Back in the El Camino's day, the public never knew exactly what to make of it. Much like today's crossovers, the El Camino combined the traits of a passenger car and a utility vehicle, offering owners a bit of both without some of the weaknesses of either. These days, enthusiasts know exactly what to make of these classic car-trucks: awesome projects that can be everything from sports car to mud bogger.
It's an axiom among hot-rodders that every project hinges on two of three things: time, money and skill. Ideally, you should have all three -- but if you're short of one, you'd better have plenty of the other two. If you want to build a car quick, you need money and skill. If you have time and money, you don't need much skill. And if you're completely broke, then you'd better have plenty of time and enough skill to do everything yourself. A successful project starts with assessing how much time, money and skill you have, planning accordingly, and buying the project car that fits your needs. While shopping, remember that modifications are almost always a zero-sum investment; so, if you're looking to build a modified or custom car, you're best off starting with one that's already undergone the major mods you had in mind, so you don't end up absorbing the cost of doing it yourself. Don't buy a rusted basket-case with the intent of making it pretty, unless you have loads of money.
If you're buying a car for restoration, you're best off starting with a rolling chassis -- plus drivetrain -- that's in as good a shape and as complete as possible. No matter how much you put into it, an all-original 1972 El Camino in perfect, concours condition won't be worth more than $30,000 to $33,000 in 2014 dollars. And it's unlikely that they'll go up much any time soon. So, if you're restoring an El Camino, then do it because you love the car and always dreamed of owning a 1972 El Camino. It's just not a good candidate for a sales flip. For that reason, you should focus on making it cosmetically original instead of paying extra for N.O.S. parts, panels, trim and drivetrain components. El Caminos from this vintage generally rust in the standard locations at the bottoms of the fenders, doors and quarter panels; A-bodies specifically have problems with rust around the window frames, and El Caminos from this generation may rot out in the front of the bed. All of these panels are available as replacements from the aftermarket, and 350 crate engines are falling out of trucks.
Before anything else, know this: Pro Street is dead. The only time massive rear tires bolted to narrowed 9-inch rears, sitting inside huge wheel tubs, won't make you look like you're permanently stuck in 1992 is when they're hanging off the back of a truck. A truck can make a legitimate case for 15-inch-wide Indy rear tires, which means that an El Camino could hypothetically get away with it too. So, if you're asking the fashion police, a Pro Street El Camino is last season's acid-wash jeans, but it's acceptable if the face is pretty enough. If you're dead-set on building a machine for straight-line speed, you'll need a healthy aftermarket four-link and the aforementioned gauche rear tires. If you want to make this look work, you'll have to play it Bogart with the rest of the styling, including the color. A subtle factory metallic, especially silver, looks good on this body, and factory SS body add-ons will make the car look appropriately aggressive. To update "that 90s look," you'll want to stick with very modern colors, a squat and purposeful stance with larger diameter wheels, and doing everything else you can to make the car look like it was engineered and built by the factory in the 2014 model year.
There are about as many ways of building an El Camino as there are cars on the road, and being a Chevy, the sky's the limit on parts selection. With enough work, this chassis can be made to stop and handle corners, provided that you first replace all of the control arms with tubular units, install polyurethane bushings and be very judicious about your engine selection. The El Camino is already light in the rear, and using a heavy, iron big-block up front is going to hopelessly unbalance the chassis. If you're building a handler, your biggest investment should be in an all-aluminum small-block set as far back in the engine bay as possible. Add to that a fiberglass front clip, and you've got a pretty good chance of making that half-truck produce some lateral G numbers. While you're replacing the front clip, you might consider looking at other A-Bodies for design inspiration. A 1968 Pontiac GTO nose would look very cool on a Euro-styled El Camino; the GTO's hide-away headlights will make the car look much wider and lower when viewed from the front, which will help to balance the El Camino's slightly odd proportions.
