I snapped this photo last week and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. I’m not a car guy, but google tells me that this beauty is from the mid to late 80s. The rare coupè utility vehicle. Most people know this as an El Camino, but the wiki rabbit hole tells me that the El Camino became El Caballero (a Spanish Gentleman or horseman) in the mid 80s. Ford was the first US company to produce the car-truck and I would have loved to be in the conference room to see the mockups and hear the pitch that resulted in copy like, “the most beautiful thing that ever shouldered a load!”
Used to work with a kid who drove an El Camino…he had a mullet and a perpetual sneer, probably because he was doing legal research when he wanted to be in the music biz. He grew up to be a really nice guy. I like when reading a story becomes archaeology, digging up all kinds of surprises…some pieces that allow you to imagine what the whole might have been, other things intact that you were hoping never to see again…love it!
I love the way you wrote this. I can picture Matt Damon’s performance in Good Will Hunting when he’s chewing out the pretentious Harvard guy and further impressing Skylar…Have you considering screen writing?
I have so many mid-70s visions of El Caminos growing up in LA, where they were ubiquitous as taco joints. But what really brought it home for me was the insertions of tunes. Windows down (with the heat on bc it overheats), FM radio blasting. That’s pretty much my entire youth in SoCal.
Used to work with a kid who drove an El Camino…he had a mullet and a perpetual sneer, probably because he was doing legal research when he wanted to be in the music biz. He grew up to be a really nice guy. I like when reading a story becomes archaeology, digging up all kinds of surprises…some pieces that allow you to imagine what the whole might have been, other things intact that you were hoping never to see again…love it!
Thanks Nicole :)
I love the way you wrote this. I can picture Matt Damon’s performance in Good Will Hunting when he’s chewing out the pretentious Harvard guy and further impressing Skylar…Have you considering screen writing?
Thank you for reading it. I'd love to take a crack at screen writing at some point.
I have so many mid-70s visions of El Caminos growing up in LA, where they were ubiquitous as taco joints. But what really brought it home for me was the insertions of tunes. Windows down (with the heat on bc it overheats), FM radio blasting. That’s pretty much my entire youth in SoCal.
Yes! Amazing.
Best yet
Thanks Andy. I’d love to hear what you liked about it. Appreciate you.