Back in 1968, Capital Chevrolet in Denver sold a shiny-new Chevy C20 pickup. The gold and white “Golden Anniversary” unit rolled off the lot with a 396 V8. All of which, Chevy owners will tell you, is special in itself. The truck was special enough to stay with the family nearly 50 years. The second owner added an RV museum piece: A tri-level 1966 Del Rey Sky Lounge camper. The combo is decidedly a pristine 56-year-old truck and camper—and it’s for sale. [Update: It sold for $60,000 on June 7.]
Forget bling—think practicality with beauty
While “whistles and bells” takes on new meaning in the 21st century, “back in the day” when the Del Ray Sky Lounge was built, it had all the “bling” of the day. But this isn’t just eye-candy. The camper came with all that’s really needed. Self-containment with a fully galley and wet bath.
Unlike today’s mostly cookie-cutter campers, the “tri-level” part takes on a whole new character. In a scaled-down size, this rig has the fond feeling of a vista car on a rail line heading out through nowhere. You just don’t find anything like it today.
Swing-away jacks make for getting this unit off and on the truck easy. And the truck? There isn’t much for us to say in words. The sales site provides over 600 images of the truck and the camper (although a lot of them are repetitive).
A 56-year-old truck and camper in this condition is just a feast for the eyes. Log onto the site here and prepare to spend a while. It’ll be like walking into an art museum.
56-year-old truck and camper—at auction with no reserve
And if your art views go beyond just looking, you could add this pair to your own “gallery.” The on-line auction for this outfit closes this Friday morning. When we checked in late Tuesday, the current bid was $42,000. I’ll have to check with the Director to see if there’s enough money in the budget to curate this one into our collection.
All images from bringatrailer.com
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The camper is a beautifully designed simple thing. Made of quality materials that last.
A real rare find. I would say the truck itself in that condition is probably worth more than half the current bid.
Love what looks like a sun deck on the roof.
Thank you, Russ and Tina! 🙂 Wow! How cool! 🙂 I do not collect campers, but this is certainly going to make whoever wins the bidding very happy, I hope (no buyer’s remorse?). Thanks again and safe travels, Russ and Tina! 🙂
The final price was $60,000. Seems like a good deal for a truck AND camper. I guess the buyer will have to add bluetooth capability on their own dime? quarter? dollar? 😉 Or maybe not and just revel in the beauty and tranquality of disconnecting from the modern world in these marvels. 🙂
Thanks for the update Neal 👍
You’re very welcome, Bill! 🙂 Safe travels! 😉
Rv manufacturers are too lazy and money hungry to make a camper like on the truck, beautiful.
Memories…. In the early ’60s future in-laws had a brand-new Chevy pickup and new camper and I went to Florida with them for two weeks. The camper was not a three-decker, but so much like this. Put me in a “way back” time machine.