1967 "EL 4-4-2"

For several years in the early 1980's we used to see this car at the big ol' Portland Swap Meet. Actually, it was more like drool over this car. It was so well constructed, it looked factory.

I was lucky enough one year to follow it into the parking lot which gave me the opportunity to talk with the owner. Unfortunately, it was not for sale (I guess I wasn't the first to ask). But the owner was more than willing to talk to me about his "EL 4-4-2". It turns out he was a body man (no, make that craftsman) by trade, and he had constructed the car himself. He had a whole slew of photographs in the glove box of the project. Which he was very willing to show me. The car started out as a 1967 Cutlass Supreme 2 door Holiday Coupe (factory four speed!). A 1967 El Camino had donated its roof, A and B pillars, front and rear glass, the inside section of the bed and the doors. A 1967 Vista Cruiser's quarter panels were grafted onto the Cutlass panels, just in front of the rear tire. The tailgate was also from the Vista Cruiser. The El Camino's doors were fitted with the outer skins from the Vista (or possibly cut down skins from the Cutlass, I can't recall exactly which). Unlike some other conversions I've seen, this one was very proportionate, and again, very well constructed.

Although aesthetically, it could stand to lose the canopy, but then again, this was his swap meet vehicle, and thereby needed to protect his stuff on his way to and from California. This was the last time I saw EL 4-4-2. So these crappy Instamatic shots are the only ones I have.

Greg Rollin.

--------------------UPDATE--------------------

This is so cool. From longtime NW Olds enthusiast Bob Roseberry, comes the following:

In Bob’s MUCH better shots, you can really see how cool and proportionate EL442 was.

It certainly looks much better without that ugly canopy………..

Bob writes:

“I saw the ‘El 442’ about the same time you did in the parking lot at the Portland Swap Meet and was able to take the enclosed (above) pictures. Although I used a 35 millimeter SLR, it was impossible to get a clean shot from any angle so these photos aren’t real great either. I took them in 1982”.

Again, many thanks to Bob Roseberry for the above pics!

--------------------UPDATE--------------------

Several years ago, EL4-4-2 was sold at an auction in Illinois. The two pictures below were sent in by the purchaser who says when he saw it, he “could not keep from buying it”. I can certainly understand…..

Somewhere along the line, EL4-4-2 had picked up the 66 4-4-2 front fender scoops and side emblems as well as the SSIII wheels.

If anyone has any further information / pictures of EL4-4-2 to share, just let me know.

Greg Rollin

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