My son and I bought this car as a joint project six years ago. Time has now passed and he has some projects of his own (’55 Bel Air and a ’57 Bel Air) so it is time for this car to go. We have invested over $16,000 in this car but the reserve is nowhere near that amount – we knew going in that you don’t make money restoring cars.

First, little background on Sprints. The Sprint is the GMC version of the Chevrolet El Camino. In 1972 Chevy produced about 63,000 El Caminos compared to only 6,500 Sprints. Only 700 Sprints came with the 350 V8 and the Turbo 350 automatic. Since Sprints have so much in common with both El Caminos and Chevelles parts are very easy to obtain.

As with all older cars rust is almost impossible to avoid. All the rust we could find has been repaired on this car. There is a new floor pan on the passenger side and all the small holes on the rest of the floor were welded up. There was rust around both front and rear windshields; those were repaired professionally at a cost of over $3,000. New rear glass was also installed at that time.

ENGINE

This is an original, umbers matching 350 with a four barrel carburetor. The compression reads between 140 to 150 pounds in every cylinder so it is in good shape. It rumbles a little bit at idle so we believe that a previous owner put in a mild cam; a set of headers was also installed at some point. The cast iron intake manifold and Qudrajet carb have been replaced with an aluminum intake and a Holley. Likewise, he drive system has been converted to a modern serpentine belt system (replaced water pump, /c compressor, ower steering pump and alternator. All original engine parts have been kept and will go with the car.

TRANSMISSION

The original turbo 350 automatic transmission is also still in the car, ut it does have a bit of a fluid leak. It also shifts hard so we believe a rebuild would be in order. However, t drives just fine.

SUSPENSION

The entire suspension has been overhauled. On the front, ew coil over shocks were installed along with new coil springs. All bushings were replaced with polyurethane parts. In the back, he coil springs were replaced and a set of new Hijacker air shocks were installed (air shocks were standard on Sprints and El Caminos). Polyurethane bushings were also installed in the rear and the gear oil was replaced.

WHEELS AND TIRES

Obviously the car has aftermarket wheels that are 15”. I do not know how wide they are, ut I’m guessing around seven inches. The tires have a significant amount of tread left, ut they are several years old. The car even comes with the original 14” Sprint wheel covers.

INTERIOR

The interior has been completely redone. The bench seat was replaced with bucket seats and the driver’s seat is power. New carpeting was also installed. The original dash (which will come with the car) was removed and replaced with the round gauges like a Chevelle SS came with. These are high quality gauges; cost was almost $500 plus $300 for the dash panel itself. A stereo and speakers have been purchased but have not been installed; they will also come with the car. Modern, hree point seat belts were also installed.

BODY

Getting a good paint job is basically all that is left to complete this car. My son and I could never agree on what color to paint it or what color of stripes to use (or even if we wanted stripes added). When we started talking about selling the car we decided it would be best for the new owner to pick the color themselves. By the way, he original color was Sequoia Green.

CONSLUSION

This is a solid car with only the paint and transmission work left to be a real head-turner. When we go out in the car, e always get thumbs up with a “Hey, ice El Camino!” It is great fun to say “Thanks, ut it’s not an El Camino.”

Have fun and bid away. If the bidding gets close to the reserve it will be dropped so the car can sell. A $500 deposit is due within three business days of the close of the auction. Thanks for taking a look.