1983 Chevrolet El Camino SS: Diesel Joins the Lineup, Choo Choo Customs Begins

This record's own overview states that Tradecraft Specialties lists RPO Z15 as the El Camino's Super Sport package throughout the 1978-1987 run, named "El Camino SS" for 1983, and describes it as up-level trim with SS badging and rally wheels rather than a distinct model line. This record's own dek identifies the car as the fifth-generation El Camino, with no production count from a verifiable source found for the SS package itself.¹

This record's own key facts state that 571 of 22,429 El Caminos built for 1983 had the LF9 diesel, and that Choo Choo Customs of Chattanooga produced an El Camino SS conversion for GM from mid-1983 through the end of 1987 production. They add that Chevrolet priced the 1983 El Camino Super Sport, model 1GW80 with Z15, at $8,444.70 MSRP, $254.00 over the base El Camino at $8,190.70, and that GMC's Caballero Diablo, RPO YE7, listed at that same price.^1,1

This record's own key facts also state that a 5.7-liter V8 diesel, LF9, rated 105 net horsepower, joined the 1983 El Camino engine list at $700.00, while the 305 four-barrel LG4 V8 at 145 net horsepower cost $225.00, a $475.00 gap between the two optional engines. This record's own production rows carry a 22,429-unit total for all El Caminos, marked "disputed" because a Wikipedia table gives 24,010 instead, a figure this record holds as a lead rather than a confirmed count since the two lineages disagree.

This record's own production rows also carry the 571-unit LF9 diesel count directly from the Tradecraft reference, matching the same figure already stated in this record's own key facts and giving a roughly one-in-forty diesel share of the 22,429-unit total the record carries. Its unpublished leads section separately flags the Wikipedia claim of 24,010 total production with 2,914 SS units, sourced to a page whose lineage this record's own production notes describe as unverified since the underlying source page redirected to a paid-access gateway and was not read.¹

This record's own engines section documents a 110-horsepower LC3 229 V6 standard outside California at no additional charge, a 110-horsepower LD5 231 V6 for California only likewise at no charge, the 145-horsepower LG4 305 V8 at $225.00 with the same rating in California, and the 105-horsepower LF9 diesel at $700.00, also carrying the same rating in California, the most expensive single engine option this record documents for the year. Its transmissions section lists only the MX1 three-speed automatic, standard at no additional charge and the only transmission listed for any engine.

This record's own prices section documents both the base El Camino and the Super Sport at $8,190.70 and $8,444.70 respectively, a $254.00 gap the record states directly rather than leaving to be calculated, and notes that the Super Sport price is shared with the GMC Caballero Diablo rather than unique to the Chevrolet badge. This record's own performance, identification, and conflicts sections are all empty for 1983, a gap it carries without substitution even though its production total is itself explicitly marked disputed rather than settled.