According to the ad, today’s Nice Price or No Dice Chinook “runs and drives excellent” and even comes with a composting commode in which to do your business. Let’s see if its price might also mean business.
Volvo has a long history of making good-looking coupes. Some were extra-special, like the coachbuilt 1989 Bertone Coupe we ogled yesterday. Unfortunately for its seller, many of you didn’t find that two-door attractive enough to warrant shelling out the $12,000 asked for its purchase. The result? A substantial 78 percent No Dice loss.
Considering that this week’s U.S. elections probably didn’t work out the way some may have wanted, a few folks may be making plans to get away from it all, at least for a while. Should that be the case, today’s 1977 Toyota Chinook might be the perfect hideaway. And it’s mobile!
The fuel crises of the 1970s wreaked havoc on sales of motor homes and travel trailers as gas became increasingly more expensive and, sometimes, next to impossible to find. That led to the advent of a spate of smaller, more fuel efficient RVs, including the Chinook, built by Orange County, California-based Chinook International.
Contemporary ads described the Toyota Chinook as a “micro-mini motorhome” and touted the impressive-for-an-RV fuel economy, which was more than double that of a larger, more traditional rig. The partnership between Chinook and Toyota ran from 1973 through ’78, with both companies contributing improvements to the campers along the way. Afterward, Chinook continued building campers independently and is still around today. It should be noted that Toyota is also still in business.
This Chinook hails from the second to last model year and has a reinforced frame and later 2399cc 22R SOHC four as a result. These are built on the Toyota Hi-Lux Pickup chassis, although a pass-through has been cut between the camper body and the cab, making for tight but possible egress between the spaces.
This camper comes with almost all the comforts of home, including a new gas/electric fridge, two-burner hob, sink, and space heater. Also, for all you shy poopers, there’s a free-standing composting commode in which to do your dirty work “off the grid.”
According to the ad, the truck works as it should, and has recently received new water and fuel pumps to keep it so. Mated to the freshly pumped 97-horsepower four is a five-speed stick. The chassis is two-wheel drive.
Aesthetically, things don’t look too bad, although there are some rough edges and the canvas for the pop-top, while intact, looks moldy as all get out.
In the cab, it’s all tidy if tired. Serape-style seat covers add a bit of kitsch, as does some shag carpet and the dash cap. The camper space looks just as lived in but still perfectly serviceable and not without its charm. And since the composting toilet is portable, you could actually take it to the forest and determine if a bear does, in fact, shit in the woods.
The 2,500 odometer reading touted in the ad looks suspiciously like a rollover, so who knows how many miles this rig actually has. The base is an old Toyota pickup, so how much that matters is debatable. In its favor, the camper has a clean title and, per the ad, lots of maintenance records for some reading distractions. The cost to make this your home away from home is $5,200.
What’s your opinion on this Chinook and that $5,200 asking? Does that seem fair, given its condition and presentation? Or, at that price, instead of planning to get away from it all, would you rather it just went away?
You decide!
Seattle, Washington, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Don R. for the hookup!
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