1965 Chevrolet El Camino Comes Out of Storage After 50 Years, Goes Drag Racing

According to its owner, this second-generation coupe utility spent a few good years racing at World of Wheels event. But that ended in the early 1970s when it was put into storage, where it sat for almost 50 years. It was taken out with the paint in rough shape, but everything else was still intact. So the owner just refurbished the exterior before bringing it to the drag strip.

And it features quite a few interesting details, including a shag carpet and a Hurst shifter. But the really cool thing is that the truck still rides on its original 1970s Torq Thrust wheels, which still look amazing. What's more, the rear rims are still wrapped in 1970s Marsh Sprinter drag tires. And as you'll see in the video below, they still have plenty of life and grip in them.

This El Camino hides a small-block 5.7-liter V8 under the hood. No word on specs, but I'm pretty sure this isn't the car's original engine. The second-gen El Camino was offered with three small-block units, but all had different displacement. The closest was the 5.4-liter Turbo-Fire rated at up to 300 horsepower in 1965.

So we're probably looking at an aftermarket swap with some upgrades for racing. This one comes with a high-rise manifold and a double-pump carburetor. It probably generates in excess of 300 horsepower, but there's no specific info to run by.

The owner runs two quarter-mile sprints, both with 16-second ETs at around 85 mph (137 kph). Far from impressive, even when compared to a stock 1960s muscle car, but this El Camino didn't come out of storage to set records. Not only it hasn't been raced in almost 50 years, but the owner hasn't been driving down the quarter-mile for a few decades either.

It's basically a warm-up that may or may not be followed by proper racing in the future. But the fact that the owner brought this time capsule to the drag strip after so many decades in storage is cool enough for me.