It may not be running at the moment, but if you’re looking for a cheap camper project, this $600 Dodge Superior motorhome could be the ticket. The seller claims it belonged to his grandparents, who likely logged many miles of memorable road trips before retiring the rig. You can find it here on craigslist out in Modesto, California.
These old campers can certainly be massive undertakings, but at least there aren’t too many curves in the bodywork to worry about! Superior was a manufacturer of Dodge-based R/Vs that proudly used steel construction to keep the bodies tight and strong for many years of road-tripping. Class A motorhomes like this one are a rare find today, as the company went under in 1979.
The company was also known for upping the ante in the luxury department. Sure, they may be features that today we expect in our R/Vs, but at the time, Superior was breaking some new ground with on-board kitchenettes and full sleeping quarters. Despite being off the road for many years, the few photos the seller offers reveals a mostly complete interior, but the roof does leak – so tread carefully.
The seller says its engine is in great shape despite not having been run in two years. The R/V is a classic “ran when parked” example, which can mean endless possibilities for just how easy or difficult it will be to get this rig running again. I do take it as a good sign that DMV fees have been paid, which could potentially indicate the R/V was used regularly before being idled. Is $600 a bargain price for one of these Superior campers?
This was a high end brand in its day, Many had premium Dodge big block industrial engines mated to the best transmission of the time.
I want it
Cue the Breaking Bad comments. Personally I think this is the obvious solution to those idiots on TV paying 80 grand for a wooden storage shed on those Tiny House shows that are for some reason, so very popular. 600 bucks is a lot cheaper, and gets you much more living space, plus no need to have it trailered. For the $79,400 difference in price, bet you could find someone to get it running again, might even have enough left over for a tank of gas.
Exactly what I was thinking! Tow it anywhere and park it, remove the leaky roof and attach a light-weight, insulated gable-ended terne roof for extra headroom / loft, and live happy without a mortgage payment.
Cool looking machine.
Great find! These days one could fantasize just driving away from it all in this and winter somewhere disconnected and quiet. Just get it running, sort out the electrics and not even wash it.
I say if your going to take it on you need to upgrade it to a cumins turbo diesel with four speed automatic overdrive and two speed rear axle. Secondly repair the roof leaks and repaint the body. Lastly fix what ever else is troubling the old thing. This would then be an excellent home away from home. Or just an excellent home. It would beat living in a converted Sea can.
My grandparents had a 1972 25-footer in two-town tan and brown with scratchy plaid upholstery. I remember the shifter bring to the driver’s left on the armrest. My mom, sister and I drove across the country in this with my grandparents from Seattle to our home in northeastern Tennessee in the early 1980s. Great trip and memories: Yellowstone (of course) and getting dropped in a river by my grandfather because I splashed him by throwing a rock in the river. Aside from repeatedly whacking my head on a latch for the overhead sleeping compartment, it wasn’t bad sleeping in it either.
I wouldn’t bother with a full restore. Just drag it out to the back 40, build a peaked roof over top of it to keep the snow off, and rent it out to a couple of old geezers who drink beer and sit around in their dirty muscle shirts rolling their own all day long. Probably make yer money back in less than a year – if ya don’t mind being paid rent with empty bottles and chickens.
Alternately, just hinge the back as a huge door and remove the beds. Instant toy hauler :)
Here’s a $600 can of worms for ya’.( leaking roofs are never good) Best thing for this unit, get a FWD tractor, a chain, pull it to a designated spot, level it out, take the wheels off, and use it a poker shack. Motor homes have come a long way from these humble beginnings, and for good reason, these were miserable units, to drive, anyway. My old man had an Escapade ( also Dodge powered) this size and vintage, and it was merely a straight truck chassis with a camper on, and it rode like one too. Gas mileage was gallons/mile and a pain to get around, requiring pulling a small car, further exasperating the fuel usage. However, if you simply must have this unit, there’s always this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PyevO2PKlI
Fixing the roof is easy if you know how. Looks to me like there are 3 pieces going across the bus. Get some modern TPO (commercial building) roofing and replace ’em. Use a heat tool to seal between the sheets and glue the stuff down. An RV place would charge a fortune to do this, but you could DIY if you got the skills.
Easier to get a gallon of the miracle seal they advertise on the cable shows and paint the entire top. Then get a 5 gallon bucket of white elastomeric paint from Lowes or Home Depot and slosh a few layers of that on (I just did a small deck with it over a rubber bladder). That ought to solve whatever leaking was going on.
If only in New York. A buddy of mine could use those wheels on his Ford AA. They used the same bolt pattern.
Industrial 413. 10 mpg all day long at 60, 8 at 70. It looks like the leak may have been at the roof seam, clean up the roof and put on a rubber roof and you won’t have another problem for years. At that price, I’d take a chance on it.
Hey Bob, the “Good Ol’ Boys Direct from Nashville” had one too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dopGHkksnUk
Epoxy, strong stuff !
you pay me $600, that’s what we get to take this type of dinosaur.
At least the price is reasonable.
Add $10K and labor, then you’d have something nice.
A man I worked for had a new Superior before this was built. He attempted to take his family to Florida in it, from Ohio. The engine blew up, in Tennessee I think. Superior gave him a car for the remainder of the trip (station wagon?), paid many of his expenses, and had the coach taken back to the factory for another engine.
He sold it, never got another one. That must have been one negative experience.
Throw in a couple of vintage dirt bikes and remake Race with the Devil.
My thoughts are you pay 20k for a nice Motorhome either all at once or alittle at a time
I would look at the project as I would restoring an old cabin cruiser..lots of work and for the money you spend you probably could buy one for the same price done..
Superior motor homes were made in Lima,Ohio.also made school buses under the Sheller Globe name.Accubuilt,also a Lima company still builds Limos and hearses under the Superior name.Not doing too well last I heard.My father helped on these motor homes when he came back to work in 72 after being off several months with lead poisoning due to his job on the hearse line back then.Leading,a lost art.Now all plastic lead lol
There are only a few of these left in the world and the last two sold for over 30k and are highly sought after by collectors. You should have taken better care of it!
I had one and sold it to a guy in Europe for a nice price. Good luck with yours!
I have one that I am fixing up love it and will be posting pics
Have a 1973 440, next size smaller runs good. It came with headers which are leaking. Hard to find p/n’s for anything. Located in long island ny. I think I’m the only one around here that has one. Where’s your location? Would like to share info. My name is Joel.
Thx!
Don’t listen to any of these people with negative comments!
They live out of fear and they have no personal mechanical skills most likely….
…. that being said,, realistically you could refurbish the whole Drivetrain 4 less than 2500 bucks minus the cost of tires… run simple electric and simple wiring and make the shell nice….. then do a little man caves style plumbing and electrical for DC and you’re done outside of cosmetics.
A whole project like that could cost less than $6,000 and it would be better and more reliable than today’s computerized crap that’s held together with plastic and glue.
With no rent or electric or water bill that a house or apartment has gas and food are the only expenses if you have a life where you don’t have to work or can do something leisurely to maintain yourself.
It’s not rocket science the way these things were built or what it takes to work on them or fix them all those people are brainwashed with fear and watching people who have had other bad experiences because they don’t have a focus.
I have a 1975 Brave that I completely gutted and made into a a sort of restomod and life is a coast at this point.
And if I like the coast I will move there and look out the window if not I will go where the woods is where the city is no fixed costly residence that can beat that freedom.
Life is a vacation live semi-retired today!
🌿
W available can you bring us to Oklahoma City on the 1st of the month of January of the money
is this motorhome still available and how do i get in contact with the seller?