The beautiful and classic Chevrolet El Camino was Chevy’s idea of competing with the Ford Ranchero considering the latter came first. History says it started when “utes” became very popular in Australia with the farming community, convenient for carrying an average load and also doubling up as family vehicles for formal occasions.

Apparently, an Australian woman wrote to Ford, Australia in the ‘30s, asking them to make a vehicle that could “carry them to church on Sunday and take the pigs to market on Monday. Finally, in 1957, Ford launched the Ranchero, and on the heels of its success, the Chevrolet El Camino came out in 1959, as a conglomeration of many Chevy models: the Brookwood, the Bel-Air, and the Biscayne. Certainly, one of the most badass Chevys of all time.

Unlike the Ranchero that remained in the market till its eventual demise in 1979, the Chevy El Camino took a hiatus after bad sales in 1960, coming back as a 1964 model. However, both Ranchero and El Camino were total game-changers in the truck bazaar.

So if you have a classic Chevy El Camino, lovingly dubbed the Elco or the Elky, here’s what it's worth on the market today.

RELATED: Here's How Much A Ford Ranchero Is Worth Today

The Chevy El Camino’s First Debut

The Chevy El Camino Debuted On October 16, 1958, As The 1959 Model And Gave A Pleasant Alternative To Anyone Looking For A Car That Was Also Pickup Truck
via CrownConcepts

The El Camino debuted on October 16, 1958, as the 1959 model and gave a pleasant alternative to anyone looking for a car that was also pickup truck, partly, but drove much smoother than the trucks of that time, enough to double up as a lifestyle vehicle. The Ford Ranchero was also there, but when the Camino followed the Ranchero two years later, it did so by outselling the Ranchero with some 22,000 units.

It came powered by a 3.9-liter inline-six, as well as 4.6-liter and 5.7-liter V8s, and was classified as a coupe-utility muscle car, with the biggest engine jetting 300-plus horses and boasting top speeds of 130 mph.

By 1960, the first blush of sales had subsided, and only 14,000 units moved in the market. The 1960 Elky had a better look about it, but after sales spiraled, there was no 1961 model.

The prices for the 1959 and 1960 El Camino are all over the place, from starting as low as $5,000 for cars that are mere shells of their original form, to more than $100,000 for fully restored, mint condition models.

RELATED: This Is What Makes The 1960 El Camino Classic

The El Camino Was Back With A Bang

Chevrolet El Camino Came Back, With A Bang, In 1964, Now Sharing Underpinnings With The Successful Chevy Chevelle
via CrownConcepts

While the Chevy El Camino hung up its boots post-1960, the Ford Ranchero was doing well, after switching to the Ford Falcon platform. Chevy’s engineers pulled up their socks and went back to work on the El Camino, and it came back, with a bang, in 1964, now sharing underpinnings with the successful Chevy Chevelle.

The engine line-up had expanded and continued to do for the second generation that lasted till 1969. The base engine was the 3.2-liter inline-six, but the boss of them all was the 6.5-liter Big Block V8 put in the El Camino SS396 that could make 375 horses in stock form, and jet 400-plus when tuned and modified for performance. The Elky was now pure muscle and used more as a lifestyle vehicle by the youth than for lugging pigs or manure around.

In 1968, the El Camino entered its third generation and now rode on the larger Chevelle Station Wagon platform, sharing most of its trims with the Chevelle Malibu. The biggest engine of this time was the 7.4-liter V8 carried by the El Camino SS454, jetting over 450 horses for a quarter-mile timing of upper-13 seconds.

Prices for the SS models touch $100,000 easily, although if you are okay with the base engine models, these can be had for around $20,000. You can also find some cool restomods around, many engine-swapped for better performance, in the price bracket of $50,000-70,000.

RELATED: Ford Ranchero VS Chevy El Camino: Which Was The Best Ute?

The Decline & End Of The Elky

The Fourth And Fifth Generations Are The Most Economical Of All Chevy El Camino Classics, Some Coming In At Even Lower Than $10,000
via AutoTraderClassics

It was now 1973 and muscle cars were becoming relics of the past because of the brewing oil crisis and the strict emission norms introduced by the Feds. This was also the time when horsepower measurement ratings changed, drastically, so the same 7.4-liter V8 in the El Camino SS454 now made 270 horses, while the SS396 jetted 240 horses, though it was now a 6.5-liter engine instead of the 6.4-liter one.

Some 114,000 El Camino sold in 1973, and this was also the largest of all models, coming in at about 18-inches long. Gentle design changes carried on till 1977, and in 1978, the Elky entered its fifth and final generation.

Sales were bad for 1978 with only 12,000 made. They went up in 1979 with almost 60,000 sold but from then on it was a gentle and gradual sale decline. The Ranchero gave up in 1979 but the El Camino lingered on till 1987, with 13,000 made in its last year before it hung up its boots and ended its legacy.

The fourth and fifth generations are the most economical of all Chevy El Camino classics, some coming in at even lower than $10,000. None of the listed models at Hemmings went above $40,000 making these the cheapest buy in the classic Chevy El Camino listings.

Sources: AutomotiveHistory, Hemmings

NEXT: The 2020 El Camino Might Never See The Light... Here's Why