1 Of A Kind Custom Project! Chevrolet “Bel Camino”
My favorite jokes and riddles have always been the ones that have to be explained, so here’s one for you- what would you get if you crossed a Bel Air with an El Camino? A Bel Camino, of course! Only in this case, it’s not a joke, as someone with an unusual vision actually did combine a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air and a 1965 Chevy El Camino together. If oddball projects like this pique your interest, this may be a good car/truck for you to take a look at. Located in Wyandanch, New York, it can be seen here on eBay with a current bid of $2,200 and there’s no reserve.
Admittedly, I think the concept in and of itself is pretty ingenious, and considering that Bel Airs and El Caminos aren’t exactly the most interchangeable vehicles, it really doesn’t look all that bad overall. Some of the marryings look a bit crude, such as those large front wheel openings and all that body sticking out in front of them, but the seller calls the outcome a decent blend and I guess that’s reasonable. The car utilizes the El Camino frame/body and comes with a clean 1965 El Camino title.
Perhaps my biggest concern in taking this on as a project is that the progress is seemingly going backward. The photo with the hood open shows some kind of carb and air cleaner assembly, so the Bel Camino at one time had an engine. There’s now no engine present and no transmission either, and with all of the labor that has already been poured into this project, it makes me wonder why the engine is now gone. Maybe the owner wasn’t happy with how the car performed or handled, maybe he lost interest, or maybe had another less complex project that just needed a motor. Lots of maybes here.
One of the strengths of this project seems to be underneath. The rear has a fully customized suspension with 4 shock absorbers, plus a 9-inch rear end with 4.11 gears. The front end is said to be very tight, and the front brakes have been converted to disc. The seller says the undercarriage, floors, and chassis are all solid with no rust and that the suspension, exhaust, disc brakes, fuel system, and cooling system are all brand new.
While the wow factor may not be off the charts on this one, it is a pretty cool offering and I especially like its presentation from the rear. What are your thoughts on this Chevrolet “Bel Camino”?
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Comments
This is what happens when you offer shop class to 3rd graders,,,
Oh that made me guffaw! Quality humor early in the morning. Thanks HoA!
If there were ever two Chevies with completely different sheet metal profiles and design impulses, the rounded ’64 El Camino profile and the angular ’57 are it. So they don’t exactly mesh. But if you’ve ever seen a third grader’s drawing of a car, you can understand the creators vision.
Next.
Holy cow! You could almost put a double axel under that front wheel arch, lol. At first I thought it was camera fisheye, but nope.
Maybe they put tracks (as in TANK lol) out front in the winter? They’d fit. Also is it just me or do the back tires look too far inbored like they went to cut down the rear end got the measurements wrong and cut it down too much?
Proportions are terrible, I hope the donor Camino was in real bad shape.
Why do I get the feeling that driving this down the road at night, the headlights would be terribly out of alignment?
Or give oncoming drivers a seizure…
I love the idea of this, but.
It’s the Cyrano de Bergerac of tri-5s.
I’d guess the engine came out as a form of mercy killing.
Wow
So many comments for this
But most are too crude !
Ffs this this is FUGLY
I expect the front to scrape at every curb
Way too long on the front end
The best solution is to remove the ugly snout and rear fenders and restore to 65 elcamino
Sell the 57 parts if anything is still good
Drug and alcool and cars don’t mix !
Noooooo!!! I can’t “unsee” this!
Guy sits back in his garage after a hard day’s work, pours himself a cold one, then looks at the car and says “man, that car looks good!”
It’s gonna require more than a single beer to think along those lines!
These are your cars: ‘57Chevy & 65 el camino
These are your cars on drugs
Once again time to cue up “too much time on my hands “
Woa that makes my head hurt. Somebody put it out its misery please.
Cheers and Ibuprofen
GPC
Right from the first picture I knew this was going to be a special one (in a bad way). I expected to see duck tape holding things together.
Should have ya? Why would ya? How could ya?
Oh dear…
Besides the Nomad wagon, this is the only other ’57 Chevy I’d like to own. If mine, it’d be a daily driver, an ‘old’ chick magnet, lol.
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should
Lots of time and work to ruin two vehicles.
So much material… where to begin?
1) Looks like an accomplished body man did the work from the cowl back, then turned it over to his apprentice to handle the front. He no longer has an apprentice.
2) Did the builder have a stroke between completing the back end and the front end?
3) “That’s the last time I try to tow a car by the bumper. Look how much the front end stretched!”
4) Nobody noticed the El Camino and Bel Air sneak away from the show field, until 9 months later when this thing showed up.
Yes, It Looks Like the doors back are almost Good.
Then the Guy went Way off the Rails on that front end.
Sheesh The stock 57 Nose Wouldve Been Ok.!!
Maybe I better Buy it To Save the world.?
Sheesh.???
Well atleast it looks like you could always put the elcaminos front back on it and it would atleast look half decent
It has a lot of WOW! factor. Too bad none of the reasons are any good.
All I can think to say is, not today Satan! Lol
If the rear axle was moved back 3-4” and the front wheels moved forward 6-8” with the wheel arches formed to fit round the new wheel placement it would balance the proportions. Also the cab and tail gate don’t blend with the rest of the car and would need to be blended better. Overall I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it either, I would like it if the changes were made, or if it stayed as is it was crushed
Only thing I can think of is Damn Yankees!
@ Rw Its mentioned a few times in the EBAY listing that its originally a southern car, so Rw what do you say now ? It is a strange marriage of years and body styles , I like ’em both but not necessarily on the same frame, the front sheet metal needs work to blend it better. A couple of beer and blunt sessions would probably yield a nicer transition of front sheet metal.
Less than the sum of its’ parts. But somehow also (literally) more. The first generation Chevelle was intended to be the size of the ’55-57, so how does this one come out looking as oversize as one of the biggest-ever ’71-76 full sizes?
Sometimes what happens in the barn should stay in the barn.
Shame on the owner’s friends for their obvious silence which makes them complicit in carrying out such a heinous act.
Decently blended like a cup of hot doo doo… KILL IT before it multiplies! ever eat mexican and chase it with apple pie and chocolate pudding?
Okay, are we finished? I know, I’m the worst offender, but realistically, maybe this WAS some kids project, with not a lot of cash, certainly no plans, junk, like a ’57 Chevy 4 door hulk and an El Camino,,,hulk,laying around,, dad said, let the kids have some fun. Who here can honestly say, THEIR 1st project didn’t have an exhaust like that, or wheel wells that didn’t come out right? Yeah, I thought so. The part that’s unsettling, is the seller actually thinks they can get some of their money back. Can’t blame them, and it will go to someone for parts, but very few share the builders vision on these things, in this case, not many.
This build was envisioned as a shark before starting . But after making this and that fit just to be functional , it turned into a spoonbill .
No Chevy fan, but it wouldn’t be as awful if the doghouse were shortened
Have another drink, your almost finished.
The whole time in the garage the had the Johnny Cash song one piece at a time playing. Not sure how many cases of beer they went through
“Hey Gomer, remember the bet we had that I could get my Smell Camino on Barn Finds? Pay up!”
“DO NOT BID OR BUY IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE FUNDS. NO I’M NOT BUILDING IT FOR YOU. SELLING IT AS A ROLLER NO ENGINE NO TRANSMISSION.”
So THERE!
Kind of threw up in my mouth.
TWEAKERS…..just say NO to drugs…
Why? Just why?
It is not a Bel Air. Look at the chrome on top of the rea fender.
At 73 & counting, I am a life long car guy.
Never have I seen the like of this vehicle.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow………..
fubar
the positioning of the wheels makes no sense, the 65Elcamino and the 57 chevy have the same wheel base
“originally a southern car”, but now in NY. I hope this blending didn’t happen until it left the South. As a southern boy I do have my pride, and neither me nor any one of my friends would have ever done this. At least it’s “decently blended” per the EBay ad.
Perfectly good reason to Not try and invent your own car out of 2 classics !
All I can think to say is, not today Satan! Lol
A Bel Air and an El Camino walk into a bar…
Lee obviously one was drunk the other desperate. Make that desperately drunk.
In no one’s book is this a decent blend!
Thankful it’s one of a kind.
Yup,,,, If I think back real hard I can remember some of the crapp I would build,,,, Thank god I got help with my drinking problem,,.
I think an easier way to build a “Bel-Camino would be to use a station wagon
” . . . it really doesn’t look all that bad overall.”
Mike, OH YES IT DOES!
This is one of the few times I’ve ever said anything negative about someone else’s creation, but I don’t want others on here like Howard A and Geomechs thinking I approve!
There’s a reason this is a one of a kind!
He should write a book!!
Call it….How to destroy to classic cars!!!
Oh… to have all that wasted time and money back…..ugh!!
This is begging to made into a “Monster” truck!
Oh, I was at the Detroit classic car show last weekend. In the rat rod division there were 2 front cabs of fired ranger welded together like a push-me-pull- you.
Up stairs was something someone else made into some kind of Camino x didn’t look this bad but gave it a big NO