Showstopping AutoRama 1964 El Camino has remarkable, hidden tale

El Camino, particularly 1964 to 1970 models like Wilson's, which will be displayed next week at the 57th annual O'Reilly Auto Parts Houston AutoRama, are highly prized, restored or modified.

In 1964 Wilson, then 4 and being raised by his single mother in San Antonio, was ill and his mother borrowed a neighbor's car to take him to a doctor.

With a renown 283-cubic-inch Chevrolet engine and a four-speed manual transmission, the pickup provided plenty of entertainment for the teen-aged high school football player.

Though Wilson insists that he had always hung on to the truck because "I always wanted to rebuild it," the family El Camino might have just remained the object of good intentions had it not been for a car salesman.

The route to this year's show at the George R. Brown took months and was convoluted, but the body-off restoration and customization project the public will see at is the vision and craftsmanship of Wilson, Tommy Casey of Awesome Interiors who re-built the car and added many contemporary touches and technologies, and Bill Bourne of Wabbit's Woodwork.

The best-of-the-best equipment highlights include two-stage candy apple red concocted by Paint House, a Tremec 6-speed high-torque manual transmission, Centerline forged wheels, Wilwood brakes, Hotchkis air bags and suspension and three-inch Magnaflow stainless-steel exhaust system.

There are dozens of clever touches including video cameras front and rear, heated and cooled Recaro seats, custom ram air system and LED lights and ambient interior illumination.

Wilson is a consummate music lover so of course there's a high-power, high-impact surround system that will be sweet when the Wilsons take the El Camino to cruise events after they compete in this year's AutoRamas.

Popular with buyers, owners and observers alike are the Kruse Classics collector car auctions Friday at 1 p.m. and Saturday at 10 a.m. Memorabilia, tools, restoration supplies, neon signs, gadgets and holiday can be found at the AutoRama's swap meet and toy show.