"Since the original Alaskan campers, designed in 1953 for the purpose of camping along the Alcan Highway, campers have searched for a camper that would give them protection from the rain and cold; a camper that would travel rough terrain, be lightweight and present the least wind resistance on the road."
I (2-10-05) bought a 2002 F350 CC SWD PSD and a new 2003 Citation 10'8. Rancho 9000X & Toyo M55's.I have been a tent camper all my life. I wanted more comfort while doing my Willamette Backcountry Ski Patrol & Crater Lake Ski Patrol duties.11
I'm not sure when Bell campers started in Kalispell, MT, but I think it was early 70's or late 60's. Perhaps even earlier, I don't know.
Six-Pak has been around almost as long.
Of course, the EARLIEST truck campers were home-made units, back in the late 40's up into the 50's. Some were very "redneck", some were very nice, in fact the nicer ones often became commercialized.
Back then, camper "tie-downs" were often four holes drilled through the camper floor and the truck bed, with home-made large area washers for "reinforcement".
Life was simpler, back then.
CM1, USN (RET)
'94 Dodge 3500 4X2 CTD, Std. cab, LB, 5 speed, 4.10 LS diff., Jacobs Rambrake, 273,000 Miles
'99 Monaco McKenzie 32' triple slide
'95 Tioga 29H Ford-based Class C
Daily driver: '06 Jeep Liberty CRD
Towed: '06 Jeep Rubicon Unlimited
northstar claims to be the oldest in the world, at 47 years.
http://www.recvehicle.com/northstr/northstr.html
1999 F-250 Extra Cab SD 4X4 V-10
2000 Wildwood 28RKSS2S 31' 5ver
Derrick, Michelle, Michaela, Riona and "Bones" (K-9 companion) We Are Currently Here my website
I had a TearDrop in 1968. That was a T/C not a tear drop shaped trailer as we know today. Other popular Brands were Pilgrim,Tropical, Open Road,Roll Along,
Dreamer and so many I can`t remember.
In the `60`s Ford and Chevy even put out "Camper Special" models with special badging.
KIT Mfg started making truck mounted units in the 1960s, but have been around making RVs since 1953, they started out make tear drop trailer "Kits", hence the company name. They celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1995. They're still around, their RV branch broke off from the parent company and became Extreme RVs.
ORbiker wrote: Here is a quote from the Alaskan Camper web site.
"Since the original Alaskan campers, designed in 1953 for the purpose of camping along the Alcan Highway, campers have searched for a camper that would give them protection from the rain and cold; a camper that would travel rough terrain, be lightweight and present the least wind resistance on the road."
Early this spring Spott & I looked at one that was real old. I'll see if I can get the pic's up here. The TC was just south of here a bit. The guy said we could have, "just take it". Our wife's would have shot us. It was a neat old camper.
No. Northstar has only been selling truck campers for, according to their web-site: "We are the oldest truck camper manufacturer in the world, selling truck campers to dealers since 1961." It's unclear however if they were selling (factory-direct?) TCs before that date?
So, this would trump Hallmark pop-up (the Ward family) by 8-years, but not even close to Alaskan, Alaskan as the first/oldest TC maker, it appears.
Let's hear (by proxy) from the Industry itself, to clear the matter up!
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