Making a Chevrolet El Camino look like any of it’s corporate siblings suddenly sprouted a bed is pretty straightforward and simple: take the basic El Camino body, swap the Chevrolet stuff for Buick, Olds or Pontiac bits, paint to match, and go. We’ve seen Temptest, 442, Grand Am and Grand National ute conversions done up this way. Some were just a nose clip swap, others were full-tilt builds that are well-executed. Then there is this 1971 Pontiac LeMans. Note that we are not calling it an El Camino…it isn’t one. This car started off as a convertible and was custom-built twenty years ago to be a utility. That’s taking the hard way around but you never know the circumstances…maybe the LeMans had some serious rot in the back, or maybe not…this is the kind of car somebody dreams up, but to cut up a drop-top to make a utility? That’s a stretch, even for us.

That said, the LeMans is well-executed. The Pontiac 350 is perfectly adequate, the interior looks great, and if you don’t believe us about the conversion, look on the dash and you’ll see the switch for the convertible top, still in place. With it’s only fault being a dead radio, there is very little that leaves us wanting with this ute. A 455 would be nice, but we’ll take it anyways!

eBay Link: 1971 Pontiac LeMans convertibe-turned-utility