Used 1978 Chevrolet El Camino

1978 Chevrolet El Camino Chevrolet's fifth generation El Camino arrived for 1978, aligned with GM's wholesale downsizing and a shift onto the lighter, more space efficient G‑body platform shared with Malibu variants. The recipe remained classic El Camino: passenger car drivability with a pickup bed, now wearing cleaner aerodynamics, tighter dimensions, and far better fuel economy than its predecessor. Motogallery.com  For consignment, a 1978 Chevrolet El Camino showing 79,998 miles, but the true miles are unknown due to exemption. More than 54,000 El Caminos were produced in 1978 with most of them being the base model with a variety of engine options. Due to modifications of the emissions control devices installed by the manufacturer, please check your local, state, and federal laws to determine if this vehicle is applicable for use on public highways in your area.     Exterior The Burnt Orange Metallic paint is a very nice choice here and the lines of the car are accentuated by a body kit that includes cladding along the rocker panel and a cowled hood and clean, monochromatic coverage. Up front, the familiar Malibu grille and headlight configuration along with straight chrome bumper is enhanced by a front spoiler. Out back, a clean tailgate and smooth fender edges rely on the chrome bumper to house the characteristic tail lights, all behind a clean bed, painted to match, with a fitted rubber mat. The B-pillars form flying buttresses that flank the tinted rear window trimmed in stainless. 15-inch Chevrolet Rally wheels are the perfect set of shoes, here with white lettered tires in a slightly staggered width. Imperfections include cracking paint in the bumper fillers, various touched up scratches and chips, and a few that haven't been touched up.  Interior Camel door panels in typical G-body configuration line the long doors with vinyl, plastic, and gold carpet covering different layers. There's some patina here in the form of deglazing of the plastic chrome trim and few chips on the plastic. For seats, we have black vinyl buckets with head restraints and both are in good shape ahead of a speaker panel on the black, back wall. A sport steering wheel now fronts the stock dashboard with horizontal layout of the speedometer and two side boxes for the gas gauge and analog clock. In the simple center, we have the A/C panel over a modern AM/FM/CD radio followed by an added tri-pack gauge cluster mounted to the bottom of the dash. On the transmission tunnel, there is a B&M shifter over clean black carpet protected by black mats in the footwells, all under the tan and slightly wavy headliner and visors above. Drivetrain The bay presents cleanly and houses a consignor stated 383ci stroker V8 with a Holley 4-barrel over an Edelbrock intake. It's mated to a 700R4 4-speed automatic transmission that routes power to the 10 bolt rear axle. Headers are onboard under the finned valve covers. Our consignor states that the water pump is on its way out and a new one is included with the sale.  Undercarriage Super clean underneath with no rust and no errant fluids. The dual exhaust runs through Thrush mufflers and exit through contoured gaps in the body cladding behind the rear wheels. We note the lack of catalytic converters. Power brakes are on board as front disc and rear drum and suspension includes coil springs front and rear with a 4 link in back.  Drive-Ability The epic analog clock is sadly not working, but all other functional items on this ride do, including the powerful V8 which carries us around the test loop in impressing fashion while the ride tracks straight and handling is typical G-body with maybe a bit less weight in back. We're satisfied with our short test and take this back to the mall to find a spot in the truck room, or a car room? No, we'll put it in the truck room! While Classic Auto Mall represents that these functions were working at the time of our test drive, we cannot guarant