If you fancy throwing in life in the fast lane and hitting the open road, then perhaps this Chevrolet C-30 Camper is just the vehicle for you. You will find it listed for sale here on eBay. Located in Carlisle, Iowa, it is being offered for sale with a clear title. The seller has set a BIN price of $12,500 for this camper, but the option is there to make an offer. The seller is also happy to assist the new owner to arrange shipping.
These old world campers are quite cool vehicles. This one seems to be in pretty fair condition. The camper body looks straight and appears to only require cosmetic work to bring it up to date. Having said that, I think that a bit of work with a quality polish would make the world of difference to the look of this one.
The body and frame of the C-30 look to be solid. Rust issues are minimal, with rust in both rockers being the only obvious item to address. The underside of the C-30 looks dry, clean and solid. There doesn’t appear to be any obvious issues with rust around the windshield, so it all seems to be structurally sound.
The interior of the camper is very retro and is about what would have been expected in the 1970s. It is functional, and it could be used as it is. A more discerning owner may want to update a few items such as the cooker and the cabinets, but that would come down to personal taste. The camper does feature a toilet and shower, but it is pretty cramped as you would expect from a vehicle of this size. The interior of the C-30 is said to be in good condition, with everything in place that should be there.
Under the hood is a 402ci V8 backed by a 4-speed manual transmission. The vehicle comes with all of its original paperwork and Protect-O-Plate. The seller has undertaken some recent mechanical work including new tires and new fuel lines. The brakes work, but they will need bleeding. With the camper attached, these are not a light vehicle, but the engine and transmission combination should get it moving quite respectably.
This C-30 Camper is not as flashy and trendy as a modern camper, but it is also considerably cheaper than most modern campers. As it stands it is functional, but it wouldn’t take a lot of work to modernize the fittings and fixtures. Then it could be a really good thing. So, do you fancy hitting the road?
I always liked these………you have twice the room of a camper on a pickup bed (like a motorhome) with the advantage of easy maintenance on the truck cab. This one being a Chev is better yet. Off course, a dinosaur today. We were never excited about a big block, even in my dad’s truck company that owned and operated a dozen of this type truck at a time. A good “Premium” small block got better mileage, had similar power and seemed to hold up better. The Premium engines came with 4 bolt mains, a forged crank and were just an upgraded engine in general.
A good “RV” cam, aftermarket intake and headers did wonders for the power output on these, and any lo po big block of the era!
While they do help with durability, 4 bolt mains and a forged crank don’t get you any better fuel mileage…
That is true…….but my dad frequently got over 400,000 miles on the engines. Many of the trucks ran over 700 miles a day 7 days a week. He actually got better mileage with a 4bbl carb than a 2bbl if he had a good driver. I have seen blocks that came out of his trucks with over 300,000 miles that still had visible cross hatch machine marks in the cylinders. The engines also had a superior balance done at the factory. His trucks had 9-10 foot van bodies, hauled general freight and newspapers between small towns in the northwest.
In all fairness the 350 and 402 both did very well in this series. The biggest enemy of the 400 was leaned out fuel mixture and retarded advance curve. They were a relatively big engine but you still had to put your foot into it to keep it going. Larger dual exhausts but not necessary to install headers unless you were doing a major buildup. Up at least one size in mains and give the advance curve a decent street performance curve. I put a Torquemaster cam in one and it was OK but I didn’t think it did everything that was anticipated. The majority of my customers were quite satisfied.
To Geomechs. 400 and 402 were different motors. 400 was small block and 402(396) was a big block.
Triumph, I’m fully aware of the big block being a 402. But you’ll notice the badging on the trucks with a 402 still said ‘8-400.’ When they started putting the SBC 400 into 4×4 trucks, the badge in the grill also said ‘400.’ For all intents and purposes, my comments were directed to the 402.
I don’t see the value here.
It is still an old motor home even though it has a 1970 Chevrolet front cab.
I’m sorry guys if your going to do any traveling at all in this your going to need a diesel and an overdrive trans I’m thinking a duramax backed up by an Alison 6 speed. Of course those don’t grow on trees either your best bet would be to find a wrecked 1 ton then you could grab the electronics too.
I disagree.. By the time you spend money on the diesel engine and Allison transmission you’ve doubled the price of the project to save mpg.. Put in an ls and a 6 speed and you will be fine
I say duramax only because it’s a Chevy fact is I’d rather have a cumins diesel and dodge heavy duty overdrive transmission out of a one ton. You could pick up an older one ton as a donor. The truth is I am speaking hypothetically as I have no desire to own a motorhome. Camping has gotten to expensive and I don’t go anymore.
I bought this 1992 Serro Scotty Highlander GT based on a Dodge D350 chassis . I drove it from Florida to N.H. when. I bought it and did 18 mpg . It has it’s factory 5.9 Cummins 12 valve with an overdrive automatic . I recently did a trip to Albuquerque from N.H . to pick up a 1950 Studebaker Champion Starlight coupe that I found on Barnfinds . I averaged 13 – 14 mpg towing with the a/c … 12 valve Cummins rule !
You got that right….!!!
I bought one of these out of Wilcox AZ in 1993. Same color but with the 350 and was completely rust free. I think I paid $1500. The camper itself was fragile from age and creaked and rattled a lot. Ultimately I scrapped the camper body And parted the truck out. It had the rare factory bucket seats in perfect condition which I think sold for $700.
$12.5? I don’t think so..
Nice retro rig…and it sold for $12.5k…..
Edsel Al…………..
What the heck? Are you serious? someone just bought $12500 worth of headaches. Did y’all see the upper left corner in the cab over bed? Old, I mean old leak and dry rot!
My dad had one of these chassie mounted campers on a 1 ton Ford v8 4speed transmission with dual rear wheels , lots of good memories , I don’t think he paid 12500 new for it
That was nice…the resto of equipment and labor should not be cheap…like and someone else did too. There was a like Open Road around here but on a Ford F350 chassie….it sat for maybe 30yrs in the same spot….and many a guy tried to buy it….one day it was gone about 2009.
That asking price comes to over a hundred nights at most Hampton Inns anywhere (not during Beach seasons in some areas … (-D ) Loving all the windows though !!