The original El Kineno is an incredibly rare creation. This "Dream Sports Utility Vehicle" is another rolling sculpture in a long parade line of special motoramic masterpieces Earl built for himself, business associates, friends, movie stars, military leaders, royalty and other dignitaries. From within the GM Styling Section that Harley Earl originally founded, he personally designed the El Kineno for his friend Congressman Richard Kleberg. Notice Detroit Free Press story below along with a Automobile Facts page from Mechanix Illustrated magazine of 1951.

Scroll all the way down at this section to see another mid-century-masterpiece designed by Earl and his protégé Henry Lauve for Hollywood cowboy legend Hopalong Cassidy a.k.a. William Boyd. 

One of Harley Earl's trophy books --- detailed below --- documents the making of America's first Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV). Simply put, the evidence here is hard to dispute. But, draw your own conclusion after looking at the personal record book photos on the Buick El Kineno being built inside Harley's GM Styling Section. 

Aside from being a hard worker out on the open range, the El Kineno was a free wheeling Party-Mobile. And, if you got stuck in a ditch, you could then always use the onboard winch to get free, or, (long before OnStar) just pick up the built-in Bell System telephone and call for help!

Notice too, the top front fenders have special tri-shaped insert moldings for hunting rifles and shotguns. Other pics here show the El Kineno fitted with standard front fenders sans these special moldings. 

Arrow below shows Harley Earl with Henry Lauve outside the Styling Section headquarters. Notice the kids who were invited to partake in these publicity photos of this Hollywood celebrity. Earl's department did special design work (like the Hopalong Caddy) for free and his celebrity cars had huge promotional power, not only for Hoppy, but for Earl and his gang of designers in Detroit. Naturally, other big players back in Hollywood wanted a car designed by Earl, but Harley only did special vehicles for certain individuals. In other words, Detroit's most famous artist-entertainer around the mid-twentieth-century wasn't in this particular game for the money. As the picture below clearly displays, Designer-Earl preferred being in the background and/or didn't need to be the center of attention. His "the cars are the stars" mantra simply fell in line with another code he'd long followed: The world stands aside for a man who knows where he is going.  

Wielding his six-shooter in one hand and touching the beautiful hand-crafted hood ornament molded after himself, Hopalong Cassidy and his wife Grace relish the moment of receiving this one-of-a-kind Caddy convertible outside GM Styling headquarters. Just like Earl did on the Buck Jones Cadillac, this Hollywood star's favorite moniker --- Hopalong --- was stylistically emblazoned in monogrammed chrome (under his left elbow, below) on the car.   

In September, 1950 Hopalong sent a letter from his Beverly Hills, CA. home to Henry Lauve of GM Styling stating the deep appreciation he had for this custom Cadillac.