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Caution chopped Cadillac (turned into a camper).


brmurph

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http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/ii216/b...illac%20Camper/

I debated if I should post this as I know many of you will not like the fact that a perfectly good 1955 Cadillac (75 serious Limo) was chopped in half and a camper built on it but I have been following this forum for 7 years or so now and thought I would like to share this, sorry if anyone is offended. Seems as now was the right time as we may be getting rid of this as I am adding a basement to our cabin (you can see it in the background of some of the pics) and the camper will need to be moved in the process also my dad kind of wants to get rid of it as it is deteriorating and is hard to see that happen to something his dad built. Keep in mind that this was done in the early 60's so it was not a classic vehicle at that time.

This was built by my grandfather who passed away a year or two before I was born (I was born in 67) and it has been in the family ever since so there is a lot of sentimental feelings for this thing (so be gentle :-) .. My grandpa had a radiator repair shop and repaired radiators and bicycles from before WW2 until the late 60's, he just finished this camper and got to camp in it one time before he passed away of cancer. We currently keep this up at a property we have in Northern Minnesota and it is still used today by guest when we need extra sleeping space (doesn't run though, has not been started since the early 80's). I can still remember peeking out the front windows in the overhead above the cab back when the speed limit was 70 in the early 70's (was only 4-5 when it was parked for good)...

If anyone has any thoughts on how to get rid of this please let me know. I would love to keep it, fix it up and drive it but that is probably not realistic (although still a possibility). One problem is that it has been in the same spot for 30+ years and pretty sure it has sunk down to the frame.. I kind of wonder if it would be worth anything for parts, thoughts?

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Certainly an interesting vehicle. Looks like several parts are quite salvageable if you decide to go that way. That Dagmar front Bumper look to be in good shape.

Bruce

2023 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing

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That would be a very interesting project ... to fix it up and drive it again.

You may want to do a little investigating to see just how much it would take to fix it, before committing to selling it or parting it out.

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We have a for-sale board and the forum is active enough to turn up on the first page of links from all the search engines. If you do decide to sell it, here would be a good place to go before throwing it to the wolves on eBay.

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Are these Cadillac Camper Conversions more popular than I understood?

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/rvs/1450562294.html

3k03m53o55O75Tf5Q39b346fc56095c2d1a25.jp3mf3p53lf5T45P15Rd9b3e656165020d31eb9.jp

1948 Cadillac - $11000 (scmn)

1948 Cadillac Meteor that has original 346ci flathead V8 engine, 3 speed manual transmission, 71700 miles, runs and drives good. For more information please call (507)995-8300

Bruce

2023 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing

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I wonder if this was a 1955 Flower Car previously?

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Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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The story my dad tells me is that someone was professionally building these Cadillac campers back in the 50 or early 60's, that is where my grandpa got the idea, he figured he could do that .. If you search on google you can find a few more (not many though) but boy are they ugly, I guess I am biased on ours. lol ...

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I wonder if this was a 1955 Flower Car previously?

Nope, it was a 75 series limo, my dad road in it before my grandpa cut the rear end off with a torch. We have pictures of it being built somewhere with the rear just sitting there.

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I wonder if this was a 1955 Flower Car previously?

Nope, it was a 75 series limo, my dad road in it before my grandpa cut the rear end off with a torch. We have pictures of it being built somewhere with the rear just sitting there.

thanks brmurph that is pretty neat that you know the history

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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  • 1 month later...

After weeks of having my dad search through boxes of pictures and slides he finally found some pictures of my grandpa building this Cadillac camper, thought some of you might be interested. Also I have reposted the original link as it appears to be broken. We have decided there is too much history to just let this go so we are going to at least take the time to look it over and see if there is any possibility of making it road worthy again. It was run in Minnesota winters (snowmobiling :-) in the late 60's and early 70's and I am affraid the salt might have gotten to the frame, guess we shall see. One thing I found interesting is that 3 of the 4 tires still held air when the contractor (moving our cabin, different story) had to move it (after sitting there since 1974 without moving), thought that was pretty good.

Original pics (taken last year)

http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/ii216/brmurph/Camper/

Pics of the camper being built

http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/ii216/b...lding%20Camper/

Pics of the 55 Caddy before it was chopped in 1/2.

http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/ii216/b...0as%20a%20LImo/

Pics of the Camper being used recently after it was built (around 1965 or so).

http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/ii216/b...in%20the%2060s/

Enjoy.

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I agree, it has always been a dream of mine ever since I was a little kid to get this back on the road. Next step is to see if I can find a covered place to keep it in Austin and have it shipped down (may have to build a new garage :-) ...

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