Photo: Mecum
For many car enthusiasts the Chevrolet 210 will forever be one of the best vehicles to have been made by the bowtie company. Introduced in 1953, it was on the market for only four years, but still manages to steal the headlines to this day.
It does so now thanks to a custom build so insane it's like no other 210 we've seen. Nicknamed Camino Reaylle, it is a combination between the convertible version of the midrange car and the back end of the El Camino from later years.
The car was put together by an unnamed "personal friend of George Barris." You all know who Barris is, and you can probably see his influence on this 210 as well, despite it not being made by the famous customizer.
Wrapped in eye-popping purple with hand-painted orange flames licking their way from the front to the rear, the Chevy still has many of the iconic and classic design lines of its breed, now presented in an impossible-to-miss visual package.
The color play seen on the body continues inside as well, with the remaining two-seat bench at the front wearing the same combination of purple and orange. Behind this bench there's nothing more than a wood-floor bed that extends far beyond the original end point of the 210.
Another bit of engineering custom work can be found under the hood, where the builder fitted a rebuilt 327ci engine sourced from a 1965 Corvette. It is controlled by means of a manual transmission and spins custom wheels shod in whitewall tires.
Although as far as we can tell Barris had no hand in making the Camino Reaylle, he did place his signature on the dashboard and his badge elsewhere, and he even inscribed his wife's nickname, Bubbles, on the passenger side door.
There's an explanation as to why the bed, and the metal support it comes with, are there. The car was used as a motorcycle hauler for a while – just imagine how impressive the thing looks with a Harley mounted at the back.
It's unclear for how long the 210 was used as a hauler, but at the time of writing the odometer reads over 73,000 miles (117,000 km). It still looks brand new, though, and it's about to sell as such during the Kissimmee auction taking place these days in Florida.
The organization selling it, Mecum, does not say how much the 1957 Chevrolet 210 Camino Reaylle is expected to fetch, but it'll probably make quite a splash, especially considering the connection it has with Barris. It would probably have been even more valuable if the seller had included a bike on that bed, but the car remains a solid offering nonetheless.
We'll update the story as soon as we learn how much the car went.
The car was put together by an unnamed "personal friend of George Barris." You all know who Barris is, and you can probably see his influence on this 210 as well, despite it not being made by the famous customizer.
Wrapped in eye-popping purple with hand-painted orange flames licking their way from the front to the rear, the Chevy still has many of the iconic and classic design lines of its breed, now presented in an impossible-to-miss visual package.
The color play seen on the body continues inside as well, with the remaining two-seat bench at the front wearing the same combination of purple and orange. Behind this bench there's nothing more than a wood-floor bed that extends far beyond the original end point of the 210.
Another bit of engineering custom work can be found under the hood, where the builder fitted a rebuilt 327ci engine sourced from a 1965 Corvette. It is controlled by means of a manual transmission and spins custom wheels shod in whitewall tires.
Although as far as we can tell Barris had no hand in making the Camino Reaylle, he did place his signature on the dashboard and his badge elsewhere, and he even inscribed his wife's nickname, Bubbles, on the passenger side door.
There's an explanation as to why the bed, and the metal support it comes with, are there. The car was used as a motorcycle hauler for a while – just imagine how impressive the thing looks with a Harley mounted at the back.
It's unclear for how long the 210 was used as a hauler, but at the time of writing the odometer reads over 73,000 miles (117,000 km). It still looks brand new, though, and it's about to sell as such during the Kissimmee auction taking place these days in Florida.
The organization selling it, Mecum, does not say how much the 1957 Chevrolet 210 Camino Reaylle is expected to fetch, but it'll probably make quite a splash, especially considering the connection it has with Barris. It would probably have been even more valuable if the seller had included a bike on that bed, but the car remains a solid offering nonetheless.
We'll update the story as soon as we learn how much the car went.
Google News