ElCaminos and Rancheros were NOT 4x4s...believe it or not my Grandfather's farm in ND was serviced by trucks that did NOT have 4x4 drives...in his day, if a truck got stuck, they pulled it out with one of the tractors or if it were really stuck then they used the CAT crawler...
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/chevrolet-introduces-the-el-camino
Here is a MotorTrend comparison...
http://www.motortrend.com/news/12q2-1957-ford-ranchero-vs-1959-chevrolet-el-camino/
Nah...the DURAMAXES are safe...like I said they are the real workhorses around here...