Photo: Craiglist
Even though it wasn't the first coupe utility built in the U.S. (Ford debuted the Ranchero two years earlier), the Chevrolet El Camino is arguably the most popular ute out there. Especially if it comes from the muscle car era, when Chevy offered the hauler with the potent 396- and 454-cubic-inch (6.5- and 7.4-liter) V8 engines.
And apparently, the El Camino was so popular in the early 1970s that even Frank Sinatra owned one. At least that's what a sales ad from Craiglist wants us to believe.
So what are we looking at here? Well, this 1972 El Camino is in pretty rough shape. The exterior seems to be complete, but there's a lot of rust around the wheel arches and on the side skirts. The burgundy paint has seen better days and it seems the truck was repainted at some point, as it was originally delivered in yellow.
The interior isn't all that bad from a distance, but the carpets hide a few large rust holes behind the seats. There's no word whether the El Camino still runs and drives and whether the 350-cubic-inch (5.7-liter) V8 under the hood is the original mill. If it is, it was rated at only 175 from the factory because the Malaise era had already arrived in 1972.
As for the Frank Sinatra ownership claim, the seller shows a DMV registration slip from 1972. The document has Frank Sinatra's name on it and seems legit.
A bit of digging reveals that the owner is trying to sell the car since 2005. A discussion on the El Camino Central forum shows that that the Chevy had the same owner back then and there's also info about it having a gas-propane layout (you can see the propane tank in the bed).
While we can't know for sure if this El Camino was indeed purchased by Sinatra, the singer owned quite a few cars back in the day. His collection included rare vehicles like the 1962 Dual Ghia and luxury land-yachts like the 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham.
But Sinatra also owned a rather mundane 1985 Chrysler LeBaron wagon, so maybe him driving a 1972 El Camino isn't all that strange. A closer look at those papers might solve this dilemma though.
The El Camino is currently listed at $12,000, which is well below the average value of a 1972 truck. However, it is a bit expensive given its condition, so the owner is definitely trying to cash in on the Sinatra connection.
So what are we looking at here? Well, this 1972 El Camino is in pretty rough shape. The exterior seems to be complete, but there's a lot of rust around the wheel arches and on the side skirts. The burgundy paint has seen better days and it seems the truck was repainted at some point, as it was originally delivered in yellow.
The interior isn't all that bad from a distance, but the carpets hide a few large rust holes behind the seats. There's no word whether the El Camino still runs and drives and whether the 350-cubic-inch (5.7-liter) V8 under the hood is the original mill. If it is, it was rated at only 175 from the factory because the Malaise era had already arrived in 1972.
As for the Frank Sinatra ownership claim, the seller shows a DMV registration slip from 1972. The document has Frank Sinatra's name on it and seems legit.
A bit of digging reveals that the owner is trying to sell the car since 2005. A discussion on the El Camino Central forum shows that that the Chevy had the same owner back then and there's also info about it having a gas-propane layout (you can see the propane tank in the bed).
While we can't know for sure if this El Camino was indeed purchased by Sinatra, the singer owned quite a few cars back in the day. His collection included rare vehicles like the 1962 Dual Ghia and luxury land-yachts like the 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham.
But Sinatra also owned a rather mundane 1985 Chrysler LeBaron wagon, so maybe him driving a 1972 El Camino isn't all that strange. A closer look at those papers might solve this dilemma though.
The El Camino is currently listed at $12,000, which is well below the average value of a 1972 truck. However, it is a bit expensive given its condition, so the owner is definitely trying to cash in on the Sinatra connection.
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