1974 El Camino, hot rod, street rod, custom and van

Vin: 1D80H4B591528

 

ANY QUESTIONS, EMAIL ME AT  avantisrus@aol.com  or call 248-349-4884, mon-thurs, 10-4:30, est.  What you are looking at is a very unique sedan delivery called  “special delivery” built for and by one of Detroit’s most talented and famous pinstripers, Dr. Ru.

Dr. Ru purchased this 1974 Chevy El Camino new with a 350 cid Engine, auto trans, P.S., P.D.B , aftermarket A/C. Then made one of the coolest Sedan Deliveries ever. He cut off the rear section of a 1969 Olds Vista Cruiser from a salvage yard. In the process of hauling the vista cruiser back to the shop, the load shifted and a cop gave him a ticket for not securing a load. This vehicle was built in the 70’s love wagon, van craze of velour, foam padding, shag carpet, wild paint and etc. As the Love Wagon era wound down, most were just discarded. The “ Special Delivery” was a special one and when I tracked it down, I bought it about 25 years ago. In the last few years I have noticed more and more old love wagons showing up at the cruises and when people look inside of them they almost always have a smile on their face of fond memories. Dr. Ru welded one of the coolest wagon roofs ever, with it’s raised section and tinted curved glass to his existing El Camino 1/4 panels and roof. As you can see the rear tail light and the 2 way tailgate are stock Olds. An after market pop up moon roof was installed in the original El Camino roof. The only down side ot this work of art was the flared fenders. These were hand formed pieces of sheet metal welded to the existing El Camino fenders and quarter panels. Unfortunately this created sealed boxes. What makes things worse, the man I purchased if from apparently drove down a lot of dirt roads, which caused the flares to hold dirt and rust through. A Chevy Laguna front end was installed, Dr Ru’s air brushing and pin striping was/is incredible. If the Special Delivery had normal paint you might think it was a factory proto type or former factory show car. To see this vehicle on the Detroit area streets as Dr Ru’s daily driver (business car) or one of the many shows he entered was /is amazing, you quickly become aware of Dr. Ru’s extraordinary artistic talent from the design and execution of the body, to the amazing paint work and all the hours it took to complete.

I have kept the Special Delivery stored in side for over 25 years. Time has not been kind to the old lacquer paint, it has cracked (crazed) all over. The original body filler used to block out the body is pealing off in may areas. The power rear window key switch is missing, so the rear gate window is down and you need to replace that switch before the window can be raised. I have the 4 original aluminum turbin wheels, which were chrome plated and painted purple over the cast finish. The chrome is peeling on all the wheels. The original tires were dry rotted and not safe to drive on. The roof on the drivers side front has 2 side by side sunken power antennas. The glass moon roof is not a power unit. It is a simple flip up or lift out.

The interior is truly from the 70’s love van era. The interior has sculptured gray shag carpeting. The rear floor area does have about 2” thick foam under the carpet. There is a completely covered box on the left roof side to cover up the power antennas. The rear head liner and curtains are light gray velour. The sedan delivery sides, top of the door panels , dash cover and front bucket seats are burgundy velour.  To lie down in the bed area is quite comfortable and relaxing. The unique vista cruiser tinted and curved
roof glass allows for some very cool star gazing. The odometer shows about 75,800 original miles. When I first got the vehicle I repaired the leaking water pump before storing it . A couple years ago I decided to start working on it. I replaced some brake lines, front calipers and etc. I also removed the original wheels and tires. I installed some rally wheels and tires I had around, as I was going to start driving it to some of the cruises, like the woodward dream cruise. I still had to find a rear window switch and steering column. The plastic gear that the key ignition switch turns in, broke. I was going to purchase a used column to replace the broken one with a tilt column. The truck is drivable you simply have to use a screw driver to start it. You would also have to jump  the power window motor (if it still works) to raise the rear window.  I do have more, larger format pictures, in an online photo album, if you would like to see them, email me and I will send you the link.  You can also click on the pictures below, then use the magnifying glass icon to zoom in.