This shopping center at 29th and Willamette started out in the 40s as a drive-in movie. In the 60s, a giant Thrifty, the Walmart of its time, took over, along with a few other stores. And then about ten years ago they were all razed and it was full redeveloped with the anchor tenant a local version of Whole Foods. And it was given a new name: Woodfield Station. Woodfield Station? A former train stop? Where the woods meet the fields? No; it was a made-up name, undoubtedly from a list and one that had absolutely no relevance to anyhting.
Back to more real and tangible things: this camper caught my eye from a distance, for its repurposing of two pickup toppers, one top of some nice rough-sawn lumber side walls. Genuine; authentic; no BS. So what was it doing in Woodfield Station, whose name reflects none of those qualities?
Probably the same thing I was doing: dropping off a return Amazon package at the UPS store there.
I admired the rough-sawn pieces of Douglas Fir. I asked the owner if he had trouble with leaks; a few minor ones between the two toppers due to the bouncing around. The shovel is conveniently mounted.
I dubbed this the Woodfield camper, and it seem much more appropriate named than the shopping center. Happy Trails!
I admire this guy’s ingenuity. Don’t want to think about trying to drive on a highway in that setup, or about what kind of MPGs he’d be getting, though. He could have bought himself a van, but I guess this way, he’s certain to be the only one in town with a vehicle like this. Wacky, but delightful.
+1 for the newer Ram wheels, but if I had a truck that long I’d have the towing mirrors just to see around it. Even up to the 2015 models, Chevy seemed loath to actually equip their extended or crew cab HD trucks with adequate mirrors. Meanwhile, Ford won’t even sell you a Super Duty without towing mirrors.
It’s easy to find in a parking lot.
Oh my, the shovel and gas cans are a nice touch. They move the vibe from “hillbilly” to “serial killer”.
I see the shovel and fuel cans and think “military vehicle”. Every tactical (read off road) military vehicle I was around in my 10 years in the Army National Guard came equipped with at least one spare fuel can and a set of pioneer tools. For the unknowing pioneer tools were a shovel, an axe and a pick, useful and handy for all sorts of adventures in the woods.
America’s race to the bottom is almost complete.
This is a compelling argument for mandatory vehicle inspections.
As long as all required mechanical systems are functioning as they should, all required lights are functional and all added embellishments are secure, I don’t see why this wouldn’t pass any state inspection. It might not be approved of by a homeowners association but it doesn’t take much to rile some of them.
I wonder if he had just gotten divorced recently and this is all he could afford?
Considering how expensive rent in Portland can be, this is a viable answer to the issue. Go onto Craigslist and you will see occasionally see people renting out their _couches_ there for $300 or more a month. I saw people renting walk-in closets there with utilities and bathroom/kitchen use for $500. My roommate and I had six people living in our two bedroom house with a basement. We turned the dining room into a cordoned off bedroom. We only had one bathroom.
What an idiosyncratic vehicle. It raises so many questions.
I wonder what the back is like on the inside, and how that thing handles on the road. It would seem that those pickup caps might be prone to vibrate loose and become a road hazard. And that kerosene lantern…
How is “mom’s attic” secured, and how does that whole assembly stay together when the bed and cab go in different directions on bumps?
Is there a gasket of some sort between the caps?
Was the mismatched stripe on the hood a creative choice, or the closest match from a junkyard when the original bent? It doesn’t strike me as something GM would do.
It seems to me that a van or a Suburban would provide more comfort and utility with less danger of falling apart, or, God forbid, wood-boring insects.
On the bright side, it seems quite well preserved for an otherwise rust-prone truck.
As a possible micro-home, it reminds me of a fancier, mobile version of the Unabomber cabin.
I admire the owner’s ingenuity, but the vehicle safety issues and the shovel on the side would give me serious second thoughts about accepting a ride in that thing.
The answer to all the questions is easy: cost. Obviously, as with virtually all of these Rube Goldberg creations, the mitigating factor is that all of the major pieces were acquired for very little, if not for nothing. Someone either gave the guy those caps, or he just found them somewhere, slapped on some boards and, voilá, instant backwoods camper on the cheap.
Funny. While you guys were talking about safety issues and serial killers, I was thinking if our fearless leader ever decided the official CC Ford needed an enclosed box I could see a wood built wonder being crafted for it.🤔
Much more professionally done of course!😉
My first thought was the risk of thieves grabbing the lanterns and cans on the sides, then I realized that thieves aren’t interested in hand tools and non-electric stuff. Not pawnable.
It definitely has it’s own style. Clean truck under all that stuff it appears. Around here the shovel and gas cans would be stolen quickly. Just because they can be.
Is that some sort of makeshift awning in front of the kerosene lantern on the starboard side? It’s hard to see because of the shade.
I’m not so sure about it’s actual use, though. Did anyone else besides me notice how clean all the pioneer tools seem to be? They don’t look like they’ve been used, at all.
I’m loving your take on generic shopping center names. Near me in Indiana is an office park called Woodfield Crossing, which is just as divorced from geographical reality as your example. I suppose now that we know where the station and the crossing are we can follow the imaginary Woodfield in a direct route from Eugene to Indianapolis.
And the truck. Yeah.