“Know your “SS” from a regular ‘ole one around!”:
So, in an effort to try to dispel many common myths, as well as attempt to clarify some blatant misinformation circulating around the inter-webs… I’ve done a bit of a “deep dive” into what made a 5th Gen Elco Super Sport so “special”, “highly coveted”, and overzealously “worth substantially more” by most sellers.
I’ve spent a fair amount (read: a lot) of time digging through the GM Sales & Options literature from 1978 through 1987, comparing RPO Codes, Order Combination Codes, Sales Information and Brochures, etc., as well as some good old “Google-Foo”…in order to come to many of the conclusions in the following document. (This image isn’t all of it…so keep reading…).
The most important thing to point out is that the ONLY year you could tell by the VIN, was 1968, but there are several other important keynotes that are further detailed in the referenced document.
Please remember to keep in mind that some of the information in the resources referenced, was subject to change, some was unverifiable, or might be a little off. And even that dealers were sometimes permitted to do some “out of line”, or “off the books” things at times, so the information contained may not all be completely etched in stone 100 percent…but it should be pretty darned close!
The “El-Camino-SS-Knight-Packages” document found here, contains a breakdown of what the package consists of, how to identify them, color combinations, and differences between model years.
It also covers the Black, and Royal Knights, and touches on the Caballero Diablos. And here’s a little “spoiler”…the Choo-Choo’s are not actually Z15 “SS’s”…but that’s covered in another article!
(’78 Shown and appearance varies by Model Year).
