1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS-454

The El Camino wasn’t the first North American “coupe utility”—a concept that originated and still flourishes in Australia—but it’s certainly the most famous. And the SS 454 was the baddest El Camino to roll out of the factory wearing a bowtie, with a nearly unmanageable 450 horsepower, 7.4-liter V8 out front and very little weight over the rear axle. While not ideal from a traction standpoint, if you can get the rear tires to hook up you’ll be in for a treat, as the El Camino will blow through the quarter mile in less than 14 seconds—stock. The front sheetmetal is shared with the Chevelle/Malibu of the same era, replete with racing-style hood pins, racing stripes, and the blacked-out tailgate insert proudly proclaiming “SS 454” to whatever vehicle is choking on the El Camino’s tire smoke. Easily one of the best-looking of the extended El Camino family, it is definitely the most ferocious. While the original “ute” concept pictured a vehicle for farmers to take to church, this El Camino offers the more romantic notion that you could go tear up the dragstrip on Sunday, and haul a load of dirt on Monday. Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that the audacious El Camino SS 454 was a shoe-in as a Community Choice Classics Pack DLC car.