The 1991 model is the first year of the fourth-generation Caprice. A stable for Chevy since the 1960s, the full-size sedan became an Aussie import from 1999 right up to 2017 when the Holden plant in Elizabeth came to a grinding halt.
Offered as a four-door sedan and as a station wagon for family-oriented customers, the Gen 4 was never available as a ute. This fellow here is a one-off build according to the seller, a “Caprice conversion to El Camino” that could use a bit of TLC.
Listed on TNT Auto Sales for $7,995 with 153,688 miles (247,337 kilometers) on the clock, the project truck started out as a sedan with the 5.0-liter blunderbuss and the four-speed automatic transmission from the 4L60 family. The engine – codenamed LO3 – carried over from the third generation of the Caprice with 170 horsepower at the crankshaft and a single exhaust outlet. In other words, the El Camino references end here considering the high-output V8s from the 1960s.
Famously described as an upside-down bathtub, this particular example of the Caprice hardly resembles one at all. It’s even funnier how the rear headrests poke out of the bed, and it would’ve been even funnier if they were facing rearwards.
The Subaru BRAT comes to mind, an oddity that featured jumpseats in the cargo area not out of convenience but to trick the Chicken Tax. As it’s also the case nowadays, the U.S. government imposes a 25-percent tariff on imported light trucks. Two seats in the bed helped the Japanese automaker drop the taxation to 2.5 percent because the BRAT was classified as a passenger car in this configuration.
Turning our attention back to the Caprice trucklet, there’s no denying that whoever buys this Frankencar needs to sort out the interior and the cargo area. A different powerplant – maybe an LS – could also be dropped in the engine bay.
Even though the RWD ute is gone from the General Motors roster, GM had plans to revive this body style in the guise of the Pontiac G8 ST. The Sport Truck was presented as a concept but the financial hardships of the 2008 crisis killed off the Pontiac brand as well as the production plans for the two-door trucklet.
Listed on TNT Auto Sales for $7,995 with 153,688 miles (247,337 kilometers) on the clock, the project truck started out as a sedan with the 5.0-liter blunderbuss and the four-speed automatic transmission from the 4L60 family. The engine – codenamed LO3 – carried over from the third generation of the Caprice with 170 horsepower at the crankshaft and a single exhaust outlet. In other words, the El Camino references end here considering the high-output V8s from the 1960s.
Famously described as an upside-down bathtub, this particular example of the Caprice hardly resembles one at all. It’s even funnier how the rear headrests poke out of the bed, and it would’ve been even funnier if they were facing rearwards.
The Subaru BRAT comes to mind, an oddity that featured jumpseats in the cargo area not out of convenience but to trick the Chicken Tax. As it’s also the case nowadays, the U.S. government imposes a 25-percent tariff on imported light trucks. Two seats in the bed helped the Japanese automaker drop the taxation to 2.5 percent because the BRAT was classified as a passenger car in this configuration.
Turning our attention back to the Caprice trucklet, there’s no denying that whoever buys this Frankencar needs to sort out the interior and the cargo area. A different powerplant – maybe an LS – could also be dropped in the engine bay.
Even though the RWD ute is gone from the General Motors roster, GM had plans to revive this body style in the guise of the Pontiac G8 ST. The Sport Truck was presented as a concept but the financial hardships of the 2008 crisis killed off the Pontiac brand as well as the production plans for the two-door trucklet.