The housing crisis that has developed the last couple of decades has turned a lot of underused RVs into…actual motor homes. As in full-time. And the upside for a fan of vintage RVs is that there’s a lot more of them to be seen on the streets than would be the case if there was more affordable housing.
Parked along the curb here in Skinner Butte Park were two classic late ’70s motor homes, a Winnebago Chieftain and an American Clipper.
The classic Winnebago motor home utterly dominated its market in the ’70s, due to its incomparable price per square foot; the ultimate tract house with wheels. The decade of the ’70s years were Winnebago’s golden years, with the exception of ’74-’75, due to the first energy crisis. Motor home sales peaked in 1978, at a level that would not be seen again for several decades.
The first Winnebago motor home was built in 1966, as an addition to their trailer and pickup camper lines. Full history here.
The American Clipper Class C was built for eight years (1973-1980) during this boom time, when untold numbers of Class C manufacturers jumped into the market. But the American Clipper stood out for its all-fiberglass construction, as had the Chinook in its class. The great majority were cheap wood-framed boxes with aluminum siding attached.
The fiberglass structure was more solid, much less prone to leaks, which are the bane of older RV owners, had better insulation, and could be fixed more easily. It’s not just a coincidence that the Winnebago has a tarp on its roof and this doesn’t. This made the American Clipper something of a premium product then, and one with a much higher demand (and value) on the used market.
Most used the near-ubiquitous Dodge van cutaway chassis, but after Dodge exited that market at the end of 1979, some of the last American Clippers used a Chevy chassis.
Wow. I had a toy Winnie that was white and green, and looked a lot like the one my grandparents had owned before they moved up to a Fifth Wheel (and then a very stationary house in Florida).
I loved those campers and remember so many things about them, even from that young age. They had wood formica surfaces, lots of very ’70s colors (avocado green, harvest gold, etc.) and plaid upholstery, IIRC.
I remember seeing many of these types of Winnebagos on the highway when I was a young kid learning to identify makes and models of cars.
As if the people who are forced to live full-time in older motor homes aren’t suffering enough, I think there is a real and legitimate health risk to doing so.
In the period, these vehicles were designed for occasional vacation use. As such, manufacturers were a little less strict about using the safest chemicals, especially in adhesives, but also in fabric treatments and other areas of manufacture.
So while it’s perfectly safe for a human to be exposed to certain chemicals let’s say 40 nights a year, being exposed to these chemicals 365 days per year *MAY* increase the health risk of exposure.
This came up again 15 or so years ago when hurricane Katrina caused many to lose their homes. FEMA supplied travel trailers as medium-term housing for some of the victims. Concerns were once again raised about how travel trailers were not suitable for long-term housing for the same reasons, and that was 25 years after the featured RVs were built.
These things are decades old. All outgassing of materials was long ago.
No worries about off-gassing from materials with formaldehyde; that process is peak when new and diminishes with time. Within a year or two, it’s drastically lower. After a decade, it’s gone. Those FEMA trailers were brand new, or had been closed up tight until used.
The real air quality problem is mold. Many/most old rvs have or have had some degree of moisture intrusion. If not, excessive moisture from plumbing and propane cooktops and portable heaters condenses and creates mold breeding ground.
Almost every old rv smells musty. That’s why.
To be fair, most old houses up here in wa/or/bc have just as much mold!
Then they must have something significantly wrong with them. None of my old houses has any mold issues. Sometimes some surface mildew appears if someone’s not running their bath fan enough. But mildew is a surface mold, not one that’s in the walls and such.
Actually, newer houses are more prone, because they’re much more air tight. Old houses were not designed to be air tight, therefore there’s natural air exchanges happening all the time. In newer houses, if certain details are not done carefully, it’s easy for moisture to get trapped inside the walls. That’s where things get ugly.
I’ve never seen mold inside an old house wall unless there was a roof or plumbing leak. The old walls breathe too well for that.
Ever since I saw that Dodge cutaway motorhome with the body removed and a crude transition fabricated to attach the rear frame to the unibody front section, I can’t help but think what these look like from underneath. I wonder if the upscale fiberglass-bodied brands like American Clipper did a better job than the cheaper manufacturers did.
I went on a family vacation to Disney World circa 1973 in a rented Winnebago; same color scheme as this one, though it was a shorter Brave model. The Chieftain was top of the line; the Indian was in between.
I’m pretty sure the American Clipper is built upon the cutaway van’s original wheelbase – no extension needed. Just look at all that rear overhang!
The guy who came up with that big “W” graphic on the sides of the Winnebago made that company a lot of money. You could tell a Winne from 100 yards and it became the generic name for motor homes for quite awhile. Not that many remember Pace Arrow or any of the other big brands, but *everyone* knew what a Winnebago was.
It is interesting that the American Clipper did not use a longer wheelbase chassis on this model. It looks like 4 brawny high school football players on the back bumper might be able to get the front wheels off the ground.
It looks to me like the back is already sagging
I have a friend living on the street (in Los Angeles) in a ’77 Apollo motorhome. He has a business, but cant afford an apartment near his shop, which has no plumbing whatsoever. At least it has no leaks or structural issues.
The first time I saw a Winnebago of this design my brain froze for about a minute. Who the hell designed that thing I asked? My only point of reference being a neighbors 1973-78 GMC motor home. Such stark contrast in design was permanently seared into memory and not for the better.