiac .

[espo]

1 hour ago, TooOld said:

In 1968 a Pontiac dealer in Western New York did build one and presented it to the GM brass and tried to convince them to put it into production . GM said no way , but then introduced the GMC Sprint the very next year .  They should have built the Pontiac .

I would wager that they would have sold more of these as a Pontiac product than as a GMC. Based on the timeline you mention I would think GM had already started the planning of offering this as a GMC Sprint. This may have also been based on the minimal  changes that had to be made to the El Camino to make it a GMC. I think the Pontiac would have been a more interesting product and would have sold better in the end. 

[Leica007]

Built this back in 2018 and named it "Nomad No More".

 

[Jantrix]

I started one. It was a 50 Olds Ute, but I ran out of steam on it and traded it to a fella in my club that was really into it. I'll been thinking about trying another. 

Question - would it be sacrilegious to do this to a Johan '63 Olds Starfire? Cuz that's where I'm leaning.

[thatz4u]

11 hours ago, Jantrix said:

I started one. It was a 50 Olds Ute, but I ran out of steam on it and traded it to a fella in my club that was really into it. I'll been thinking about trying another. 

Question - would it be sacrilegious to do this to a Johan '63 Olds Starfire? Cuz that's where I'm leaning.

No, it's your kit, build it your way......I did with this one.....Al

[Sam I Am]

Any new ones to add? I love seeing these for motivation to finish my own. 

[KWT]

On 4/9/2022 at 1:12 AM, Leica007 said:

Built this back in 2018 and named it "Nomad No More".

 

I dig this... I was toying with this idea with the nomad I just got

[Hoffman]

On 3/10/2021 at 12:04 PM, Plowboy said:

My '36 and '48 Fords.

Love these, Roger- Awesome!

[Farmboy]

Here's an EL 300...