El Camino Production & Sales Totals

El Camino Production & Sales Totals/Sub-Breakdowns (5th Generation):

The following contains transcribed, re-formatted, and cleaned up production numbers for all Fifth Generation (1978-1987) Chevrolet El Camino and GMC versions as sourced from Tradecraftspecialties.com, as well as independent research and data collection.

Chevrolet El Camino Production Numbers* (total includes all trim levels and versions):
 1978:  54,286 -GM Heritage Center
 1979:  58,008 -GM Heritage Center
 1980:  40,932 -GM Heritage Center (oldcarsweekly.com says 40,952)
 1981:  37,533 -GM Heritage Center (chevelles.com and elcaminos.com and thecowboycadillac.com** says 36,711)
 1982:  23,104 -GM Heritage Center (chevelles.com and elcaminos.com and thecowboycadillac.com** says 22,732)
 1983:  22,429 -GM Heritage Center (oldcarsweekly.com and elcaminocentral.com says 22,429) (chevelles.com and elcaminos.com and thecowboycadillac.com** says 24,010)
 1984:  22,244 -GM Heritage Center (oldcarsweekly.com and elcaminocentral.com says 24,244) (chevelles.com and elcaminos.com and thecowboycadillac.com** says 22,997)
 1985:  24,582 -GM Heritage Center (oldcarsweekly.com says 25,482) (chevelles.com and elcaminos.com and thecowboycadillac.com** says 21,816)
 1986:  19,797 -GM Heritage Center (oldcarsweekly.com says 16,229) (chevelles.com and elcaminos.com and thecowboycadillac.com** says 21,508)
 1987:  15,589 -GM Heritage Center (elcaminos.com and thecowboycadillac.com** says 13,743)

*Discrepancies could be due in part to different accounting methods; ‘model year’ versus ‘actual year by date’ as manufactured, and ‘production’ versus ‘sales’ numbers recorded in the incorrect category by researchers.
 **The information from the cowboycadillac.com was obtained from the “Chevrolet El Camino Photo History” by automotive journalist Monty Montgomery.

Chevrolet El Camino Sales Numbers (total includes all trim levels and versions):
 1978:  54,286 -carsalesbase.com**
 1979:  58,008 -carsalesbase.com**
 1980:  40,932 -carsalesbase.com**
 1981:  36,711 -carsalesbase.com**
 1982:  22,732 -carsalesbase.com**
 1983:  24,010 -carsalesbase.com**
 1984:  22,997 -carsalesbase.com**
 1985:  21,816 -carsalesbase.com**
 1986:  21,508 -carsalesbase.com**
 1987:  13,743 -carsalesbase.com**
 1988*:  420 -carsalesbase.com**

*Some model year 1987’s are listed as new car retail deliveries in calendar year 1988 based on their date of first retail sale. Note these are NOT ‘1988’ models; there are no 1988 production models since this would require a VIN change after dealer delivery which cannot be done.
 **Source for carsalesbase.com is ANDC (Automotive News Data Center).

Diesel Production Numbers:
 1983:  571 -GM Heritage Center
 1984:  98 -GM Heritage Center

Manual Transmission quantities (sub-breakdown of El Caminos):
 1978:  970 3-speed, 1,775 4-speed (elcaminocental.com*)
 1979:  2,043 3-speed, 1,771 4-speed (elcaminocental.com*)
 1980:  5,459 3-speed, 544 4-speed (elcaminocental.com*)
 1981:  3,020 3-speed, 637 4-speed (elcaminocental.com*)

*Questionable source-not audited.

Super Sport – RPO Z15:
 1978:  12,027
 1979:  11,371
 1980:  5,444
 1981:  3,769
 1982:  3,207
 1983:  2,914
 1984:  1,309 (elcaminocentral.com says 4,144)*
 1985:  1,198 (elcaminocentral.com says 4,710)*
 1986:  996 (elcaminocentral.com says 4,692)*
 1987:  861 (elcaminocentral.com says 3,967)*

*Note: it seems unlikely, though not impossible, that SS numbers would increase so drastically toward production end-questionable source.

Black Knight, Z15 + Z16 RPO’s:
 1978:  1,200 estimated by most sources (elcaminocentral.com says 2,814, another 2,815)*

*One researcher claims 9,213 Z15 (SS or Black Knight), 2,815 Z16 (Black Knight), but this would mean 6,398 SS since Black Knight had Z15 and Z16 which does not match SS data.

Royal Knight, Z15 + Z16 RPO’s:
 1979:  5,770 -GM Heritage Center
 1980:  2,598 -GM Heritage Center
 1981:  1,397 -GM Heritage Center
 1982:  899 -GM Heritage Center
 1983: 723 -GM Heritage Center

Choo Choo Customs:
 1983:  587 -thecowboycadillac.com**
 1984:  1,309 -thecowboycadillac.com**
 1985:  1,198 -thecowboycadillac.com**
 1986:  995 – thecowboycadillac.com**
 1987:  861 -thecowboycadillac.com**
Total:  4950

These totals are suspect as they do not align with the sequencing numbers of the trucks themselves. Based on those numbers, there would be somewhere around 2,270 units that were converted.

Of these, there were 120 “Saint Louis Driveaway” versions produced for a special promotional event in 1984 in St. Louis, MO, as well as 40 “Boston Series” for a similar event in Boston, MA.

Of these, there were also 15 IROC-S Pace Cars produced in 1985 and ’86. The first 12 were in ’85, and #’s 13-15 were in ’86. #001 was the only one claimed to have been used as an ancillary pace car for the IROC racing series. The other 14 were limited-edition replicas.

For more detailed information on the Choo Choo Customs El Caminos, visit the article here.

**The information from the cowboycadillac.com was obtained from the “Chevrolet El Camino Photo History” by automotive journalist Monty Montgomery.

GMC Caballero Production Numbers** (total includes all trim levels and versions independant from El Camino):
 1978*:  6,609 -elcaminos.com and thecowboycadillac.com***
 1979:  6,952 -elcaminos.com and thecowboycadillac.com*** (another source says 6,412)
 1980:  4,742 -elcaminos.com and thecowboycadillac.com*** (another source says 4,463)
 1981:  4,380 -elcaminos.com and thecowboycadillac.com*** (another source says 3,994)
 1982:  2,654 -elcaminos.com and thecowboycadillac.com*** (another source says 2,573)
 1983:  2,126 -elcaminos.com and thecowboycadillac.com*** (another source says 2,160)
 1984:  2,751 -elcaminos.com and thecowboycadillac.com*** (another source says 2,702)
 1985:  2,503 -elcaminos.com and thecowboycadillac.com*** (another source says 3,057)
 1986:  2,795 -elcaminos.com and thecowboycadillac.com*** (another source says 2,795)
 1987:  1,882 -elcaminos.com and thecowboycadillac.com***

*The [5AA00] designation of the GMC models in 1978 rather than 1AW80 probably accounts for confusion in data-gathering and lack of known numbers. 
 **Discrepancies could be due in part to different accounting methods; ‘model year’ versus ‘actual year by date’ as manufactured, and ‘production’ versus ‘sales’ numbers recorded in the incorrect category by researchers.
 ***The information from thecowboycadillac.com was obtained from the “Chevrolet El Camino Photo History” by automotive journalist Monty Montgomery.

GMC Caballero Sales (total includes all trim levels and versions independent from El Camino):

 1978:  6,609 -carsalesbase.com**
 1979:  6,952 -carsalesbase.com**
 1980:  4,742 -carsalesbase.com**
 1981:  4,380 -carsalesbase.com**
 1982:  2,654 -carsalesbase.com**
 1983:  2,126 -carsalesbase.com**
 1984:  2,751 -carsalesbase.com**
 1985:  2,503 -carsalesbase.com**
 1986:  2,795 -carsalesbase.com**
 1987:  1,882-carsalesbase.com**
 1988*:  328 -carsalesbase.com**

*Some model year 1987’s are listed as new car retail deliveries in calendar year 1988 based on their date of first retail sale. Note these are NOT ‘1988’ models; there are no 1988 production models since this would require a VIN change after dealer delivery which cannot be done.
 **Source for carsalesbase.com is ANDC (Automotive News Data Center).

Important Notes:

Sources: TeamElCamino/Chevelles.com; tradecraftspecialties.com and are not audited!