There is a definite advantage to a camper style van when you’re hitting the road. Why pay for expensive motel rooms when you can just pull over and knock off for a bit? The assumption was probably that a campground would figure into the adventure but I know from experience that shopping center parking lots work too. Whatever one’s proclivities, here is a camper that is worth checking out, it is a “Corey Cruiser” that was modified from a 1969 Dodge A100 van. It is located in Spring Hill, Florida and is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $8,000.
This is not the first Corey Cruiser to grace Barn Finds as my colleague Jeff Lavery wrote an article about one back in 2018. And they do turn up for sale with some regularity. There were about 400 produced by Bob Corey, a Pasadena, California converter and they were sold through Dodge dealerships. Built on the 108″ wheelbase Dodge A100 van, the Corey Cruiser provided all-around views via a grand sum twenty-four windows! It would seem that all Corey Cruisers produced were either ’68 or ’69 models but that has not been factually verified.
The seller tells us that this example is 95% rust free, and admittedly, the body does appear to be sound. Supposedly, all 400 were provided in any hue that a buyer wanted as long as it was tan metallic. Every example that I could uncover is in this shade and research indicates that to be the case. There is not a lot of detail in the listing, so this is a “what you see is what you get” kind of ad; further inquiry is warranted. An image of the passenger side of this van is warranted as well!
There is only one image of the interior provided and it is not particularly telling – there is no description of amenities, either originally in place or still intact. As the seller states, “not perfect but is a solid start for a restoration project”. He does add, however, that the original “really smooth running” 318 CI V8 engine with an automatic transmission is in place; unfortunately, no pictures are provided.
Apparently Corey wasn’t the only Dodge camper converter back in the day as I came across this advertisement for a camper design that is very similar – hitting the open road and enjoying the great outdoors was apparently foremost on someone’s mind in the Dodge van marketing department.
The listing for this Cory Camper is a bit thin but the price isn’t, $8,000 seems like a lot for a “solid” project start. Admittedly, the going sales price for a twenty-three window VW camper has gone through the roof lately, but is that because of the perceived intrinsic value of the vehicle, or what someone sees as fun and functional use? I’m thinking the former – everyone knows the VW Type II camper, a Dodge Corey Cruiser? Not so much so. What do you think readers, what would you do with this camper? Restore as original or let your mind run wild and…….
Cool if your’e doing a resto-project.For 8 grand tho?
I’ll take it’s modern offspring…the RAM 1500/2500 PROMASTER any day.
I occasionally live #vanlife…and I can tell you that Ram vans are the apex vehicle.Stripped bare in cargo version…and you add just what you need.
This thing will make for excellent show & tell at cars and coffee nonetheless.
Got mine of my buddy’s dad a few years back, $4500 for the ’69 and a ’75 CT90 w. 2kmi.
Tore out the interior, kept all the (still working) appliances. I’m @ $12k into restoration, I figure if I can finish for @$20k and drive her for the next 25yrs I’ll be pretty happy.
I think there’s actually 25windows if you count the “wing” windows.
Thinking about van’s, my younger nephew bought a 2018 Ram Promaster City cargo van a few years ago and made a simple camper out of it.
While a novel idea, be advised, my old man had a similar “top” put on his Maxivan, it instantly turned a pretty decent van into one of the most dangerous vehicles I’ve driven, and I’ve driven a couple.. It enhances the “cabover” feel even more. Oncoming semis and stiff cross winds almost put us in the ditch. The old man made a camper out of it, and you could stand up, about the only advantage, even he didn’t like it, and moved on to a full size motorhome. The A100 van was a miserable vehicle. I had a friend with an A100 van and it was front heavy with king pin steering,( especially with the V8), hot ( sitting on the motor, especially the V8) cold, (poor heaters), no fun in snow and a pain to work on. The Tradesman was a much improved van, albeit, still tough to work on. Sorry, I’d pass on this unit. $8,000 dollars buys a lot of motel rooms, or a real motorhome, anyway.
Folks this is A-108 NOT an A-100. Actually it’s a Sportsman A-108. I know my father bought one new in 1968. Interesting to look at but no fun to drive / ride in through the Nevada desert in August.
Man, that thing got batted out of the ugly tree with an ugly stick and hit every branch on the way down.
So a Bob Corey of Pasadena did these. A Bill Corey of Pasadena had a foreign car repair shop and modified Corvairs like John Fitch and others did. Wonder if there’s any connection?
Corey Cruisers were designed and initially built by Bill Corey in Pasadena, California. Later models were subsequently assembled on the A.O. Smith production line in Ionia, Michigan. Prior to delving into the RV industry, Mr. Corey was a renowned automotive expert/engineer, amateur racecar driver, and ‘50’s/’60’s Era Road & Track magazine editor who fabricated, modified, and serviced a variety of sports cars at “Bill Corey’s Sports Car Service” on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena California.
Mr. Corey was a close associate and friend of Carroll Shelby, Bob Bondurant, Dan Gurney, and Otis Chandler, among others.
Bill Corey modified first-generation Corvairs, much like John Fitch did, but I never see him mentioned anywhere. I used to have him service a Jaguar. It had a universal joint which was lubricated through a hole in the side of the transmission tunnel. But when I discovered that his guy wasn’t lubing the joint, just squirting grease in there, I stopped going to him and did it myself.
I was Bill Corey’s neighbor in Altadena, California from 1960 until 1972. At one point he owned a 1965 Corvair Corsa with the 180 hp turbocharged engine that he modified to produce over 210 hp on the dynamometer. He had installed an upgraded transaxle, disc brakes, and modified the suspension system to include Koni adjustable shocks and larger-than-stock 15-inch Spyder mags. It had a high-performance oil cooler, a water-injection cooling system to allow more turbocharger boost, and an upgraded Corey-custom-built port-fuel-injection system. This “Corey Corvair” was purported to have a mid-six-second 0-60 time, and a sub-fifteen second, 90-plus mph, quarter-mile time.
One of the things I remember most about “Bill Corey’s Sports Cars Service” facility on Colorado Blvd. was the fact that the entire service floor looked more like a hospital operating room than a vehicle service facility. The tiled floors were always spotless, and all the tools and diagnostic instruments were meticulously clean and precisely placed in their designated positions on peg boards and tool chests. Additionally, Bill and his service technicians wore pristine white lab coats with pens, pen lights, micrometers, etc. neatly placed in white vinyl pocket protectors in their coat pockets.
If you were able to retrieve various 50’s-60’s era Road & Track or Motor Trend magazines, you could read about some of the myriad technical road tests of various foreign and domestic automobiles Corey conducted for those publications. He’s also referenced in Ralph Nadar’s polemic book “Unsafe At Any Speed” as an equipoise to some of Nadar’s attacks on the early Corvairs’ handling characteristics.
Greetings, I’m interested in the Dodge Core and you have it, send me the phone number
Got one for sale rebuilt motor transmission and new wiring harness 1969 A -108 Sportsmen cory cruiser
78k miles gutted new tires new exhaust
was last owned by
Legend Pro Skateboarder Natas Kaupas
Spencer, send it in and we will auction it for you!