Chevrolet El Camino SS 1971 images

By 1970, Chevrolet let El Camino SS buyers order the same 454-cubic-inch big block that powered the fastest Chevelles, including a 450-horsepower LS6 option good for a 13.44-second quarter mile. This example carries the SS package and a big-block V8 backed by a Turbo Hydra-Matic 400 transmission. Chevrolet built only around 500 El Camino SS 454s that year, making a documented big-block example a genuinely rare way to combine a cargo bed with serious factory horsepower.

1970 Chevrolet El Camino SS 383 CID V8 TH400

MCF thanks Gateway Classic Cars for the images displayed here.

⚑ Featured Gear

Start Car Conversations →

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

By 1970, Chevrolet had turned its car-truck hybrid into something genuinely dangerous: the El Camino SS could be ordered with the same 454-cubic-inch big block making 450 horsepower that terrorized drag strips in the Chevelle SS, all while still carrying a cargo bed. That kind of factory firepower, bolted into a vehicle half the buying public still saw as a work truck, is exactly why the El Camino SS earned its reputation. This particular example wears the SS package and a big-block V8 backed by a Turbo Hydra-Matic 400 automatic. Just how far did Chevrolet push the El Camino concept before anyone stopped to ask if a pickup really needed this much power?

From 360 Horsepower to a 450-Horsepower LS6

The 1970 El Camino lineup split into four trims, including the SS396 and the newly available SS454, the first time a 454-cubic-inch big block had ever been offered in the model. Buyers could choose the 360-horsepower LS5 or step up to the fearsome 450-horsepower LS6, a combination that ran the quarter mile in 13.44 seconds at 108 mph in period testing, while the carryover 396-badged big block, actually displacing 402 cubic inches under the numbers game Chevrolet played with engine names, offered 350 horsepower with the L34 option or 375 with the high-performance L78.

Disc Brakes and a Domed Hood for a Truck

Both Super Sport packages added a blacked-out grille, a domed hood with pins or an available cowl-induction hood that opened under hard acceleration, specially styled wheels, heavy-duty suspension, and power front disc brakes, along with the option of a Positraction limited-slip rear axle and a Muncie four-speed manual. Chevrolet gave the El Camino a 116-inch wheelbase and 206.8-inch overall length that year, dimensions that kept it closer to a Chevelle than to a full-size pickup.

A Genuinely Rare Way to Haul Cargo

Only around 500 El Camino SS 454s left the factory in 1970, making a documented LS6 example one of the rarest muscle cars Chevrolet built in any body style that year, cargo bed included. Today, well-preserved SS models with their original big-block engines intact are among the most sought-after El Caminos in the collector market.

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Republished by Blog Post Promoter