Packard, like Cadillac, DID build commercial chassis back then - why would it necessarily be homemade?
It looks to me that the style of the camper doesn't really match the year of the car. Seems like it was probably converted later.
that is a newer style overhead camper. they were more rounded then..jmho sliding windows,rollouts ..not the style of late 40's.
They did build a commercial chassis, mostly for the funeral industry. It's a bit tough to tell from the angle, but this doesn't seem to be a LWB, commercial chassis. Someones home build dream almost certainly
It's actually improved the looks of that butt ugly car. I love it, I'd live in it and run away from everyone.
Those were pretty common around here in the late 60's, usually built on an old Caddy. Anything big and heavy was fair game however. There was one company here in Kalamazoo that built quite a few. The Packard is different, and pretty cool. It'd be the hit of a Tin Can Tourists ralley. Brian
There was a camper of that style built on a early 60s Cadillac and another built on a a late 50s Rambler, yes the goofy finned one, that used to appear at Pate for many years. We followed the Rambler from Pate over to Cleburne on that winding road in a stout wind after the meet one Sunday afternoon..a long trip and scary too.
-------------------- Because the camper body is obviously a lot newer than the Packard chassis.The Packard looks like a '47 or '48 and the camper shell looks like something from the 60's, '70's or '80's Mart3406 =============================
------------------------- Now that's what I call "camping in style"! I'm glad you had the foresight to install some overloads, but I hope you also air-up the tires a bit when you take it out on the interstate! Mart3406 ==========================
Actually those camper conversions are one of the many reasons old hearses are so hard to find. There were several companies nationwide with names like "Tweety Coach" that went around buying up old hearses & ambulances... and making them into motor homes. The commercial chassis could handle the load reasonably well and this was a trend for about a 20 year span. Chances are high that 1st one pictured is a converted Henney Packard hearse '48-'50 model. Yes they're ugly & for us hearse guys it's just another old coach that's lost forever!
This one mj40's posted is 100% a homemade job... that's an Amerigo or Boler (90% sure anyway) pull-behind travel trailer grafted onto the '40 Ford cab. These campers are really cool... they're all fiberglass bodies & they sit ultra-low. I was looking for one recently, but landed an old Scotty Goucho camper instead. Neat find man!
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