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$100 Oddball: 1971 Krager Motorhome

According to Hemmings, just a couple dozen of these unusual Krager motorhomes were ever built, which is a potential blessing considering the awkward looks. Based on a International Harvester chassis, I’d imagine parts are hard to come by these days. This one here on craigslist in San Antonio is listed for just $100, which seems like a fun way to burn some cash if you care enough to see this oddball camper live again. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Marc G. for the find, and go here if the ad disappears.

The magazine Classic Motorsports did a nice writeup this month about owning an oddball – those vehicles that draw a crowd wherever you go, a nice perk if you find owning just one more version of the same Mustang / Camaro / et al. that everyone else has tiresome. That’s why I love piloting my right-hand drive 1980 BMW 320, or the bright yellow HiAce – you never see yourself twice. This Krager camper scratches the same itch for me, as it’s a true rarity among vintage R/Vs. These were originally manufactured in Scotty G’s next of the woods in lovely Winona, MN.

The problem is (and the editors at Classic Motorsports capture this well) is that you may spend months looking for that one obscure part. And you’ll likely pour more money into it than it will ever be worth. But that’s the pleasure of an oddball, if you’re committed. There’s no question as to your love of the vehicle, since you pretty much have to be enamored by it if you wish to restore something as obscure as this Krager. The good news is, should a set of original hubcaps pop up on eBay, you likely won’t have much competition for them.

The big question for me is how this one-of-a-handful Krager made its way to sunny, warm San Antonio. I guess it’s not a mystery – after all, these were meant for exploration and hitting the open road – but it’s definitely a case of, “If those walls could talk.” The seller offers little comfort that anything on this Krager will function as it should, so at least the asking price reflects a fair value considering the significant investment required to set it right. Anyone think it will be rescued?

Comments

  1. Avatar KSwheatfarmer

    I love showing these beauties to the wife and then asking if we should get it and watching her reaction. This one my be to much for her to even look at.

    Like 1
    • Avatar Poppapork

      I like that its not overly big and long. I would shop on copart for a rolled over diesel truck/van, to put this body over its donor frame and driveline, redo the inside but leave the outside exactly like this – scroll up, look at that side profile and imagine it rolling coal, doing 80mph bro-dozer style…..

      Ps looking at this thing maybe o e of them isuzu cab over engine dlelivery trucks would be a better donor?

      Like 2
      • Avatar Jeff

        Whats a bro-dozer???

        Like 1
    • Avatar m vickery

      I did that with a house once. We ended up buying it. There’s nothing like fixing up a house you sarcastically suggested buying. My wife fell in love with the place, though.

      Like 1
  2. Avatar Mallthus

    The good news with this one is that it’s so far gone that it’s a clean slate for everything but the basic shape.

    Like 2
  3. Avatar Classic Steel

    It would be a great movie prop to blow up 😅
    Die Hard 99 and this one hurts as Bruce attempts to escape from a ticking clock with zero survival chances 👀😳😵

    Like 1
    • Avatar RichS

      you could totally reuse the “it’s gonna need a new coat of paint and a $hitload of screen doors!” line, which happens to be one of my favorites.

      And yes, it *IS* a Christmas movie. My wife is wrong and she knows it.

      Like 1
  4. Avatar Nsuracer

    I am sorry, it would take more than $100 to get me to haul it off.

    Like 1
  5. Avatar Mark S.

    This is truly a humongous project, you would be upside down when or if you could get it done. Good luck finding a replacement windshield. I suppose you could get one made for the price of a running and driving Winnebago.
    She would surely draw a crowd at the KOA.

    Like 1
    • Avatar PAW

      I am a big fan of transportation which does not get lost in a sea of grey Nissans or endless queues of F150s. This would fit the bill

      Internet (and this thread) seems to be a lot of hilarious stories of price of having a windshield made off a template. For a fact the cost was 800€, and recurring screens @ 250€/each. This was for Lincoln front screen at 2012

      So Winnebago for a cost of screen one should pay 1000$. Hardly better than this, but they are everywhere. So why bother?

      The chassis and the structure of this would be where the money would go. New screens are coffee money vs all the other needing attention here

      Like 1
  6. Avatar Derek

    Betcha it would scrap out for more than a hundred bucks, and you could keep that neat little maker’s plate to hang on your wall.

    Like 0
  7. Avatar Joseph Wayne Haddock

    Drop a 4BT in it and get excellent mileage.

    Like 1
    • Avatar PAPERBKWRITER

      I’ll bet you can talk the owner down to “free for the hauling.”

      Like 1
  8. Avatar Rich

    So ugly that I want this. The HOA would be thrilled. So would my wife.

    Like 1
    • Avatar Fiete T.

      I was given a Travco 320 by my uncle, who ordered it new. It was revamped in about 2002, so it is no rolling ‘shooting gallery.’ People always seem to think it is pretty interesting- my HOA? Nope

      Like 1
  9. Avatar Billy 007

    Winona, Minnesota is a very pretty place and the namesake of the equally lovely Winona Ryder. If I am not mistaken, that is where her name came from.

    Like 1
    • Avatar MSG Bob

      And according to Wikipedia, that is where she was born as Winona Laura Horowitz.

      Like 0
    • Avatar Rich

      Birthplace of Waterskiing too!

      Like 1
  10. Avatar Francisco

    These cheap RV’s are showing up all over the country. The sellers are hoping to avoid the cost of hauling them to the junkyard. They offer them dirt cheap with the hopes that some enthusiast (sucker) will pay for them. More often than not, they are abandoned somewhere, and become part of country landscape. There are quite a few of them, along with junk cars and school buses, here in rural Pennsylvania where I live.

    Like 1
  11. Avatar Suttree

    Finally, a seller who’ll almost give away a project on the off chance it’ll be of some use to somebody. With crack pipe prices on everything from mint to scrapyard this seller is a breath of fresh air. I’d like to think I’d do that too.

    Like 1
  12. Avatar Coventrycat

    Man, is that ugly. Kool Krager Koach nonetheless.

    Like 1
  13. Avatar JimmyJ

    Price is right,maybe someone’s restoring one and can use some parts.
    Better yet throw it in the back 40 and use it as an inlaw suite,guaranteed they’ll never be back!

    Like 1
  14. Avatar Steve

    With that nose it would make a nice bookend to a Daimler Dart collection!

    Like 1
  15. Avatar Nrg8

    Love the character, if this was closer, I would at least give it a once over. Chevy 1 ton chassis have hardly changed from that area up to about the 90’s. Parts would not be a problem. If the chassis looked good and the block was not locked up, skeleton looked solid. It would be totally deserving of a gut and update on the inside. Buy a hail damage trailer to supply appliance and cupboards and systems. Outside it would be straighten, correct and reseal the windows and joints, strip the paint on it. Then add lots of avaition style patches all over. Then polish it up like and Air Stream. Or polish it up and do brass patches randomly. Give it a steam punk feel. Might even be inclined to do belt line in brass rivets as an accent. I think you could make the front window 4 piece with an extra spine where the curve is without alot of metal work. New seals & flat glass would be much better then sourcing those bad boys. But yeah labour of love. And I know the skin isn’t all aluminum. But what isn’t is on the roof where you hit it with uv paint anyway.

    Like 1
  16. Avatar Madmatt

    I would put cragars on my krager….😎..
    This could be an amazing retro motor home..,
    I agree that a more modern chassis might be worthwhile!..
    So weird ..that it’s cool..🤔..best price above free…,
    That I’ve seen on b/f in a while…..labor of love 4 sure…
    But really interesting….neat find..!

    Like 0
  17. Avatar Doyler

    I don’t want to set the world on fire….

    This is straight up Fallout design art

    Like 0
  18. Avatar Adam T45 Staff

    I don’t believe that it is mere coincidence that the word “committed” has been used in this article. I’m pretty sure that trying to restore this would lead to someone getting committed at some stage. I showed it to my wife and suggested that we buy it. She gave me the death-stare. Some ideas sound so much funnier inside my head!

    Like 0
    • Avatar Country Joe

      😅😆😂

      Like 0
  19. Avatar Doctor my eyes

    I’ve got better deal for anyone who’s considering this “investment”. Send me $100, plus the first $5,000 you’re planning to pour into this money pit. Five years from now, I’ll send you $1,000. In the long run, you’ll be at least $1,000 ahead, will have saved five years of frustration and regrets, and you won’t have to run an ad trying to convince someone to tow this wreck away for $100. Note: this offer is limited to the first ten buyers.

    Like 1
  20. Avatar JagManBill

    under pinnings as stated wouldn’t be had to come by. Exterior would be an easy repair since its fiberglas. That windshield however…

    Like 0
  21. Avatar Tracy

    WHY so many vehicles without titles?

    Like 0
  22. Avatar JagManBill

    thats easy…things tend to follow some of us home. Currently around here I have 2 Europa’s, 2 Spitfires, 2 50’s Fords and 2 trailers without titles. You “plan” on getting around to it…but time gets away. I have promised my Wife that by the end of the year everything sitting here will be titled. Problem with that is one of the Spits and both Loti are not complete enough (missing or collapsed suspensions) to go on trailers, and both Fords are to big for my flatbed and everything has to go to the State DMV office for inspection. So they sit…

    Like 0
  23. Avatar Country Joe

    Whew!! That’s got a face that only a mother could love.

    Like 0
  24. Avatar John C Cargill

    No worries about go parts. I H has owners clubs and forums. Especially the pickups, Travellalls, and Scouts.

    Like 0
  25. Avatar Derek

    On the funky side, but cool.

    Like 0
  26. Avatar Dghberkley

    Does the A/C work?

    Like 0
  27. Avatar chad

    I like how open the cab is with the living area, but my god, what a do over.
    Agreed, the diesel would B 1 of the 1st changes (power & mpg).

    Like 0
  28. Avatar stanley kwiecinski

    give it to the homeless people to get them off the streets. because you care. then watch them sue your pants off cuz’ it was unlivable after squatting in it for 3months. yup! that’s my opinion.

    Like 0
  29. Avatar Alan (Michigan)

    I wonder how many decades it has been sitting in the sun?
    Noting that the plastic has been baked off of the steering wheel so thoroughly that pretty much only the wire hoop is left.

    Just got a vision of someone attempting to pull it from where it sits, and the whole thing breaks in half, like in some of the crazy videos seen on YouTube!

    Like 1
  30. Avatar Don RC Hetzler

    We need any 1980-83 Cordoba..special LS sport series

    Like 0
  31. Avatar Jeff Hammers

    I sold one just like this to a friend in Washtington state ten years ago and he still has and uses it…..there is a picture of it in the book Mobile Mansions.

    Like 0

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