Maurie and Lynne Hoover’s '67 El Camino

To car guys, an El Camino is a truck. Some truck guys think it’s too much of a car. When we saw this ’67 sitting on the pavement at the Paso Robles’ Chevy/GMC Truckin’ Nationals, the distinction didn’t matter. It’s got a bed, and it’s just plain perfect. Maurie and Lynne Hoover’s Elco was a three-year project that began when they found a hulk of an El Camino at the March Meet swap meet in Bakersfield, California. The ’67 was primarily owner-built with help from painter Ed Fuhrer of Antioch, California. Paso was its maiden voyage, and the cool ’67 took First Place in its class—a big thrill for the Hoovers. No doubt, by the time you’re reading this, there will be plenty of awards to the car’s credit. Uh, make that truck.

Drivetrain: What did you expect? It’s got Chevy 350 power with ported and polished camel-hump iron heads, 9.5:1 compression, a Comp Cams camshaft and roller rockers, a Pete Jackson gear drive, an Edelbrock 750-cfm carb on a Performer intake, and Sanderson headers with Flowmaster mufflers. The custom air cleaner is from Walter Prosper. The trans is a TH350 and the rearend is a 12-bolt with 3.30s.

Chassis: The slammed stance comes from a combination of 2-inch-dropped spindles and four-corner Air Ride Technologies airbags. The front control arms are stock, but the rear uses Hotchkiss parts including a 1 ¼-inch antisway bar. The car was converted to Mullins quick-ratio power steering and Classic Performance front discs.

Wheels & Tires: Those are 17-inch Weld Split 6 wheels mounting Goodyear Eagle GTs in P215/45ZR17 sizes front and rear.

Body: After the flames and mono-chromatic paint, the two most noticeable body modifications are the ’96 Cadillac taillights with LEDs in the rear quarter panels and the painted Honda Civic door handles. The bumpers are filled and painted, the hood peak was removed from the cowl, and there’s a sunken antenna in the right front fender.

Paint: Ed Fuhrer coated the truck in PPG’s ’76 Corvette Yellow with a gold pearl overlay.

Interior: Skip’s Custom Upholstery in Concord, California, used Sandstone leather and tweed with carbon-fiber details that are a refreshing change from the usual billet jewelry. Auto Meter gauges with carbon-fiber faces reside in a custom carbon-fiber dash panel insert. Even the wheel is a half-wrap carbon-fiber Billet Specialties model mounted to an ididit column. Cruisin’ tunes are provided by an Alpine CD player and speakers. A custom center console neatly mounts rocker switches for all the electrical controls. All the wiring is from Ron Francis, and includes power windows and doors and keyless entry.