When Chevrolet introduced the Brookwood station wagon in 1958, it fit 6 passengers comfortably in the standard configuration, or 9 if the buyer opted for the extra seat. However, somebody took this one and did something Chevy never dreamed of by adding a camper, with the results seeming perhaps more function than form. That’s certainly not to say this one’s impractical, as the seller describes it as an awesome camper, and there’s definitely plenty of room inside. If you’re looking for something truly unusual and unique, this one is in Ethridge, Tennessee, and can be found here on Facebook Marketplace. It’s priced at $15,000, and we’d like to thank reader T.J. for the tip on this peculiar bowtie!
The seller says he’s posting this Brookwood for a friend, and there’s not a whole lot of information given, such as when the camper was dropped on or what inspired the transformation. However, if you study the photos, it appears that the roof was sawed off from the rear doors back, which opened up plenty of space to enable the camper and the Chevy to become one. The inside area could use a good clearing out followed by a thorough cleaning, but once that’s completed, I can see how this might be a useful vehicle to stay in overnight at a rural KOA location.
It looks like several seasons have passed since this one was last given a bath, and although the paint appears to be a bit faded, just washing this wagon and polishing those Cragar S/S mags might improve the outside appearance significantly. There’s some rust showing on the lower section of the right fender and front door, but hopefully it’s minor, so making a few sheet metal repairs and applying fresh paint might be a worthwhile endeavor. The camper section could use a nice smoothing out as well, but its colors happen to blend surprisingly well with the wagon’s, so just driving this one occasionally as-is and letting it function as lawn art most of the time is a viable option worth considering here.
The topper is pretty heavy, and it seems to have put quite a bit of additional weight on the rear section, so it might be wise to replace the springs and/or install some air shocks. No photos are included of the engine compartment, but it’s reported to house a 283, which is said to run great, with the shifting done for you by a Turbo 350 automatic transmission. I’m curious to hear what our readers have to say about this 1958 Chevrolet Brookwood wagon- is this odd creation something you’d consider buying and going camping in?
Before I’m sleeping back there, does the $15K include the tetanus and penicillin shots?
Steam cleaning to remove the DNA.
I never really liked the tail end of the 58 Chevy anyway. A+ for covering up.
Sounds like it has an exhaust leak. Huh? I SAID IT SOUNDS LIKE IT HAS AN EXHAUST LEAK!
Looks like a lot of fun, just not 15k worth.
Sleep on it.
For 15 grand I could buy a nice little pull behind camper for my 69 F250 and be quite satisfied over this contraption. 😉
According to the write-up, the seller is posting this car for a friend. I wouldn’t admit it either if it were mine.
My Dad bought one of these in 1965 as his work car. It was pretty basic and ran a 235 straight 6/3 on the tree combo.
Radio, heater, and not much else.i recall that Christmas we used it to go to my Aunt and Uncle’s farm for the holidays. Well, there
was this short cut Dad had heard
about from a friend of his and he
decided to try it out. All went well
until we came upon this really narrow bridge with no guard rails
on it. Dad made me, my Mom, and my sister get out of the car while
he drove the car across the bridge. The roads were snow packed and slippery as Dad drove
VERY SLOWLY over that bridge.
That thing creaked and groaned
as Dad drove across it. Once on
the other side, we piled into the
Chevy and went on our merry way. I have seen a few of these
over the years. A few Cadillacs
here, a few Lincolns there, and at
least one Caprice thrown in. It never cease to amaze me when I
consider the vast amounts of Yankee ingenuity (Something that
we no longer have in this country)
that went into something like this. The guy who built this did an outstanding job of building it.
The metal work here is not only
amazing, but first rate as well. The only thing our builder didn’t
figure on was the extra weight in the rear that may cause the front
end wander a bit. I think it needs
both coil over shocks along with the stiffest coil springs you can
find. A call to the guys at Kanter
Auto Parts would be worth the time and effort here. They’ve probably have what you might need to get this cool ride riding
level again. So is it worth $15K?
No, not in my book. But there’s
some poor schmuck out there is
gonna buy this thing, take it home
to show his wife or girlfriend, and
wind up sleeping in it when she
kicks him to the curb for buying it. Uh tiny house anyone?…
Looks like something Clark and Rusty brought home!
When this one popped up, at first I thought it read; 1958 Chevrolet Brokeback Wagon.
That gap on the rear door is rather telling…..pretty sure springs ain’t the answer.
Dually wheels. Should just fine after that (drop in wild laughing emoji here).
To bad some hillbilly cut up a wagon to make this turd
i too was thinking what a nice and rare wagon this woulda been.. colors too. though it might not still be here jad it not got camperfied.
It wasnt such a sad sight in its time, it was probably pretty cool.
Cleaned up and fresh interior it would be a sweet camper, could even rent it out as a stationary room.. taking the nose off for a ’58 restoration…
I’d worry that the suspension’s been too overloaded for too long. My dad had a ’79 C10 when I was a kid and we put a slide in camper borrowed from my uncle on it once, just long enough for 8-year-old me and my 7-year-old cousin to get in and jump around, literally, enjoying how bouncy it was and alarming the grownups before we were ordered OUT! and Dad and Uncle Bob started jacking the camper back up off the C10 and back onto Uncle Bob’s ’77 F250.
Selling for the friend? Why is that, too embarrassing? We, well, most of us, shudder at these abominations, it never ceases to amaze, someone thought it was a good idea. Coming up behind this rig, and you surely will, even with the Jeep, what a surprise to see what it is. A’58 Chevy motorhome. Didn’t see that coming. And what’s even more comical, is the seller( builder?) is so far into their own world, they actually think someone else feels the same way. I guess that, and the price is America today.
I have personally laid eyes on this car! Didn’t stop to take a closer look, though. Easy to poke fun at, but at some point it was someone’s pride and joy.
You are too kind!
Is it me, or are there some vehicles here that just cause you to rush to the comments section?
What a waste of a wagon
I try to fill on my name and email and in the middle of my attempt a REALLY ANNOYING POP UP AD appears. Stop it already
Agreed! I resent the aggressive, intentional distraction, which degrades user experience.The flashing, screaming ads are becoming ubiquitous online, however, not only here. At what point, I wonder, will most users decide that the annoyance they are forced to endure precludes the effort of viewing and participating in commentary. Personally, I’m just about there.
Chasing around the ads are the annoyance we pay by participating for free.
That poor car.
Someone should turn this into rebar and put it out of its misery and embarassment.
Better get some 8 ply tires to put on those back cragars
Speaking of Cragars, having been in and out of the tire/wheel business for almost 50 years. And I’m sure some of this is because of the popularity of the Cragar brand. But number 1 in my wheel failure experience is the Cragar SS wheel. Even if you were able to stabilize the ride height situation and had proper sway bars, etc. I wouldn’t trust those wheels in this application over 20 mph. I don’t fault the thought or process of this conversation. Most of us with limited funds work with what we have. BUT, in my opinion, this is not safe on many fronts. With beefed up rear springs it would then shift quite abit of weight to the front which I’m sure would then be a new(er) situation. This chassis was not designed for this kind of load. And that doesn’t even address the drive train limitations. As I mentioned before in a previous post about this car. The colors all work together nicely!
Well, the colors match/coordinates well.
Hello, Kinsey (made up name) KOA! You want to set a reservation for what? I don’t think so, have a good day!
It looks like Rube Goldberg created this monstrosity.
Not bad for $1500!
Better get some 8 ply tires for those rear cragars
As Coach once said, “Bury it, and bury the shovel.”
It looks like something the Joad family would be taking to Cali-Fornia. In 1979, I broke down in M-SP and was at the Ryder place there. I asked the service mgr. if they had a service truck that me and my co-driver could use to get some dinner. He gave me the keys to a 60’s C-10 that had about the same track width as this beauty. It handled like a drunken cow on roller skates and I didn’t top 30 mph. This is more of a litmus test to see who’ll part with money for what. But, there’s a seat for every ……..
I watched an old ABC 1967 year FBI episode on tubi tv last night. On it, a brand new 1968 Ford F250 peels out with a kidnapping victim kid in a factory offered camper on the back of the F250. As it pulled out into traffic the driver side front wheel came completely off the ground. I had to rewind it to believe what I was seeing. Can’t believe Ford, who sponsored the show, left that in. My long winded point is I can’t imagine how this Frankenstein would handle! It didn’t handle all that well when it was a brand new station wagon 😂
Unsafe at any speed over 30 mph, not to mention a rolling eyesore. I’d be embarrassed to be seen anywhere near that abomination, much less in it.
Haters be Hatin’.
Personally, I’d drive the wheels off this thing
So KOOL!
👍🏻😎
Worst submission I’ve seen on this site! Horrible! Take directly to the junk yard crusher.
Surely you jest!!??
You would be the only one at the local Crap fishing tournament with this rig !
That wagon is WAY overloaded with the camper conversion on it!!! The rear door gap is telling that there are most likely frame issues, plus the rear axle is dangerously overloaded, and so are the the tires! If I were too either drive or ride in this, I’d want extra life insurance! (;-)
looks like it had a rough life and is really beat up for the money. i think they may be hard pressed to find a taker unless they drop the price.
Let’s see now.. Just saw a low milage 2011 BMW 330 Cabriolet on Auto Trader for 15k. But no wait, I’d rather have this heap? Actually I wouldn’t change a thing and film a reality series around it, got to be some awesome characters that built this mess! $50 to haul it away please.
I enjoy tasteful creative. At one point this one probably fell into that category. Somewhat. A 58 is my favorite 50s Chevy. In order to safely use it in this day and age in addition to ensuring the frame isn’t rusted. Upgrade the brakes to ideally disc breaks on all corners. Absolutely Upgrade the rear suspension! Make certain everything is in proper order in the front suspension and steering. A 283 is a good engine but you would probably want to hop it up considering speeds today. If someone was a little quirky and had adequate money then no problem. Not a good vehicle for ‘Joe Average’ though. It would be okay to live in if you were ‘less fortunate’ but those in that position probably don’t have 15k laying around. Given the things I just said, 15k is beyond optimistic. MAYBE 3k if a person fell in love with it.
Well, ya see, it’s unique. And it’s got patina. And, well, I’m out. Pull your Jeep behind you for some stability.
OMG
Sorry to say, but no KOA would allow anything like that to park for the night. You’d have better luck at a Walmart. Most RV parks have a requirement that your RV be a certain year or newer. In other words, they don’t rent to riff-raff.
This musta been someone’s pride and joy a looooooong time ago! Even with new air bag suspension that front end must feel lighter than air 15K real doubtful
For the man who has nothing.
HA!
What sort of person thinks of things like this?
You’d be amazed. This one is tame and normal compared to some automotive creations I’ve seen. You could even go so far as to call this one mainstream compared to some.
Perhaps a maverick-y type with meager resources, minimal technical skill, and boundless imagination.
The wrinkled panel on the camper behind the RHR door is of concern. In fact many things are of concern here.
Part out the useful ’58 parts, scrap the rest.
I too have seen some Frankensteins in my day, but nothing like this! Chris, that wrinkled spot you see there tells
me this thing, as creative as it might be, is structurally unsafe.
What the guy should’ve done was
to mount it on a truck frame and
THEN do the camper thing. To
me, it says: Too many rednecks,
too much beer, and not enough
common sense! Oh SD, did you
get to watch Panic In The Year Zero? If you did, I hope you enjoyed it.
Yes Ken I did watch it. I enjoyed it. Thank you for making me aware of it. I’m old enough to have seen years ago but for whatever reason, I didn’t know about it until you mentioned it here.