Did The Chevy El Camino Or Ford Ranchero Come First? A Look At Pickup Coupe History

There has not been a market for a pickup coupé in the United States for roughly four decades at this point. Also known as a coupé utility, this mashup between a sedan and a pickup truck seemingly gives drivers the best of both worlds when it comes to what you can get out of an automobile. It would make sense for them to be around now due to the popularity of the pickup truck, but considering SUVs have come so into fashion, people may not think there is a place for this stylistic oddity. However, the major American automakers certainly had several decades worth of success with these kinds of vehicles, specifically with the Chevrolet El Camino and the Ford Ranchero.

Both of these coupé utility vehicles made their debut all the way back in the 1950s, but it is the Ford model that ever so slightly made it to the marketplace first for the 1957 model year. Chevrolet would not roll out the El Camino until two years later, where it would only have a two-year run before disappearing and reemerging once again for 1964. Both of these vehicles were built on the backs of the platforms that the companies were using for their sedans and station wagons of the time, and both had fairly similar marketing strategies, where they were trying to court workers and farmers just as much as businesspeople and families. Ford may have gotten the jump on Chevrolet in getting the Ranchero on the road, but ultimately, Chevrolet had the last laugh.

Despite the fact that Chevrolet came out with its coupé utility two years after the Ford Ranchero and had its odd start-stop-start production schedule for those first few years, the El Camino got to enjoy a much longer life overall than the Ford did. The Ranchero would be shuttered after the 1979 model year, marking the end to an impressive 23-year run for the vehicle. Any nameplate that is able to last that long can be called nothing but a success. However, the El Camino was able to last all the way through the 1987 model year, lasting for 29 years beginning with its original debut. Of course, there is the stretch from the 1961 model year through 1963 where it was not in production, so technically, the El Camino was produced for 26 years. Just looking at the years, it seems like El Camino was around for much longer than the Ranchero, but the reality is their lifespans were far more similar than they appear.

To emphasize how high Chevrolet and General Motors was on the El Camino, the parent company decided to rebadge the coupé utility for its sister company, GMC. Starting with the 1971 model year, the GMC Sprint hit the market and would have its own life last up through that same 1987 model year that was also the end of the El Camino. GMC renamed the Sprint for the 1978 model year, giving it the Caballero nameplate. So, even though the Ford Ranchero would go away one year later, people still had two different coupé utility vehicles to choose from on the market.