The 1960s was the golden age of camping, in my opinion. It was like the Wild West, much the same as in the snowmobiling world, people were looking for ways to have fun in their leisure time and camping was a huge new market. Speaking of huge, this 1967 Ford F-350 with Chinook chassis-mount camper is listed here on Facebook Marketplace in St Maries, Idaho and they’re asking $14,995. Here is the original listing, and thanks to T.J. for the tip!
I was (was?!) such a nerd as a kid that I used to spend hours drawing camper and motorhome floor plans. My parents subscribed to a magazine called Camper Coachman and I still have all of those today and still go through them every so often. I kept renewing that subscription until it was discontinued, and then I switched to Motorhome magazine and Trailer Life. Wow, what a nerd. A dream camper for me and the four of us in our little family was a chassis-mount camper like this F-350 with Chinook on the back.
I’ve mentioned our F-250 Ford Camper Special Ranger pickup and Winnebago camper many times already. It was the only vehicle my parents ever bought new, and it was $8,000 for both truck and camper! This Chinook camper would have been a nice upgrade and appears in outstanding original condition. The seller says the original curtains are still there, which their grandmother made in 1972. Believe it or not, the same family has owned this rig since it was new, and the seller’s great uncle, a Ford dealer, created it back in ’67.
The truck is a Ford F-350 one-ton, perfect for the job of hauling a camper. Our 3/4-ton F-250 was a bit on the light side for such a big camper as we had, a one-ton would have been much better, preferably with dual rear wheels like this one. These wheels and tires are new, by the way, not an inexpensive feature. The cab looks fantastic, and I’ve always wondered what it would be like to drive such a heavy camper with a four-speed manual like this one. The seller says it has only 61,000 miles, so it must have worked fine.
Chinook was an early adopter of fiberglass, so a lot of their early campers still looked new, although they faded sometimes or required paint. I like this one the way it looks now, and a side-door configuration is the way to go, in my opinion. The interior looks original and there are Grandma’s curtains! Sadly, the seller didn’t pop the hood to show the original 352-cu.in. OHV V8, but they say it runs and drives great and has new brakes and a new clutch. Were any of you raised in a camper on weekends or on summer cross-country trips?
Cool old camper and that 352 with the 4spd should work perfectly on 2 lane highways (which usually have the best campsites). Take along a couple board games, play some volley ball or badminton, make s’mores and just chill for the weekend.
I like your thinking, sir. Stay off the freeway to get back to nature.
Scotty, once again this is a great find, great memories. My parents had a ’73 Chevy 1 ton with a slide in camper that I believe was made by a company called Pilgrim but not 100 percent sure, that they got in ’75, and he used to tow his 20 ft Cuddy cabin boat behind it. Trust me, a 3/4 ton wouldn’t have cut the mustard with all that weight. Seeing your old family snapshot of the truck and camper brought back memories. The thing with a purpose built cab and chassis camper like this is, thats all you can realistically use it for. To drive it to work or the grocery store would have been a bit much. Probably why a pickup with a slide in was so popular back then. I’m sure your Dad probably drove the pickup to work every day like my Dad did, and was able to use it to go to the lumber yard etc. But this camper is so well preserved, I know my mom made curtains for our boat and camper too, I just remembered that when you wrote this about grandma making the curtains in 1972. Great find and memories Scotty.
Thanks, Driveinstile, but T.J. is the one who tracked down this great tip.
Believe it or not, my mom drove the truck to work every day (she was a secretary at a bank) and my dad had Chevy Bel Air company cars, and later, Ford Pintos and even a LeCar, ha. My mom still has the camper sitting in her yard up on its jacks, it hasn’t been used in four decades.
Well then… Great find T.J.!!! My Mom drove Dads truck….. ONCE….. Now mind you, she drove a ’70 Olds 98 4 door hardtop every day. But she just didn’t like the truck.
Are you serious? That’s as cool as it gets! My dad had a ’70 Olds 98 in that light green color with green brocade fabric seats. That car surprised many a muscle car in my early days of driving, and I can’t count the number of wheel covers my brother and I lost off of that car, ha.
Thats too funny. Our ‘ 70 was a Holiday 4 door hardtop. Reef Turquoise, black vinyl top black brocade ( probably like yours) seats. Heck, hubcaps?? I lost a fender skirt!!! Thankfully I saw it hanging off the quarter panel in my drivers side view mirror, we only had a drivers side one, none on the passenger side, remember Dad looking over his right shoulder to change lanes. I surprised a couple guys too with that 455, just seeing the looks on their faces watching that huge boat pass them was fun.
This is basically what it looked like. Only with the base model hubcaps.
Great family pic. We camped first in a ridiculously heavy canvas tent and later in a 1973 Starcraft pop-up tent trailer. The iron on knee patches bring back some memories too.
1st let me say, it’s got to be tough posting a family picture like, considering what the family went through. Many may not know Scotty personally, but I can tell you, but he’s a spittin’ image of the old man.
As mentioned, slide in campers were used on the farm/business pickup, usually 1/2 tonners, and grossly overloaded for the truck. A mid range( F250) was better, but many found out, and Scotty can probably attest to, some scary rides with us holding on, looking to the old man, hoping he’d keep control, and dual wheels and an integrated camper like this, was much more stable. The downside, of course, once gone this route, its pickup days are over. The 352, or any Ford big block, has the steam, and I’m sure there are plenty of gals that can wrestle this unit, but generally, it’s Sprinter van/camper central here. This will only attract an old gear jammer, that grew up with these, and for $15gs, it buys a pretty cushy Sprinter van.
Re: 2 lane bliss, arm out the window, whistling Lynyrd Skynyrd, with nary a care in the world. Look at those fools on the interstate,,,well, I’ll tell you. We have THREE(3) interstates in my lovely state. I’m at least 100 miles from the nearest one, so it’s all 2 or the dreaded 3 lane for most Colorado travel. It’s ironic, in a state that attracts so many of these campers, they have such poor roads. Anyway, our 2 ( or 3) lanes are bloody murder. You’d think in our state, it would be impaired driving, but actually, it’s distracted driving that kills most. In a Utopia setting( say the UP of Mich), you can actually still do that( window down, 45 mph, whistling tune) but at some point, you’ll have to take an interstate or busy 2 lane, and slow pokes just are not tolerated.
So total buzzkill? No, not by a long shot. For a short camping trip, pull the Jeep, this is a great find for someone, just don’t go too far.
I was drunk the day my mom got out of prison…
THE perfect country and western song…