Minneapolis Street Sighting: Chevrolet El Camino "SS"

Throughout my ongoing tenure of shooting and blogging about cars and trucks, there are those vehicles which I probably shouldn't admit to liking, but I like anyway; of those on my (extensively long), one of them seems like an almost common fixture in the midwest--the Chevrolet El Camino. First introduced in 1959, the El Camino would go on to skip a few model years, then return for the 1964 model year. Oddly enough, the Ford competition didn't skip a year at all between 1957 and 1979. However, the El Camino was in production from 1964 to 1988, so it was in production longer than its competition. While I don't like all generations of the Ranchero, I do like every iteration of Chevrolet's trucklet.

Perhaps my favorite was the last-of-the-breed. Based on the 1978 Malibu sedan, this last-generation trucklet ran basically unchanged for the last ten years of its life.  Available with a choice of V6 and V8 power, there was one for everyone--and if you got tired of the factory powerplant, any number of GM powertrains bolted in without too much hassle.  I wonder why these aren't as common in the pro-touring hobby as their car counterparts? I like them, and I think these look great when done the right way. However,this example could use a few nips and tucks here and there. I'll explain below.

First things first, this isn't an SS model to begin with; aside from that gripe, this thing is generally pretty clean. I'm not a fan of the relocation of the license plate, nor am I fan of that damn grille, but as a whole, this truck is clean. The paint is relatively nice, although it does have orange peel on the doors and fenders. I'd get it resprayed in black, and get a nicer (and probably stock-fit) grille, and possibly a small cowl hood.

The wheels could be better, too, but they're not too bad. I would've chosen some Budniks or something; these look.. blah. I am thankful that the rear tires are decently sized, and not dragster width like many other Elcos are here. I'd also add traction bars below the rear suspension, and add anti-sway bars as well.

The owner said this was powered by a 350. Nice, but a tad lame; I'd go bigger--and forced induction. I think this thing would be awesome with a turbo big block smaller than 400 cubes. Turbo 383 maybe? I'd want it to haul ass (who wouldn't?) but I'd want it sound a little better than a generic V8 though.

There; now that I've stated all the things I'd change, I just gave readers an idea of my perfect El Camino. Anyone wanna help me build it?