I've been lookin at some cameo's lately and just wanted to know some specs on them. What motor/tranny did they come with? Was the bed steel or fiberglass? Anything else or if there is a website out there for me could you post a link. Thanks!
The Cameo was a stepside box without the fenders and the styleside fiberglass sides installed to the box.It had other differences like a neat place under the rear bumper for the spare to go and neat interior trim stuff.The engines were the same as the regular trucks 6-cyl and 265-283depending on year.
The Chevy Cameo Carrier and the cousin GMC Suburban Carrier built between '55 and '59. The steel box was the same used on pickups with fiberglass fender sides mounted to it. Total production for the Cameo was around 10,000, with 5,220 produced for 1955. There were far fewer of the GMC counterpart made, 1000 total with 300 for 1955. The 55-56 Chevys and all GMC's had no chrome on the bedsides The engine lineup: Chevy base engine 235 six cylinder optional 265 V8 in 55 & 56 optional 283 V8 in 57 GMC base engine 248 (55) 270 (55-57) GMC six cylinder optional 288 Pontiac V8 in 55 & 56 optional 347 Pontiac V8 in 57 Chevy and GMC offered 3 speed, 4 speed(granny low) manual transmissions Also available were Hydra-matic automatic transmissions Be warned that anything attached to the bed is very hard to find, chrome, spare tire carrier, hinges, tailgate, tailgate emblem, rear bumper, bumper ends, taillights, gate latches, etc. Here's the rarest of them all, a one off '55 GMC Palomino factory prototype couple links http://www.1955gmc.com/ http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1955-chevrolet-cameo-carrier.htm
The Beds on the Cameos used the same size inter panels as a regular Pickup,except it had extra holes to mount the recoilers, the recoiler cover panel, 5 brace rods for each side fender. The rear of the metal inter panel also has holes for the recoiler cable exit, and mounting of the rear tail gate latch. Another differences ,with the inter panel, is the opening on the top lip of each panel to hold the chrome trim strip that runs along the top of each fender. Underneath that chrome strip are several screws mating the fiberglass fender to the inter metal. The 55 and 56 beds did not have the two long trim strips that run down the middle of the fender from front to back or the front ribbed front piece with the Cameo script. The 57 and 58 did. The front trim strip that runs top to bottom on the very front of the fender is the same all four years. It's made up of three pieces. The tail lights, bumper ends and bumperettes are all the same for all 4 years. The tailgate Chevy Bowtie is also. The Chevy Cameo was made 55-58 ,with a total of around 6000 total I think, with the 58 being the smallest number. If you have any questions, let me know. I have owned several Cameos and now have a 58 that I have owned for over 35 years.
Just curious, always wondered, were the Cameo tailights just regular off the GM shelf '54 Chevy car tailights?
No. They are close. The Cameo is one solid piece, with light sockets built into the housing itself. There is a outside chrome ring holding the top brake and bottom backup lens,plus a rectangular reflector in the middle. The 54 car has a metal plate that bolts to the body. It has socket for lights and the outside chrome housing bolts to that plate. I happen to be restoring a 54 car at this time and they do look alot alike and I think if you did put the 54 car on a Cameo, very few people would notice. The taillight housing for the Cameo is Pot metal also.
i have seen a lot of cameos with automatics, i think that if you bought one new that they got more bells and wistles with them
Here is a link to the Classic Chevy Cameo GMC Suburban Pickup Club. www.cameotruckclub.com By the way, all Cameos and GMC Suburbans were big window cabs.
mar-k industries down the road from me, offers all the goodies to build a cameo from a regular truck.
I owned a '55 Cameo from 1986 to 1988. Bought the truck from a guy that was separating from the Air Force...for a whopping $200! (Yup. Two hundred!) Running and driving, even! Had to put a tie rod and a couple of U-joints on it to actually get it down the road, but WTF, right??? It had a '56 283 with later Power-Pac heads, and the original three-speed manual with a floor-shift conversion. Painted solid red, it was an original white/red truck. Foolishly traded it to a bud for a '65 C-10 short stepside and a '73 Chev Laguna S-3 454 coupe. Drove the dogshit out of that Cameo, and yes, it was my DD for that time, too!
Great looking truck, always liked the tailgate on the Cameo's with the latch on the inside of the tailgate and cable mechanism inside of the fenders....
Way ahead of there time with this truck. Maybe that were Ford got their idea for the 57-60 body style?
All I know is I have restored the pot metal on those things many times over the years, and EVERY set has been rotten overall; especially the taillights. I can look up some actual invoices of some complete sets we have done recently if you want to get an idea of rechroming prices for the Cameo-specific pot-metal. The last set I did was about 3 months back.
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