We feature a lot of vehicles here on Barn Finds that could charitably be called “unusual.” Many are homemade and the modifications are questionable. This vehicle, however, is out of the norm in that it is professionally built, and it is definitely not your average sixties camper. If you are looking for a highly distinctive ride for the 2023 Power Tour, then break out the checkbook and look carefully at this 1966 Dale House Car, based on a 1966 Dodge Charger, for sale on eBay in Manhattan Beach, California. With just three bids and at $10,000 when this was written, what do you think this distinctive camper will go for? Thanks to Jim S. for the tip!
Do you remember the part in “Back to the Future” when Marty asked Doc Brown why he used a DeLorean? The Doc replied that if he were going to build a time machine, he wanted to “do it with style.” Well, imagine it is the 1960s, and you are in the RV business. Everyone else is using a truck cab and chassis setups for their campers, but you decide that the new for 1966 Dodge Charger is more your style. That is what is believed to have gone down at the Great Dale House Car Company. According to an article from Road and Track, the company built 50 RVs, of which two wore Dodge Charger front ends.
What is unclear is just how the Charger was used. This is not believed to be a converted car that was rear-ended like you see as the genesis for some of these campers. The belief is that a truck chassis was used, and a Dodge Charger front end was grafted on. The picture above gives you a good look at the front of this camper. The Charger front clip looks a little chunky, but it may be due to the picture or maybe the angle of the shot. The wheels also look to be a bit heavier duty than anything on the option sheet at the local Dodge dealer.
The shot above makes the front end look more like a Charger. Regardless of how it is done, this camper ceases to be a Charger behind the cowl. Construction was likely what RV industry folks call “stick and tin.” This references the usual wooden framework that is dominated by untreated 1″ x 2″ and 1″ x 4″ boards covered with sheet tin. Campers were made to be as light as possible and were not often built with the best materials to save costs as well. Butyl tape is used to seal the joints, but it can dry out and crack. Water, of course, finds its way into the tiniest crack and can render a camper structurally unsound in short order. Especially when ants find their way in. This was the death of many cool old vintage campers.
Inside we see that space utilization was a priority. The picture of the rear end of the living area shows the usual bed area that converts to a dinette during the day. To the right is a small sink and to the left may be the door to the flush toilet added during the renovation. Somehow crammed inside are a stove, a Coleman heater, and a propane lamp. Underneath, a small freshwater tank and a new pump help keep the sink and maybe the toilet supplied. There is no mention of grey water or black water tanks. In the old days, a lot of campers would just dump grey water on the ground (sink water), and there was usually a black water tank of some sort.
To add to the renovations, the dash has been refurbished, reproduction seats were added, a new house battery was installed, and the front end was treated to a disc brake conversion. The 361 cubic inch original V-8 engine was treated to a Holley Sniper electronic fuel injection unit. Various other parts and pieces were renovated or replaced to get this camper ready for both car shows and new adventures.
You couldn’t ask for a more distinctive vehicle to pull into a campground with. Or you would be guaranteed to get ink in Hot Rod Magazine and exposure on social media if this was your ride on the 2023 Power Tour. You would need a portable air conditioning unit, but everything else looks ready to travel. If the reserve is anywhere near the current bid, then someone might get quite the bargain here. Do you have memories of camping in a camper like this back in the day? Please share with us your memories in the comments.
Why, just why?…
Me too. Why?
It could of been worse.. instead of a 361 it could have been a 426 Hemi.. 🤦🤦🤦
To make you whine that’s why.
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, you see, these here days, JUST camping isn’t enough, one apparently must have something unusual or the biggest to be the talk of Jellystone Park. As if being seen is more important than the great outdoors you are SUPPOSED to be visiting. Yeah, yeah, I think it looks pretty cool, about as aerodynamic as a brick, if that’s an issue, and I’d strongly suggest heeding high wind warnings,,3 bids? Mmm-hmm, not the zing they hoped for, I bet. Don’t feel bad for the “donor” Charger, it was a flop and nobody wanted one anyway.
A brick would be more aerodynamic than this! Starts as said brick then adds thicker brick 1/3 way back and an air scoop on top. Gas mileage must SUCK. This would have looked better if they blended the front clip into the camper rather than “tacking” it on like that. It is different… and different draws crowds.
You don’t build something like this for aerodynamics and gas mileage, It is someones project—why belittle it?
Wonder how much that front end’s worth?
Less than the hubcaps.
Dodge Lodge Hodge Podge.
There was a guy in our town that did
the same thing to a ’68 Chevy Caprice
and man, did that thing look strange!
He used it for his daily driver for quite
a while but I lost track of it when I started playing music over the road in
’70 or ’71. From what I saw of his, there’s no way in hell that thing could be comfortable inside. After all, there’s only so much room on a &68
Caprice chassis.
Where is the toilet? Shower?
Next to sleeping area? C’mon Man
“Do you have memories of camping in a camper like this back in the day? Please share with us your memories in the comments.”
In 1980 I found an old 300 ft long barn that I turned into an automobile restoration shop. At that time I was working 16 hour days for a while as I built the business up, and I needed a place nearby to live. A friend told me about a 1956 Cadillac Superior ambulance that had been hit in the rear by a schoolbus about 1960. It was rebodied from the B pillar on back, by a travel trailer manufacturer in Florida called Cabin Craft, and featured a bed for 2 above the cab, full working bathroom and kitchen, and a dinette. It had a propane heater, and I hooked that up to a 100 gallon propane tank. I parked the Cadillac camper alongside the barn, hooked up the electric, water and plumbing to the barn, and lived in the camper for several years.
Most of the time the camper was warm in the winter, and with a 5,000 BTU window A/C unit keeping it cool in the summer, it was a bit cramped compared to the large house I lived in before. My simple needs were met, except for a few days in mid-winter when the temps dropped down below 10f. But the interior never got below freezing, and a quality sleeping bag took care of those few cold nights.
My young [pre-school] nephew loved to tell everyone his uncle Bill lived in a Cadillac but drove a Packard!
Dad had a ’69 Ford truck with a camper shell on the back. We would drive to the Midwest to visit the grandparents at the farm. It took 3 days. Me and sis would sleep on a plywood shelf while mom & dad would sleep on the floor with our German Sheppard “Wolf”. On time at a campground, Wolf wandered off in the pitch blackness. Dad and me went on a search mission to find Wolf who was an all black dog. Imagine wandering around all the campsites calling for Wolf in low tones. After 1/2 hour of searching, we couldn’t find him and returned back to the truck. We told mom he might be gone for good. Mom said “no he isn’t, he’s right there”. Wolf had found us and was tagging along behind us the entire time. Smart dog…
Here’s proof that that the national gene pool has sunk to an all time low. What a travesty
I think that happened some time back,,,,,don’t blame the Charger………though the windshield adaptation may be proof of same :)
David Sawdey,
The creator of the Great Dale housecar [he built about 50 examples, only 1 was a Charger] was a multi-million dollar real estate guy who dabbled in cars and inventions. His name was Dale Wasinger, and my research indicates he had obtained a US Patent on a safe manner of combining 2 vehicle frames together,
He made his housecars from late model, low mileage vehicles, that had been totaled in rear end collisions, combining the front of the car to a Chevy truck rear frame, then building the camper part in his small factory. This was before insurance companies reported a vehicle as a total loss, and was legal to build a vehicle of this type.
Had he not made these RVs out of totaled cars, they would have been scrapped and no longer exist. So one might say that Dale Wasinger was able to make silk purses out of the proverbial sow’s ears, and many of his housecars are still in existence today.
Perhaps the real travesty is that someone ran into this car causing it to be totaled.
Quite the oddball attention getter
I have been glamping for 3 decades
Motorhomes at first and fifthwheels later
I hated the rattles of the motorhomes
A pick up hardly rattles but you feel like you are driving thru an earthquake with a motorhome
Last week while searching for whatever on utube , a front wheel drive toronado box too similar to this popped up and the kid was driving it , the shaking of the steering column combined with the horrible shaking , cracking , squeeking , rattling was unbearable from my chair and the kid had to drive with no heating on a cold day
So i can only laugh at these but i must admit that the looks are quite the attention grabber
YOLO
Toronado with an airstream rv combination , search it on utube
Claudio…. Am I correct that the Toronado drivetrain was used in the GMC motorhomes? As impractical as they are today, they would probably much more practical than the converted cars. Still pretty cool looking “space age” vehicles.
I’m liking it. A one of two Mopar.
$10,000 reserve not met auction ended with 0 bids I guess other people don’t think its worth what the seller wants its a interesting contraption would be ok for shorter weekend trips to state parks that had bathrooms and showers
This isn’t any uglier then a Mercedes Sprinter motor home. And, it’s a helluva lot cooler looking. $10k’s the limit, though.
Finnegan and Freiburger, of Roadkill fame need to buy this and replace the 361 B block with a monster, bored and stroked RB, and then do their Hot Rod Drag Week in it.
I thought all 66 Chargers were fastbacks🤔
So this is an original? Converted (created in or around 1966). I would say that is worth something isn’t it. On top of that, those are great stories from Bill and Mike. Barnfinds, please keep the unusual stuff coming. I won’t buy it, but love learning about it.
If it had been a hemi he’d probably have gotten all the way through!!
A lot of times a car gets rear ended and ins write off. Cut the bad back off and make what ever you want
So cool over 20 comments less than 24 hrs.
I think it looks great. I always loved the 66,67 Chargers.
Many of us like the first generation Charger.
This listing was ended by the seller because the item is no longer available.
As long as it retains the Charger’s elecctro-luminescent gauges, than it’s okay in my book.
reg customer hasa ’87 toy Chinook camper. Nice – glass shell (more H2O proof than this). BUT…
She wants me to put in the 2.7 (tacoma) motor. Refuses to go manual so I refuse to do it (Pre-Runner transmis is too big for the tunnel). Stale mate…
Actually the 3.4 Toyota V6 is ‘almost’ a bolt-in conversion. There are shops in Oregon that perform the swap and even make it Calif smog-legal
Possibly the best looking BAD IDEA of all time. Good luck selling this.
I had no idea they didvthese that late. I’ve only seen older 50’s Pontiacs and Caddy’s. So weird looking.
Now that is cool. To me that looks like a front end from a 1967 Mexican Coronet, but I know it is from a Charger.