5 Of The Best Engines Ever Put In A Chevy Truck – SlashGear

Chevrolet’s ground-pounding LS6 454 cubic-inch “big block” V8 was only available for two short years, and only one year in vehicles other than the Corvette. In 1970, buyers of the Chevelle and El Camino could opt for the 450-horsepower mill, which also cranked out an impressive 500 pound-feet of torque. Some enthusiasts feel that both of those numbers were deliberately underrated by Chevy to keep insurance companies from having a fit, especially if the engines were fitted with aftermarket tubular exhaust manifolds (a.k.a., “headers”). 

Some might argue that the El Camino is a utility coupe, not a true truck, but with a cargo bed more than six and a half feet long, longer than many modern crew-cab pickups, we’re just fine doling out the truck designation. To order the LS6, El Camino buyers first had to opt for the Super Sport (SS) package, which included a special grill, bulged hood, upgraded wheels, suspension, and more. 

The beastly LS6 454 could be backed by Chevy’s heavy-duty Turbo-Hydramatic 3-speed automatic transmission or the equally hefty Muncie M22 4-speed manual, nicknamed the “rock crusher” because of the noise created when shifting due to its reduced gear angles. Reportedly, only 500 El Caminos were LS6 equipped, making this the rarest engine on this list.

[Featured image by Michael Barera via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0]