1968 Pontiac LeMans Safari Pickup concept vehicle
Pontiac's next attempt at developing a El Camino-esq car-based truck was this unofficial effort put together by an owner of an upstate New York Pontiac dealership. In late 1967, the dealer believed that there was a gap in the Pontiac lineup of a truck-like utility vehicle, that customers would be interested in. Although Pontiac management was cool to the idea, not sharing the dealer's optimism, they nevertheless told him that he could build a concept vehicle demonstrating the idea at his own expense and present it for their consideration. After consulting with other Pontiac dealers across the Northeast, who were generally interested in the idea, the dealer acquired a 1968 El Camino, and a 1968 Pontiac Tempest sedan (both of which used the longer 116" wheelbase version of the new GM A-body chassis introduced in 1968) and set to work combining the two. Rather than simply just slapping the Tempest's front sheetmetal, interior, and badging onto the El Camino, the dealer transplanted most of the El Camino's body on to the Tempest's frame, before adding the Tempest's front sheetmetal, dashboard, and interior,. Some custom bodywork was required to get the Tempest's fenders and El Camino's doors to line up properly, and some exterior and interior trim, as well as badging from the more upscale version of Pontiac's midsize car, the LeMans, was added to dress things up a bit. The dealer even went so far as to create a window sticker for the vehicle that displayed its hypothetical VIN and sticker price, although it retains the El Camino's body trim tag. (
See pictures here for more details.)
When the finished vehicle was presented to Pontiac management, although they appreciated how well done it was, they decided to still pass on the idea as not fitting within their conceptions of what a Pontiac was, as well as Pontiac's marketing and dealership network not being set up to sell trucks. (Despite it clearly being a Chevelle model, Chevrolet marketed the El Camino as part of its truck lineup.) However, as many Pontiac dealership franchises were paired with GMC franchises, the LeMans Safari truck was purportedly one of the inspirations behind the GMC Sprint, which was introduced a few years later, though the Sprint was more or less a El Camino with different badges slapped on, and did not incorporate any Pontiac bits that would have given it a distinct appearance or a more upscale feel compared to its Chevrolet counterpart (even though GMC's full-size trucks did have some visual distinctions from the Chevrolet versions, and could often be ordered with more luxurious trim then Chevrolets at the highest trim levels.)
After Pontiac's rejection of the vehicle, it was kept by the dealer who built it, and used as a parts delivery vehicle for several decades for both the Pontiac dealership and a Ski-Doo dealership he also owned, before his family sold it into the collector market in 2012.