Jerry wrote a poem about how he came to possess this 1965 El Camino. Here it is:
My good friend Don saw it on a craigslist post
a 1965 El Camino
that’s the year I like the most
so I took a drive to take a look The lady there was nice
her name was Cindy
She said she got took
she said she bought it on an online auction without any knowledge or checking it out when her husband Kelly went to pick it up
he begins to shout
that’s too much work you didn’t check with me
put it for sale
someone might buy it
We will have to wait and see
after hearing her story I had to laugh
as Kelly opened up the shop door
there it was just like in the photograph
it had a torn down engine and rust everywhere
That didn’t matter
I didn’t care
It was what I wanted
it was a great price
I didn’t blink an eye
I didn’t think twice
I put it on the trailer and brought it back home
I had big plans to rebuild it and make it my own
A 355 small block with a four-speed tranny
black bucket seats to comfort my old fanny
Shiny blue paint and a set of cool wheels
It’s gonna take a lot of new parts I’m glad I found some good deals
I named her Lowla
there is a reason you see
she sits real low and drives like a car
but looks like a pick up to me
Jerry’s 1965 El Camino currently has a 1978 350 small block with 4 bolt mains, bored .030 over to make it a 355. It also has 1964 Corvette sourced 194 fuel heads, a Comp cam, and aftermarket lifters, pushrods, and rockers. Up top it sports an air gap intake manifold with an Edelbrock 600 CFM carburetor.
Exhaust flows through Jet Coated full length headers into a full exhaust. An HEI ignition conversion supplies the spark. Jerry’s chosen transmission is a 4-speed Muncie M21 being rowed through a Hurst shifter linkage, all converted from the original Powerglide unit that the 1965 El Camino left the factory with.
“I call this power plant my Black Widow Special.”
On the interior, Jerry’s reupholstered the seats in black leather, everything else is black with a stock appearance. The exterior has been repainted in Corvette blue metallic paint.
“That’s what draws me to the 1965 El Camino, very simple, somewhat utilitarian but a cool hot rod is what it’s true calling really is.”
