1987 Chevrolet El Camino SS Sport: The Last Year of the Z15 Package

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 "SS Sport Decor" for 1987, its final year, 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 Choo Choo Customs of Chattanooga produced an El Camino SS conversion for GM from mid-1983 through the end of 1987 production, marking the final year of that arrangement. They add that Chevrolet's price schedule for initial 1987 shipments lists the El Camino at $10,453.00 and the El Camino SS Sport, model 1GW80 with Z15, at $10,784.00, a $331.00 gap, with the 5.0-liter LG4 V8 a $440.00 option on top of either.¹

This record's own conflicts section documents an engine-rating dispute within the same September 1986 kit: the power-team page and the Truck Facts Book both rate the LB4 4.3 V6 at 145 horsepower and 225 lb-ft, while the Engine and Cooling section's own test data rates the identical engine at 140 horsepower with the same 225 lb-ft, and the record's own treatment notes that the engine entry itself shows the power-team figure while naming the other rather than picking between them.

This record's own unpublished leads section separately flags a Wikipedia claim of 13,743 total production with 861 SS units, sourced to a page that redirected to a paid-access gateway and so could not be verified; its own production rows instead carry 15,589 El Caminos built for 1987, corroborated across two separate Old Cars Weekly articles rather than a single source, though the record's own note still says this total is not an SS count and that neither article names its own underlying source.^2,3

This record's own identification section documents the full 17-character 1987 VIN structure, including country, manufacturer, truck line, GVWR class, series, body style, an engine code of Z for the LB4 V6 or H for the LG4 305, a check digit, model year code H, and seven possible assembly plants, and separately documents the Service Parts Identification label's location and contents. Its transmissions section documents three transmission codes read from the VIN decoder rather than a power-teams chart: MV9 with the LB4, MW9 with either engine, and MD8 also listed on the decoder with both engines.

This record's own specifications section documents a 3,239-pound curb weight for the six-cylinder El Camino against 3,244 pounds with Z15 fitted, a 5-pound difference that follows directly from the two figures the record carries, a 117.1-inch wheelbase, and a 201.6-inch overall length. Its options section runs to a dozen individually priced line items beyond Z15 itself, from a $21 performance axle ratio up to a $440 V8 engine option, and this record's own paint and interiors sections are both empty for 1987, the last year Tradecraft's own reference documents the Z15 package running.