1977 Chevy El Camino: One Rip-roaring Classic
Early El Caminos get all the attention, but a little work under the hood is all this hulking fourth-gen needed to get up to speed.
When most people think of Chevy’s iconic El Camino car/truck, they think of the big-block equipped classics. The second and third-gen beauties that perfectly meshed muscle car brute force with truck-like utility. Or the first-gen El Camino, which brought timeless style and car-like driveability to the homely pickup truck. Few, on the other hand, remember the fourth-gen El Camino. Built in a time when cars were getting bigger, heavier, and inherently less powerful, these models don’t have nearly as much going for them.
But that doesn’t mean 1973-1977 models aren’t special in their own right. After all, Chevy continued to build the sporty SS model during that time. El Caminos still sported V8 engines under the hood, though you needed to do some work to make them run. But in 1977, Chevy eliminated the range-topping 400, leaving an underwhelming four-barrel 350 as your best option. And with only 175 horsepower to move that big old car/truck body, you weren’t going anywhere fast.
Thankfully, this fine example of a 1977 El Camino, which we spotted at Leake Auctions, wasn’t left that way. The previous owner ditched that vastly underpowered small block and replaced it with a more modern tuned port injected 350. It might not be an LS, but the TPI is a massive upgrade with roughly 100 more hp right off the bat. In this case, it’s backed up by a strong 700R4 automatic transmission and 3.73 posi rear end for brisk acceleration.
Outside of a custom exhaust, it’s unclear if this classic El Camino sports any other performance mods. But the work that has been done to it is more than enough to make what was originally a dull ride a much more exciting proposition. And it’s proof that a little under hood magic is all you need to wake up a fourth-gen!
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