Alright, here it is. A 1966 Little Champ travel camper. I bought it from a guy in Mount Clemens over the weekend.
I had Ocho77's camper in the back of my head when I was going to look at this camper. It's from 1966, and there are not many of them out there. So info on their history is limited. It's small on the outside and roomy inside, it has a full sized bed and another bunk that sleeps another two people. I loved Ocho77's off road teardrop camper when we stayed in it over the summer, so I wanted something like that. I also wanted to be able to carry my Meyers flat bottom boat on top. The tires and suspension on this camper aren't as rugged and large as the off road tear drop campers, so I'm not going to expect it to be able to follow the FJ60 everywhere. For the kind of camping I plan on doing with it, this will be a camper that I take from fishing hole to fishing hole. If I want to get into the boonies, I'd better unhook the trailer and leave it at camp for the day. It may surprise me though, the camper weighs 780 pounds (with gear inside, but without the boat).
I'll have to upload more photos of the brochure (the camper came with everything that was purchased with it in 1966 - even the original keys to the door handle locks) and it came with a frame that bolts to the door side and a canvas tent that goes over that frame. That way the camper itself will be a place to lay my head at night to sleep, and to stash my gear. The tent will be where we set a table, cook, play cards, etc. I don't think the tent was ever used or set up. It has a vinyl floor too, and there's not a speck of anything on the canvas or the floor. Its a cool little rig, and the tent is a big plus. If I arrive at camp for the evening and its pouring rain, then I can just crawl into the hard shell camper and set up the tent in the morning. Sort of the best of both worlds. The tent is 8 foot by 10 foot I believe, and the camper itself is 11 foot long by 76 inches wide. The tent effectively will double the living space of the whole thing. Its surprisingly roomy inside. On the main bottom bunk I can sit up with plenty of head room and even crouch if need be. The other bunk will really be a gear bunk instead of a sleeping platform.
There are some things I'll need to do to it to make it completely road worthy, there's some veneer that needs attention and I'd like a welded mount to carry my boat motor and gas tank. I will need to more than likely install a heater of some kind in there, and rig up a fan with a battery for ventilation at night. The angle iron frame below has surface rust so that will need some chassis saver and paint. The battery and heating system will be the biggest modifications to it, because the one light inside is powered by the trailer light plugin. There's no onboard provisions for that, and I'd like to add something. I will also need to extend the trailer light wiring... it barely long enough to reach the back of the truck.
It may not be super fancy or completely off road worthy, but I couldn't have built one exactly like it for what I paid for it. So I'm happy with it. As soon as the snow melts and the trees bloom I'll be loading the boat and be ready to hit the inland lakes!
I had Ocho77's camper in the back of my head when I was going to look at this camper. It's from 1966, and there are not many of them out there. So info on their history is limited. It's small on the outside and roomy inside, it has a full sized bed and another bunk that sleeps another two people. I loved Ocho77's off road teardrop camper when we stayed in it over the summer, so I wanted something like that. I also wanted to be able to carry my Meyers flat bottom boat on top. The tires and suspension on this camper aren't as rugged and large as the off road tear drop campers, so I'm not going to expect it to be able to follow the FJ60 everywhere. For the kind of camping I plan on doing with it, this will be a camper that I take from fishing hole to fishing hole. If I want to get into the boonies, I'd better unhook the trailer and leave it at camp for the day. It may surprise me though, the camper weighs 780 pounds (with gear inside, but without the boat).
I'll have to upload more photos of the brochure (the camper came with everything that was purchased with it in 1966 - even the original keys to the door handle locks) and it came with a frame that bolts to the door side and a canvas tent that goes over that frame. That way the camper itself will be a place to lay my head at night to sleep, and to stash my gear. The tent will be where we set a table, cook, play cards, etc. I don't think the tent was ever used or set up. It has a vinyl floor too, and there's not a speck of anything on the canvas or the floor. Its a cool little rig, and the tent is a big plus. If I arrive at camp for the evening and its pouring rain, then I can just crawl into the hard shell camper and set up the tent in the morning. Sort of the best of both worlds. The tent is 8 foot by 10 foot I believe, and the camper itself is 11 foot long by 76 inches wide. The tent effectively will double the living space of the whole thing. Its surprisingly roomy inside. On the main bottom bunk I can sit up with plenty of head room and even crouch if need be. The other bunk will really be a gear bunk instead of a sleeping platform.
There are some things I'll need to do to it to make it completely road worthy, there's some veneer that needs attention and I'd like a welded mount to carry my boat motor and gas tank. I will need to more than likely install a heater of some kind in there, and rig up a fan with a battery for ventilation at night. The angle iron frame below has surface rust so that will need some chassis saver and paint. The battery and heating system will be the biggest modifications to it, because the one light inside is powered by the trailer light plugin. There's no onboard provisions for that, and I'd like to add something. I will also need to extend the trailer light wiring... it barely long enough to reach the back of the truck.
It may not be super fancy or completely off road worthy, but I couldn't have built one exactly like it for what I paid for it. So I'm happy with it. As soon as the snow melts and the trees bloom I'll be loading the boat and be ready to hit the inland lakes!
