The El Catalina: A Look At Pontiac's Cousin To The El Camino

The El Camino — Spanish for "The Way" — is a name which largely needs no introduction. Originally based on the 1959 Chevrolet Brookwood (basically a Biscayne station wagon), the El Camino was a reactionary vehicle, built to compete directly with the Ford Ranchero. What isn't as well-known, however, is that the El Camino might've had a younger sibling made by Pontiac. 

The one and only "El Catalina" isn't just an El Camino with some Pontiac body panels. This car has a rather complicated history; at one point reduced to a rusted-out and neglected prototype. However, thanks to the efforts of various restorers over the years and major restoration efforts by Tom Gerrard, El Catalina is now a multiple award-winning show car.

To explore its roots, we've got to go back to the origins of the El Camino. In 1957, pickup trucks were often viewed more as agricultural tools than passenger cars. They were perfect for farm work, not so much commuting — a fact which Ford changed with the introduction of the Ranchero. Unlike most pickups, the Ranchero was built on a car chassis, highly unorthodox in the 1950s U.S. market. As America's first relatively popular dedicated ute in over a decade, the Ranchero proved that there was a niche market stateside for a vehicle which married car-like performance and pickup practicality. Its success spurred the development of the El Camino, which debuted two years later. 

It easily outsold the Ranchero, enough that Pontiac dabbled in the idea itself. It wasn't Chevrolet's first truck, and certainly not Chevrolet's last truck either. However, Pontiac never pulled the trigger, leaving us with just one extant prototype today.

At first glance, the 1959 El Catalina is essentially a proof-of-concept cobbled together with parts from both an El Camino and a Catalina Safari station wagon. Like many concept cars, this vehicle is truly one-of-a-kind, as eccentric underneath as it is on the surface. What sets El Catalina apart, however, is just how well-refined it truly is. For starters, it boasts a remarkable level of performance with its 389 V8 and 4-speed automatic transmission, befitting the sporty image of Pontiac at the time. This aesthetic is coupled with a laundry list of accessories, including luxuries like factory air-conditioning, power steering and brakes, power seat, tinted glass, seatbelts, push-button radio, and a stunning white, red, and silver leather interior.

As for the metalwork, the cab itself, along with the pickup bed, is all El Camino underneath. However, El Catalina borrows a number of accessories from Pontiac's parts catalog, such as the doors (which were modified to fit the El Camino roofline), convertible quarter panels, wagon fuel tank, and custom flooring. The bed itself retained the usual corrugated metal floor, finished to match the red accent color.

Two vehicles saw the light of day, though this one is the only survivor. Even taking the pickup bed out of the equation, El Catalina represents an interesting, if quirky, example of late '50s concept experimentation. Ultimately, Pontiac never produced this car because it just didn't make enough fiscal sense at the time. The El Camino sold 22,246 units in 1959, a number which vastly exceeded the Ranchero, but was still not enough to justify continuing the El Catalina's development. Thankfully, the one remaining example is as remarkably well-preserved as they come, serving as a standout footnote in Pontiac's storied history of weirdness.