A little history. In 1995, my oldest son (15 YO) told me he wanted an El Camino. That struck a nerve with me that is still vibrating today. We found an original 1971 SS 454 and restored the car in spits and spurts over 10 years. Along the way we had some 20 odd Chevelles and El Caminos, some restored, some not. It's 20 years after that now, he still has the El Camino, is married, has 3 kids, a job and a mortgage. He was looking through a well-known old car junk yard for some small parts for the El Camino. On my next visit, we went and looked through the junk yard together. He had the desire to get a Chevelle Coupe, but honestly didn't have the stamina for a 5 figure initial outlay.
I told him he should talk to the owner and see if he would sell him one of the best carcasses that we found that day. It was a real deal '69 SS in Fathom Green. It was stripped down to the nothing - literally a frame, body shell with front fenders, no hood or doors, or rear-end. There was some significant rust out around the front and back glass, and needed floors and trunk pan. After I left, he went back and negotiated to purchase this car, with any and all parts that he could find in the yard for a very modest amount.
At first I thought he was going to restore the car. I had a ton of parts that I could shortcut his project with. But his concept is this. He wants to fix the rust through areas, but retain the original patina. He's rounding up mostly used parts to put the car back together and maintain it like this. I wouldn't call it a Rat-rod because it's not going to be dolled up with a bunch of extraneous additions. We're putting it back together in the most stock appearing way possible. A couple of pics are below. What do you think?
I told him he should talk to the owner and see if he would sell him one of the best carcasses that we found that day. It was a real deal '69 SS in Fathom Green. It was stripped down to the nothing - literally a frame, body shell with front fenders, no hood or doors, or rear-end. There was some significant rust out around the front and back glass, and needed floors and trunk pan. After I left, he went back and negotiated to purchase this car, with any and all parts that he could find in the yard for a very modest amount.
At first I thought he was going to restore the car. I had a ton of parts that I could shortcut his project with. But his concept is this. He wants to fix the rust through areas, but retain the original patina. He's rounding up mostly used parts to put the car back together and maintain it like this. I wouldn't call it a Rat-rod because it's not going to be dolled up with a bunch of extraneous additions. We're putting it back together in the most stock appearing way possible. A couple of pics are below. What do you think?
