I’ve always preferred the El Camino ahead of the Ranchero, though this wood grain finish is drawing my attention more to the middle on the issue. Photo from Hemmings.
By Kelly Kirk
April 30, 2023
It had gross 90’s paint and gross 90’s wheels, and the price just wasn’t worth the gamble of sanding that paint off and finding what was (or wasn’t) underneath it. Other than that, I’ve been into either cars or trucks, not a mixed-bag combination.
I get the utility of the Ranchero, El Camino, and even the Dodge Rampage and Subaru Brat. I know I’m missing a couple, but those are the primary and ancillary. Car fuel economy and handling, and a handy pickup bed in the back for smaller, lighter tasks when necessary. I’ve seen painters use them and groundskeepers as well. They can haul a small amount of furniture, lawnmowers, ladders, a few building supplies, whatever. Sure, you aren’t going to stack shingles up by the bundle, but that was known going into it.
The interior is comfortable and spacious but lacks the safe, dry cargo capacity that a back seat and trunk provide in the event of snow, rain, or parking in a high-theft area. It takes a lot to sway me away from the El Camino and towards the Ranchero. A Chevy V8 would obviously help, but in this case, it’s something as simple and in-your-face as a couple of slabs of fake wood trim.
I think the 70-71 Ranchero is my favourite, though the 72-76 is a close second. The earlier Rancheros looked good, but I always felt the cars wore the look much better than the modified pickups did. Beginning in 1970, the Ranchero was restyled to wear a pickup bed every bit as good as the Torino wore a trunk lid. I have no idea who came up with this idea, but for 1970, they decided to offer the Squire option package on the Ranchero. Basically, all the customer got was the fake wood trim used on the Country Squire wagon, but as you can see in the picture, that little bit is a lot. It classed the thing right up, adding a look of luxury without adding literally any actual luxury.
The coolest part is, as far as I know, anyways, that back then, you could check option boxes, and as long as the options did not contradict each other, they’d build the car. If you want the classy wood grain trim with the nasty 429 and the shaker hood scoop, giddy-up! If it were me, I think I’d go for that buttery tan-yellow colour, wood trim, black vinyl top, and the big, dual-snout scooped hood. Oh, and Magnum 500s with white letter tires. Probably a column-shifted automatic, as it is still a truck, sort of.
