9. Chevrolet El Camino SS 454
When Ford introduced the Ranchero in 1957, Chevrolet didn’t have anything. Since Chevy and Ford are two of the car industry’s biggest rivals, Chevy introduced the El Camino two years later, in 1959. Similar to the Ranchero, the El Camino was a half car/half truck they built on an Impala chassis. It shared most of the design, interior components and engines with this car.
Although it was better looking than the Ranchero, the El Camino didn’t have the same market success. Chevy eventually downsized it to a mid-size platform. At the end of the 60’s, during the muscle car madness, the El Camino got the proper firepower and a special trim level – the SS. They first introduced the El Camino SS in 1967 and had a 396 V8 engine with 325 HP. That was plenty of power for a mid-size compact truck that delivered serious performance.
However, the first rule of the muscle car culture is bigger is always better. So, for 1970, the El Camino SS got its ultimate version with a brutal 454 V8 engine. The mighty 454 V8 LS6 was a 7.4-liter Chevrolet big block engine with a 450 HP official rating. The engine delivered around 500 HP in real life. It was a fire-breathing beast and one of the best engines of the muscle car era. The El Camino SS, it provided significant performance figures close to the best muscle cars of the day.
The biggest problem was the lightweight rear end. It meant that hard launches off the line were accompanied by much wheel spin and smoke. The El Camino SS 454 was one of the first vehicles people recognized as a collector model. They have become quite sought after and desirable. Today, finding a true El Camino SS 454 is hard and expensive.