1967 396 Dragmaster El Camino, Drag Racing Historical Vehicle on 2040-cars
1967 Chevrolet El Camino 396- DRAGMASTER Dode Martin's personal daily driver shop truck from 1970-1995. Dode bought this factory 396 4 Speed Marina Blue with Black bench seat interior El Camino in 1970 less engine and trans. There just happened to be a nasty 440 Chrysler engine with a 727 automatic sitting in his shop, so Dode decided to fit it into the El Camino. A lot of parts custom worked by Dode back in 1970 are still on it, however the 440 and 727 were removed back in the late 1990's for a SBC conversion. The GM rally wheels were widened by Dode with chrome centers and gold rims. The rear trailing arms were boxed by Dode. Dode stitched up the door panels after personally painting the truck in traditional Dragmaster gold. Dode told me the gold paint is 1956 Chevrolet Grecian Gold and the red he used on his DART dragsters and the famous TWO THING twin supercharged SBC front engine rail is 1957 Chevrolet Matador Red. I obtained permission from Dode to place the DRAGMASTER decals on the doors and I planned to do a frame up build and incorporate more DRAGMASTER style to the El Camino with the red. I pulled the SBC and auto trans out and located a date matching fresh .040 over 396 block to match the truck. The block is included with the Camino. No trans. The original 12 bolt posi rear axle is still in it. The El Camino has never been wrecked, however the hood has some filler in the front peak due to Dode moving the truck in his shop while sitting on a bucket and tapping a work bench in front of him when he fell off the bucket. That happened before the Camino was painted gold. Dode told me the first paint he put on it was solid black around 1970 or so. The fenders, doors and rest of the body are original sheetmetal. There is very little rust in this El Camino- there is a little in the lower back window jamb.
There is a State of California label in the left door jamb that confirms a 440 Chrysler and Automatic were in it up to 1995, when the the truck was required to pass a smog check in order to sell it. Dode swapped out the 12:1 compression 440 for a more stock version. Dode told me the nasty 440 was sold to a MOPAR guy for a race car restoration. That 440 was likely part of the Dodge Chargers effort from the early 1960's. The next owner had a hot rod shop (Hot Rods and Custom Stuff; Escondido, CA) swap in a SBC and 700R4 for daily driving. I bought the El Camino in 2012 with intentions to keep it, however that was 2 weeks prior to my daughter being born and I have had zero time to work on it. I paid four thousand more for it then than I am asking for it here, so my listing price is absolutely as low as I am willing to sell it for. Last 2 pics were scans of prints Dode let me borrow from his personal files- they show the Camino as it was about 25 years ago. The black license plates were changed out by the DMV around 1995 based on documentation I have. The El Camino is also listed for sale locally therefore I retain the right to end the auction if no bids have been placed. |
Chevrolet El Camino for Sale
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Camaro spy shots show subtly different grille, front fascia
Sun, 03 Feb 2013It looks like there some changes in store for the Chevrolet Camaro - the only thing is that we just don't know what Chevy has up its sleeve. Looking at these spy shots, we'd initially be inclined to think that there is just a minor facelift or a new special edition, but upon closer inspection, there are a few oddities about this car that definitely have us intrigued.
The most obvious difference on this prototype is the slightly restyled front fascia with a smaller lower air inlet and the two-bar grille. Then we get to some of the car's mysterious details. For starters, this fascia has the SS vent above the grille, but it looks to be blocked off. Granted this could just be a one-off piece used for testing. What really piqued our interest was at the rear of the car where it has quad exhaust outlets that are used on the ZL1. Could this be the LS7-powered Camaro that we reported on back in December?
At this point, your guess is as good as ours as to what we're looking at here, so let us know in the comments what you think this could be.
Nissan Leaf sets new November sales record, Chevy Volt drops again
Tue, Dec 2 2014When you talk to people in the plug-in vehicle industry, one theme you hear repeatedly is that the more plug-in cars that are out there, the better things are for everyone. One reason is that more EVs build a need for more public chargers, and more chargers mean more people see that plugging in is feasible. But there's still something to be said for old-fashioned competition, and in the sales race between the two long-running plug-in vehicles in the US, the Nissan Leaf is resoundingly beating the Chevy Volt for 2014. In fact, it won't be long before the EV's cumulative sales top the PHEV's. But that's a topic for another month. For now, we have the sales results from November. Unsurprisingly, Nissan set another monthly record (that is, the best Leaf sales in any November, the 22nd time in a row we've seen a monthly record) with 2,687 sales last month. That's up 34 percent over last November and up 35 percent year-to-date. Toby Perry, Nissan's director of electric vehicle marketing, said in a statement that, "Our 'Kick Gas' ad campaign and 'No Charge to Charge' launch in Chicago and Atlanta drove an increase in November Leaf sales. Even with gas prices falling across the country, consumers appreciate that the cost of driving a Nissan Leaf is still a fraction of that of a gas-powered car." Over on the Chevy side of the ledger, there were 1,336 Volt sales last month, down 30.4 percent from the 1,920 sold in November 2013. So far this year, Volt sales are down 16.4 percent and Chevy has sold 17,315 Volts in 2014. As we said last month, the Volt slump might be due to people waiting on the new version to make an appearance at the Detroit Auto Show next month before going on sale in the second half of 2015. So far in 2014, Nissan has sold 27,098 Leafs. Look for our detailed post of US green car sales in the near future. Until then, please discuss last month's Leaf and Volt sale in the comments, below. News Source: Nissan, General Motors Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid PHEV ev sales hybrid sales
Audi S4 drivers are the most accident-prone, insurance report says
Sun, Jun 25 2023Culling data from more than 4.6 million automobile insurance applications, researchers at the Insurify insurance comparison marketplace picked a winner — or more to the point, a loser — in its determination of the car model with the most accidents so far in 2023: the Audi S4. Why does the sporty, luxury-class German sedan rank so high (or so low)? The organization found that S4 drivers, piloting a car with almost 350 horsepower, are among those who collect the most speeding tickets, and that they get into accidents at a rate 54 percent higher than the national average. If the S4 isnÂ’t a surprise with an at-fault accident rate of 11.7 percent, consider the “family friendly” brand that appears three times on the Insurity list: Subaru. It is represented by three models, including the turbocharged WRX and XV Crosstrek, and at the better-performing bottom of the list, the Subaru Impreza, with an accident rate of 10.3 percent. In 2023, 7.6 percent of U.S. drivers were involved in at least one at-fault accident in the prior seven years. For drivers of cars on this list, the average at-fault accident rate was 10.5 percent, meaning these drivers are 1.4 times as likely to have an at-fault accident on record. According to its statement, the Insurity data science team explored key safety features, driver behavior, and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) evaluations to pinpoint possible reasons behind these carsÂ’ high accident rates. Following is the list, counting down to the models with most reported accidents: 10. Subaru Impreza (percentage of drivers with a prior at-fault accident on record: 10.3 percent; MSRP base model): $19,795) 9. Kia Niro (percentage of drivers with a prior at-fault accident on record: 10.4 percent; MSRP base model): $26,590) 8. Chevrolet Silverado LD (percentage of drivers with a prior at-fault accident on record: 10.4%, MSRP base model): $34,500) 7. Subaru XV Crosstrek (percentage of drivers with a prior at-fault accident on record: 10.5 percent, MSRP 6. Subaru WRX.(percentage of drivers with a prior at-fault accident on record: 10.7% MSRP base model): $29,605) 5. Toyota GR86 (percentage of drivers with a prior at-fault accident on record: 10.8 percent MSRP base model): $29,900) 4. Hyundai Veloster N (percentage of drivers with a prior at-fault accident on record: 10.9 percent; MSRP base model): $32,500) 3.