1968 Cadillac Camper - Let Me Know What The Wife Thinks

I laugh out loud imagining how my wife would react be if I came home one day with this 1968 "Cadillac Camper". For whatever reason, I find this thing compelling even if I've never been camping.

I laugh even harder thinking about how upset she'd be when she found out I dropped $12,500 on it. Perhaps she wouldn't react and instead, call a hospital and have me carted away.

Anyway, this is a camper built by Superior Coach of Lima, Ohio off the back of a heavily reinforced General Motors commercial chassis. GM sold most of their automobile based commercial chassis through Cadillac years ago - explains why so many ambulances and hearses were Cadillac's. The name "Superior" might sound familiar to you - it's been has been associated with all sorts of professional car conversions, most famously limousines, hearses and ambulances, going back more than 100 years.

I say the Superior name has been associated with conversions since it's been bantered about over the decades. Superior Coach was once an independent company that was bought out a couple of times by large conglomerates. Apparently, there was some equity in the name since it's stuck around as long as it has. Not so apparent was the market for car-based campers like our '68 here. I've seen pickup trucks with campers in them but never a car based camper before.

There's not much "Cadillac" in our camper aside from the front end. Things back here look pretty rudimentary even for 1968.

It's not so much that things had to have been done on the cheap with this thing as much as the extra weight of a small room off the back of a car had to be considered. This camper weighs in at a rim busting 7440 pounds. 

The weight explains the truck-based rims on a massive Dana 70 series rear end with stump pulling 3.73 gears. 

Can only imagine the gas mileage this thing does not get given its weight, gearing, lack of aerodynamics and this new for 1968 Cadillac 472 V-8. Owner claims it has a new camshaft, lifters and timing chain. Bet it does 0-60 in 25 seconds.

For your $12,500 you get also get three battery systems, one car battery and two deep cycle batteries, a fridge with a freezer, a 3 burner stove, 20-gallon pressurized water tank, 30-gallon waste water tank, bathroom with toilet, 2 gas lights (whatever that means), a furnace and stereo with cassette and CB. All the comforts of home on the road circa 1968.

Somehow it sleeps five. 

Crank windows on a '68 Cadillac? Power windows were standard on all 1968 Cadillacs but then again remember this isn't a Cadillac so much as a GM commercial chassis conversion. Crank windows saved cost as well as weight. Same for the lack of power adjustment on these luscious buckets. 

I don't know what price point this makes sense or less of a joke but $12,500 certainly isn't it. Especially on something that literally needs everything. Here's the listing. Let me know what the wife thinks of it.