El Camino a truck?

[cooperhw]

I know most will say no. Chevrolet calls it a truck. DMV calls it a truck. Wife calls it a Mullet. (Business in the front & party in the back).
I pose this question to the group. What defines a truck? Is it not that the vehicle has a bed in the back that you can carry stuff in? We call P series vehicles trucks? I started my El Camino build in the Alternate tinkerings section, but really, What defines a truck?

[davepl]

That's up to the reader. Depends on what you consider to be the official description.

They are licensed and treated as trucks. So legally, they are a truck.

In practical terms they are built on a car chassis, so for practical purposes, they're a car with a bed.

And in the final analysis, what does it share the most parts with? By far, the Chevelle, a car.

Others will have strong opinions in both directions, I'm sure!

[jsera]

I personally call it a truck. Not a very useful one as far as towing and capacities but still a truck.

[GR8-68]

truck1

noun
1.
any of various forms of vehicle for carrying goods and materials, usually consisting of a single self-propelled unit but also often composed of a trailer vehicle hauled by a tractor unit.

[GR8-68]

So really anything that you use to haul goods around

[bigrigpardo]

So by that definition my 3cyl Geo metro is a truck. Lol. I just had to.

[TeamEstep]

I had a '70 el Camino in High School. I always called it "my car". I didn't think of it as a truck.

[yuccales]

Originally Posted by TeamEstep

I had a '70 el Camino in High School. I always called it "my car". I didn't think of it as a truck.

I had a '75 GMC Sprint, always called it my "Jimmy". Our four-eyed members here are coming after me with a pitchfork!

[jeffahart]

A long time ago I was told. Trucks carry and tractors pull. It was an answer to my question where the term Semi came from, as I was talking to a guy who was real smart on big trucks. He said, semi tractor... carries and pulls, carries the front, pulls the wheeled end. Made sense to me as a bobbed semi cannot carry only, but who knows.

[geunther]

Originally Posted by jeffahart

I was talking to a guy who was real smart on big trucks. He said, semi tractor... carries and pulls, carries the front, pulls the wheeled end. Made sense to me as a bobbed semi cannot carry only, but who knows.

Semi comes from the fact that a portion (semi=partial) of the load (weight) is carried by the pulling unit, and a portion of the load is carried by the trailer. Most of my knowledge is useless, btw.

[undertaker72]

I have three elkys , a 59 a 65 and a 66 I have had about a dozen , here in Utah they all are reg as a car , they are on a car chassis , and same body tub , they are nice to haul a few items in , but not like a pick up, back in the eightys I even had a set of air boosters on the rear as I had a hitch and towed my 40 ford to the drags on a trailer a lot of times , I guess its just what you want it to be , but they ride like a car and I love them

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by cooperhw

DMV calls it a truck.

On the other hand, in Michigan a Suburban is registered as a station wagon, or a "truck wagon".

By way of reference the El Camino was designed and built by the passenger car group at Chevrolet Engineering (rather than by Truck Engineering).

K

[100%Chevy]

Well,I have a 67 El Camino.
I call it a car.
Mines frame is longer behind the rear wheels than a coupe or sedan.More like the wagon frames.
It has factory air shocks too.
In 55,Chevy made a vehicle they called a truck,but is actually a wagon called a sedan delivery.
So,for me if it looks like a car-it's a car and if it looks like a truck-it's a truck!
Call it what you like!
And,what is a ute? (here we go again!)
Mike.

[fecklessgadfly]

A ute is what Australians would call and El Camino. It's based of the word utility, pronounced like flute, without the fl. They still use them there, pretty popular.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_(vehicle)

[B. W.]

No, it is not a truck. It's a cruck or a trar but it's definitely not a truck!

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by fecklessgadfly

A ute is what Australians would call and El Camino. It's based of the word utility, pronounced like flute, without the fl. They still use them there, pretty popular.

...

[70STOVEBOLT]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

...

The two WHAT?!

[fecklessgadfly]

It's not really a truck, but it's more trucky than a car. Why don't we steal an Aussie term and call them Utes? From what I hear that type of vehicle is still pretty popular down under.

[trucks72]

What I have learned on this is: If you are a truck guy, they are cars. If you are a car guy, they are trucks.

[slikside]

Originally Posted by trucks72

What I have learned on this is: If you are a truck guy, they are cars. If you are a car guy, they are trucks.

An astute observation...

I've never owned one, but I've always liked them. Especially a souped-up resto-mod version.

I'll go with car (I'm a truck guy), plus, as Keith says, they were built by the car division.

[butler57]

Originally Posted by trucks72

What I have learned on this is: If you are a truck guy, they are cars. If you are a car guy, they are trucks.

yup

[geezer#99]

THey're not all chevy's or gmc's.
Here's an awesome ute!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga7Q8F3l5y0

[B. W.]

that's what they call "cammed"!

[Ol Blue K20]

I have a 70, I call I call mine the " Elkie" or a car. It's a station wagon frame and body tub. It even has rear seat floor board under the bed. I love it but it's not much for a heavy load. DMV says it's a truck and makes me pay commercial fees. But we all know how bright tax agencies are......lol

[70STOVEBOLT]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

I have a 70, I call I call mine the " Elkie" or a car. It's a station wagon frame and body tub. It even has rear seat floor board under the bed. I love it but it's not much for a heavy load. DMV says it's a truck and makes me pay commercial fees. But we all know how bright tax agencies are......lol

What do you mean it has rear seat floor board under the bed?