By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Today’s photo briefly appeared on EIJesselok’s new ride page for his ’79 Malibu wagon, but it doesn’t seem to be there anymore. The big rims look just seems to work on late-70′s, early-80′s Chevies when it’s done right, don’t you think? Keep those Photo of the Day tips coming!

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

I love Johnnie’s ultra-clean El Camino, which he’s loaded up with a ton of performance suspension goodies, including a full Stage II Street Comp kit from SCandC. Check out Johnnie’s ride page for more pics!

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

This mud bogging El Camino is completely BangShift.com approved! Sporting four-wheel drive, a 408ci small-block mounted in the bed, a nitrous bottle located next to the shifter, and 35-inch Boggers at each corner, it is rougher than a cobb, but would provide a level of horror-induced thrill nothing else could possibly match.

Some would shudder and call the truck a death trap, to those people we would point toward the roll cage and brilliantly colored yellow racing seats. They would then point out the nitrous bottle next to the shifter that is not vented with a tube through the floor. We would point to the snappy looking red belts that are threaded through the yellow seats, and so it would go on.

We’re thinking the mounting of the motor in the bed was an effort to move as much weight off the front of the truck to get it to plane over the top of the mud as opposed to slogging through it. Regulation mud bogs are 300 feet long and top level competitors can traverse the distance in three seconds and change. This truck has some serious snot if it makes the advertised power numbers, but even it pales in comparison to some of the blown rails we have seen at mid bog races.

So what do you think? Would you own and race this truck, or is it too creepy, dirty, crude, and rude for you? We’d drop the hammer. Here’s mud in your eye!

Source: RacingJunk.com — 850hp rear engined El Camino

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

On Wednesday night we headed to Van Nuys, California, for the new tradition of the revised cruise night on famous Van Nuys Blvd. It was the first one of the new year, and it was ice cold for So Cal, so the turnout was a little smaller than we’ve seen in the past. Also, the empty dealership lot where the hot rods park has been sold to a new owner. The good news is the owner is looking the other way and allowing the cruise to happen. The bad news is that they won’t turn on the lights, so it’s dark as the inside of a cow.

It was hard to get really great photos in the dark, but we did bring home a gallery of cool cars to see.

Click here for the BangShift.com photo gallery of the Van Nuys cruise on January 13, 2010.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Despite the fact that the Ranchero is in better condition and has a bigger motor, you guys still picked the El Camino by almost a 2-to-1 margin in this week’s eBay Motors Showdown. Looks like the Ford sold for $6k while the Chevy is still struggling to meet the reserve.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Welcome to the first eBay Motors Showdown of 2010! For this installment we have two Detroit classics from the late 70s, both with awesome two-tone paint schemes. The ’77 El Camino is probably a bit more rough than the ’78 Ranchero, but El Caminos tend to command more money, so I thought it was fair. Plus the old school slots are way cool. Anyway, check out the auctions and then let us know: which would you choose?

Having trouble leaving  a comment in the blog? Go here.

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

This is a confusing piece. isn’t it? Normally people turn stuff into El Caminos by adding a truck like bed. Few people actually modify the Elky to be more car like. The seller of this creation is one of the few. See the eBay auction here.

Talk about having two faces. Up front there’s the boxy, angular 1980s styling and out back there is the swoopy early 1990s Cadillac bumper, tail lights, and trunk lid. You can open the trunk, which extends all the way to the back of the cab with the press of a button.

We’re not knocking the car when we ask the simple question, why the hell would someone do this? It appears to be done very well, we’re just looking for clarification on the reasons for the mashup. Make a bid on it and we can guarantee that you’ll have the only one on your block!

Thanks to BangShift.com member Mr4Speed for the tip.

By John Naderi

StreetFire.net

See this El Camino. It’s a 1968 SS model. While not exactly a Round Door Rolls it is somewhat of a coveted treasure among aficionados of muscle. The SS belongs to Tim Divers of Divers Street Rods and friends tell him it would be worth more if left unmolested. However because the Camino holds a special place in Tim’s heart (it served as a “tour vehicle” for his band and a college car for his daughter) he says he’d rather hack it up into a rod thus reducing its collectable value and removing the temptation to sell it.

I like the way Tim’s mind works. And what a mind it is. Tim Divers is part Tim Burton and part Sid Phillips yet his creations are not scissor-handed mutant toys but rather kinetic sculptures comprised of jewel-like fabrication and an attention to detail that would rival anything on the lawn at Pebble Beach. Hit the jump to see a StreetFire original production/Will Roegge Joint on Tim and his most infamous project – Ferrambo.

Continue reading "Video: Tim Divers and his Fresh Take on Hot Rods" »

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

We were tipped off to the auction of this killer 1970 Chevy El Camino on eBay. It’s totally awesome from the vinyl top all the way down to the TKO 6000 trans. There’s a 710hp, 540ci big-block Chevy in the mix as well.

The interesting part is that the car is located in Sweden. It spent most of its life in Colorado, and was shipped over in 2005. The current owner obviously spared no expense in the build of the car because all the parts and pieces seem to be top notch.

We’re not sure what the availability of E85 is over in Sweden, but this custom motor from Scott Shafiroff is designed and tuned to run on the stuff. That may be a make-it-or-break-it situation with potential buyers.

Starting bid is set at $25k so break out the spare chage jar and start counting.

Click here to see the eBay listing. Thanks for the tip Kris!

By Jim Brennan

UDMan

Welcome back to the CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot, a regular feature which aims to expand the notion of what a muscle car is, and to think outside the box while doing so. It has been several weeks since the last Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot feature, and now that LeMons is done, I now have time to re-introduce you to some obscure Muscle you may have never thought of. This time I’ve uncovered a car based pickup, that could be ordered with a Special Performance package, that you could get with a 350, 396, or a 454 Cu In V8. No, it’s not the Chevrolet El Camino SS, but it’s corporate cousin, the GMC Sprint SP.

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot: the 1971-72 GMC Sprint SP" »