Larry was a Chevrolet dealer, and a wholesaler pulled up with this beat-up 1980 El Camino. It had buckets and a console, so he figured he would buy the car since he always bought unusual vehicles for his collection that was back in 1988.
He bought the 1980 El Camino and immediately pulled the motor, it was a 267 with a 2 barrel carb. He installed a ZZ4 350 crate motor, put a Posi rear with 3.73 gears in, and redid the whole body of the car. It was originally silver and black, had some dents, so he repainted it white and silver with a ducted hood.
The car had power windows, so he added power door locks to pull it all together. Larry redid the interior in a cloth but with the original pattern so it would look stock. It did have a vinyl interior originally, but it was torn up so no sense in keeping it. Also, he added a set of IROC wheels and color coated them to match the body. The rest is history, the car is sometimes a daily driver and a most enjoyable ride.
Larry always loved El Caminos and he liked the 68 thru 70 body but this 1980 El Camino grew on him after it was completed. When he stood back it had a great look to it. His favorite part of it is when you look down the side, and the car is perfectly straight.
Larry’s extremely happy with the way it turned out. It is a fun car to drive and has plenty of power. El Caminos as a whole, all seem to ride well so does his and it is a very comfortable car to drive.
He doesn’t have anything else planned for this car, you can’t mess around with perfection! The 1980 El Camino is done! He tries to keep it stock looking with a bit of custom flair utilizing GM original performance parts. If something comes along to make the car better or faster he will be on it, as long as it keeps it stock and somewhat original looking.
