El Camino question

[corvetteronw]

My friend Steven, who lives in Belgium, is thinking of buying a 78 or 79 vehicle here in the US and importing it to Europe.
I'm showing my ignorance here but did GM make an El Camino these years?
There is a significant tax break in importing a 79 or older vehicle.
Any "buyer beware" advice?
Thanks in advance!
Oh - Anybody know of a decent one for sale at a reasonable price?

 

[beermonkey9417]

el caminos were built since the 50's i think. and if yer gonna buy one get the block # and do some research to see what it is. then knock on the body to find bondo werk. take a flashlight and look under the dash to see if theres a birds nest under there. do a light(s) check. get under the car with a flash light and look at the under carage. also, what i should have done, is grab the drive shaft by the rear end and try to wiggle it. take it for a test drive! treat it like buying anyother car and make shure you ask to do these things. i dont want anyone getting beat up for checking out some random elky sitting on the side of the road with a forsale sign on it.

 

[Blake442]

Check the rear frame rails behind the rear tires, bottoms of the doors, rocker panels, and wheel wells for rust.

 

[corvetteronw]

Thank you. I will pass this along to him.
Anyone know of a nice one for sale under $4,000. Non G bodies will work too. The car he imports needs to be 1979 or older.

 

[speed3]

Tell him to stick with an El Camino. I'm Dutch, if needed I can help with finding one in the North East and putting it on a Roll on Roll off boat in Newark New Jersey.

 

[corvetteronw]

I just so happened to look in the local (Grand Rapids, Michigan) paper and there it was. 1979 El Camino Royal Knight for $4,500.
I took it for a test drive and found that it originally came from Texas 10 years ago and was never driven in any Michigan winters. It was repainted the original dark blue a few years ago and appears to be rust free with 60,*** miles.
It is equipped with a 305, automatic and power brakes and steering. The engine has some Edelbrock parts (valve covers, intake, carb and air cleaner) and starts and runs smooth. The interio is a bit faded but in good shape. There is a non functioning aftermarket radio and aftermarket mini oil pressure and water temp guages installed in the dash.
The tires need to be replaced due to age and the front shocks are a bit mushy. It has nice chrome tie downs around the bed and has a blue canvas cover for the bed too along with a Reese style receiver hitch and rear air shocks.
Any thoughts on the price? How rare is this truck?

I think the engine bay would clean up nice. The owner is a senior citizen and no longer has use of a "sunny day" weekend car.
I appreciate the offer to ship any car out of New Jersey. The buyer has done a roll on roll off out of Brunswick and is familiar with the process. It would be much cheaper to transport to Bayonne than Georgia. Thanks!

 

[corvetteronw]

Crap - did something wrong with the pics. Getting late. Will try again tomorrow. 😳

 

[corvetteronw]

 

[corvetteronw]

One more time:

 

[outsider_27]

Not sure how rare that Royal Knight is, but I have personally never seen one, only pictures. Your pics are not showing up, if you have them posted on a hosting site like photobucket, copy the IMG link and paste it in your message and it will show up.