1980s cars are in their own right now, and prices are going to start climbing for desirable ones. There’s sure to be plenty of kickback by traditionalists over that statement, but all you have to do is look at what’s out there and you can see it for yourself. Go price a 5.0 Mustang, or either one of the F-car twins in good shape, and let us know where the prices sit. Not every car will appreciate, but we suspect that the G-body Chevrolet El Camino will be one of those cars. Pretty much unchanged from it’s 1978 downsizing until it’s 1987 cancellation, the El Camino was a Malibu in the front and the cab, and a bed out back. It’s a G-body, so any tweak you can do to a Monte Carlo SS can be done to one with little to no issue whatsoever, it’ll take whatever engine you feel like throwing in, and, at least in our eyes, it’s one of the cleaner and more handsome shapes of the 1980s. Clean-cut, no excess.

If you want a muscle car and like the idea of a pickup truck but don’t want all of the hassles of a truck, an Elky is a great way to go. It’s a good all-around car, something that should’ve caught on in theory, but in practice just didn’t work out the way GM wanted it to. But as a project car and as a driver, a G-body Elky is a fantastic start, and this 1978 Super Sport looks to be a great foundation. We can’t explain the extra marker lights up front, and the “SS” stickers on the fenders look tacked-on, but it’s straight and one color. But wait until you see the interior…

Business in the front, party in the back, and Brougham inside. Only the finest mouse-fur interior would do, but being fair, this is a great-looking interior! The car is a floor-shifted automatic right now, but it does have a third pedal laying in wait for a conversion…another bonus. And a great find on an early G-body anything…

…full instrumentation! That 85-mph speedometer is pretty lame, but it wouldn’t be hard to swap out the cluster for one from a Monte Carlo SS…that would at least get you to 115 miles an hour. Or you could save up your pennies for an aftermarket gauge cluster that will get you a better system and a tach that doesn’t think you’re cruising around with the key off.

Underhood, we have a dressed-up small-block that has no information known about it. We assume that it’s not the original motor, and that it only might just outperform what would’ve been sitting here in the first place. 305? 350? As long as it’s not the 4.3L, this should be a non-issue until you’re ready to spin wrenches, so long as it actually starts and runs.

At $4,000, you have a perfectly good car that only needs some detailing and cleanup to be a driver. You won’t be getting straight to an engine swap with only a thousand bucks left over, but that’s fine. Spend the money to repaint those Rally wheels Argent Silver, get the blue Super Sport graphics kit from Phoenix Graphix, and enjoy the car until you’re ready to give it a six-speed manual and the engine it truly deserves.

Craigslist Link: 1978 Chevrolet El Camino Super Sport