Shot and posted by Jon O’Grady
It’s not the first time we’ve shared shots of an old home-built Cadillac motor home, but I can’t resist these. Let’s keep in mind that these were essentially the equivalent of our pickups and big SUVs today, and were widely used as commercial chassis.
Here’s that other one:
Two different approaches. I think the lower one makes a bit more sense, FWIW.
In the 1970’s Vaughn Motors in Columbus, Ohio sold Cadillac Motor home conversions. I thought about them yesterday when I saw a clean hearse for sale on the local Craigslist. The Vaughn versions kept the Cadillac front doors and windshield What would you rather drive; a 4 cyl Toyota, or V8 Cadillac?
They also sold Vouge tires with the embossed gold sidewalls. They were found on hearses and Cadillac drivers who were in the know..
The wheelbases of these cars makes me think they started life as limos or hearses. A great solution, actually, because after a Cadillac hearse was 7-8 years old back then there were few cars worse resale value for having so much life left in them.
For someone willing to put in the time and effort, these were a marriage made in heaven. All of the advantages of both the Cadillac chassis and passenger compartment plus all the advantages of a camper. These would have been so much more pleasant to drive than a pickup of the day.
Looking again, that bottom one looks like it might have had the wheelbase of a stretch limo, not a common thing then.
I cannot overstate my preference for the method that keeps the factory doors and windshield. I don’t want to make a left turn out of anywhere trying to sight through that louvered window, though the driver’s side looks better. I’m sure the wipers and wind would do a better job clearing the front glass that’s curved and angled, too. Dicey for the age of the pictured cars, but any newer and I’d assume the factory AC for the car goes with the dash and cowl of the car, and I definitely want it to be there. You’re never at the mercy of a filthy public restroom when you’ve got a Cadillac you can crap in.
Your last sentence is the BEST advertising slogan of the all time, but I have a feeling GM probably wouldn’t want to use it.
As commercial chassis depending on the customer’s specifications it some years it could be ordered as a cowl and chassis which would include the full dash in the box of parts strapped to frame.
But I’m with you I’ll take the factory windshield and doors for all the reasons you mentioned plus making it easier to get in and out of the driver’s seat.
10-4 on the restroom comment. One of the great benefits of my RV trailer.
Reminds me of the Caddy camper I saw down in Southern Minnesota about a decade ago. It was based off a ’47 Cadillac and looked rather nicely built, if a little weathered. Sadly, I was a broke college student at the time, so I didn’t funds to take it home with me.
These were fairly common at one time, as used Cadillac hearses and ambulances became available with relatively low mileage use and were dirt cheap to buy and modify. Being body-on-frame, removing the body or portions thereof to mount the camper was easy. Working at a campground in Colorado in the 1970’s, I would see these Cadillac campers quite often. Even a few Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac chassis campers appeared too. Once the idea got around, many took advantage of a cheaply available rugged chassis to build a family camper.
Does the Cadillac chassis make it a “C” motorhome? Seriously, back then light/medium duty trucks had smaller gas engines and a lot less power than a Cadillac, along with armstrong manual steering and other missing features that made an early RV less than pleasant to drive.