Anyone who has graduated from tent camping to something with actual hard walls knows that your level of luxury has gone up exponentially. However, imagine if these walls were not a temporary escape from your day to day life but are, in fact, the walls you call home. Take a look at this 1984 Dodge Ram Xplorer camper van for sale on craigslist in Holland, Michigan. Will this rough but running camper van manage to sell for anywhere neatr the $5,000 asking price? Will the buyer renovate and use the camper on the weekends or will it become someone’s actual living space? Thanks to Pat L. for the tip!
Camping can be a lot of fun. Most everyone starts out in a tent from the local department store and gradually works their way up to a point where their budget and/or tow vehicle are the limit. My wife and I started out as tent campers and gradually added gizmos and gadgets until we were bringing everything but the kitchen sink with us. Despite my reluctance, we ended up purchasing a travel trailer. I have to admit that the fun times we spent at many different state parks and NASCAR races made the expense and effort worth it.
It wasn’t my first camper. I have owned two small pull behind campers that fell into the rough and ready category of hunting campers. They were affectionately named “Slum on Wheels” and “Slum Two.” The first was an early seventies single axle travel trailer that pulled well and basically provided a place to sleep, air conditioning, and a toilet. It was perfect. At least it was perfect until the back wall started coming apart from wood rot due to a hidden leak. The replacement was far less perfect. It was almost unused and just 10 years old. Everything in it was made of brittle plastic and would crumble in your hand. It soon found a new home.
The fellow that bought it was a bit of a surprise. He paid cash with no negotiations, and the impression I got was that he was going to live in it. This was during the period now known as The Great Recession, and a lot of people were struggling to find housing. While a camper is better than a tent, and way better than nothing, anyone who has owned one of these vehicles knows that any affordable ones are not designed for long term habitation. They are built to be light, cheap, and used on a temporary basis.
Now that we are entering what looks to be another economic downturn, used campers are popping up everywhere. I have read articles describing areas that are filled with decrepit motor homes and travel trailers lined up elephant style in neighborhoods with sometimes whole families living in them. Even worse, tent cities are sprouting up like mushrooms. In our small town, there is a tent camp with around 20 inhabitants set up behind Wal Mart. Two years ago I would have told you that this would never happen here. It is even more alarming to see signs of children in these areas.
There is precedent for this. When the Great Depression kicked off, people who did not have secure housing set up what came to be known as “Hoovervilles.” The name was a negative reference to then President Hoover. These were clusters of makeshift shelters filled with people that had no alternative. Given the number of tents I have seen in my area since the leaves have fallen and the exploding number of old RVs being pressed back into service on empty lots, I am afraid that we may be headed down that road again.
Will this van end up with a semi-permanent resident or residents? Right now, the $5,000 asking price is probably holding up a sale. This is a 1984 van that has sat in a West Virginia barn for most of its life. Among its negatives is surface rust, a likely dead battery, a lose power steering belt, a non-functioning radio, and the ever present clunk of a Mopar transmission when it shifts into drive. It does, however, run after a jump start.
On the positive side for living arrangements, it has a rudimentary solar power system, a hand pump for water, and a composting toilet. The previous interior has been removed and replaced with what could be described as a functional but not beautiful updates. There is a sleeping area, a space for a cooler, and a spot for the previously mentioned toilet.
In a more positive time, this would be a good project for someone who has both mechanical and construction skills to transform this eighties camper van into an awesome weekend war wagon. Its nice to get out of town and not have to pay hotel or bed and breakfast rates. Sadly, I am afraid this one witll end up as someone’s living quarters. There is nothing wrong with making due with what you have until times get better. The thing that worries me is that vehicles like this are becoming the best available choice for housing for an increasing number of Americans.
Do you think this van will end up as housing for someone? Have you noticed old RVs and campers being used as housing in your area? Please tell us your thoughts on this issue in the comments.
The issue with RVs, motorhomes lined up on a certain street hoping to avoid parking tickets has been an ongoing issue over the years in the area I live. One city I lived in at one point set up a designated area for people to park but the application and rules were so onerous that it hardly helped the situation.
I had a neighbor in Texas who owned one of these (new). He and his family traveled everywhere in the US (wife and 2 kids). They were always glad to be home, but they did love this vehicle as they could stop anywhere to camp out instead of checking into motels every night. I talked with their 2 kids, and they both loved it because they had room to do things while dad was on the road. The wife spent her time more in the back sitting in a nice chair, reading while keeping an eye on the kids. When the kids left home, he sold it … later he wished he had kept it. It was a nice unit, nicely done inside, and very comfortable.
$5,000?
Once again, a vehicle with one extra additional zero added unnecessarily to the asking price.
Wow, we got a history lesson, sad but true this country has been fleeced. With the price of used vehicles and the price of housing this might be priced right. I’ve owned a bunch of Dodge vans over the years and wish that I still had one, maybe a 4×4 conversion
Really don’t think $5K is too out of line here; it’s running, “possibly” low miles, some repaired items. I’m not sure where one would find something like this at a much lower price?
Does it come with the peat moss?
Well, this certainly is an interesting format to discuss economic disparity in 21st century America. But nothing seems to highlight the core problem better than the fact that some of our fellow Americans are trying to scrounge up $5000.00 so they can live in an old camper van while others are paying $100,000+ for a 60 year old muscle car that will spend most of it’s time in a (heated) garage.
These had a good interior when new.
Way back about the time this Dodge was new, my wife and I were bitten by the bug, when a local furniture store became a dealer for this exact brand. Trust me when I say that the original interior of this vehicle was opulent compared to what’s there now. It was designed very practically and the whole idea of heading off with our young family to camp had a lot going for it. Thankfully, clearer heads prevailed, and rather than a camper van, a 1986 Ford E-150 Custom Van entered our life. Perhaps in a “best of both worlds” scenario, the 86 Ford did end up towing a pop up trailer behind it, and that’s how our adventures took place, until our daughter said she was tired of going to the bathroom in the camp grounds loaded with spiders! Both the vans (there was also a 1997 E-150 high top custom van), and the campers are now but a memory, but they were fun for a time!
Always makes me wonder when seller lists the repairs they finished and leave a minor repair unfinished: “a lose power steering belt”.
If he was under the hood putting a new alternator on it he was already holding the exact tools it takes to tighten the other engine accessories.
What is missing in this story?
mechanical ability, time
Spent most of the past 40-years in a West Virginia barn
Has a parasitic drain / electrical short issue.
It’s a real mystery, folks
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Even so, looks like a fun project.
Torqueflites are still common (keep the torque converter with the engine, though, or at least get the correct part number off that one to avoid crank balance issues. Ask me how I know)
I owned a used 86 Explorer of this model (they offered several models with this one probably their top of the line). It was well equipped (including a generator). It had an interesting “dropped floor” that ran parallel to the drives haft that created head room in the center aisle of around 6ft. They were well made units and drove well. Their Achilles heal in my opinion was they didn’t have overdrive so they were happiest at 55-60mph which wasn’t too bad when we had a national speed limit of 55mph. I owned it after the speed limit went back to 70mph (in most places) and didn’t enjoy being “that guy” that causes a rolling traffic jam.
Seller told me it has a 360 inch engine.
What overdrive transmission will fit in this?
That will make it a great “van-life” cruiser!