66 Camper Liner

[ncaress]

I'm buying a 66 GMC Camper Liner, but I cannot find much on it. Was the Camper liner an option?

[oem4me]

What the heck is a Camper Liner?

[MusicMan70]

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator says "Calm down. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a gun shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says "OK, now what?"

[ncaress]

LOL, that's what I'm trying to find out. Here are pics of the truck and the camper liner badge on the side. My neighbor has owned this since 1971 and the camper has never been off of it. The good....the paint is burned off the hood, but live in New Mexico so there is no rust...has 59,000 miles...he has kept the windows covered and the interior is near perfect....wood bed has never seen the light of day. The Bad..it hasn't been started in 15 years, but was running last he tried.

I've been searching around, but haven't seen anything about the camper liner package. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks

[ncaress]

Here's the badge on the side of the truck

[oem4me]

Hmm, interesting. So the question is: Did GMC have their own version of the Custom Camper, or is that a dealer added badge?

[spacedebris]

Could it be a special collaboration between GMC and Vista-Liner?


http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2...65-gmc-custom/



Vista-liner Camper on a GMC and given a special badge?

[ncaress]

I wondered that also, and had seen that posting. However, that truck does not have the Camper Liner badge on the side and the one I'm buying has an Open Road camper....??? The guy I'm getting it from said it was a special model and that it has 10 leaf springs. I'm not picking it up for a few weeks and haven't crawled under to check that out yet and I'm new to this so I don't know if they all came with 10. Gotta love the newbies and our silly questions

[factorystock]

Nice clean original find, 59K is hard to beat. What are your plans for it? Remember, this is a heavy duty 3/4 ton, not a shortbed 1/2 ton. Hopefully you'll appreciate it historically for what it is, not of how to transform it into something it is not. No such thing as a "GMC Camperliner". Somebody got creative and stuck that emblem there, not GMC. American built '60-'66 GMC pickups have no indentification emblems, just "V6" emblems or "Custom" emblems if so equipped. In 1966, GMC marketed a "Camper Cruiser", but it was not a package of options like the Chevy "Custom Camper", it was just a list of recommended options for pickups hauling a camper. About the leafs springs, standard 3/4ton GMC's got the 7 leaf rear springs, while the 10 leaf was the heavy duty option. Similar to Chevy's standard 2000lb coils on 3/4 tons and the 3000lb coils were the heavy duty option.Sounds like this truck was spec'ed right for hauling a camper when new, some 3/4 tons were not. Some campers were put on 3/4 tons with standard springs, 3 speed manuals, and no front stabilizer bar.

[ncaress]

Thanks for the info!! My plans are to bring the truck and camper back to it's former glory. This truck has been sitting across the street from my parents house since I was 10 years old. It's been in the background of many family front yard pics over the years. I got a wild hair last week and decided that it needed to be restored and I should take it on. My brother and sister are laughing their butts off at my new adventure....however I will have the last laugh as I cruise around in my 66 GMC pickup with the gigantic camper.

[Daves66Camper]

I have one of these too, but mine is without the camper and has been converted to a flatbed, as the box is rusted pretty bad. But I do have both Camper Liners still intact on the truck.

I did some research and found that Dan Elys GMC, Inc. - Camperland dealership in Albuquerque, NM came up with this package. He died in 2008, so I do not know how to find any more than this. What I know came from a newspaper archive of the Albuquerque Journal dated 1966. He ran ads in more than one of this paper. Some give more detail than others on the truck.

I also read his obituary and the fact that he was one of the earliest to work on this combo was noted. A great source of pride. After he sold his dealership he moved to Florida and did more on RVs and that sort of thing.

The 1966 GMC Camper Liner truck sold for $2,495 new, came with 351 engine, 220 HP, 3/4 ton. You could option power steering and brakes.

[jtrichard]

even thought it may not be OEM with the badges and the package 351/springs ect. you have a VERY unique truck there..... a nice restoration (LITTLE to no mods) is in order i would think

[Daves66Camper]

Yeah - we are looking for a seat and need to do some work on the engine, but it ran fine up until a couple of years ago. It is this summers project.

[sodly]

So what ever became of the original poster's truck? I, for one, would like to see lots more pics. I hope you don't plan to paint it. What's there looks like it's worth saving in its original form!!

Originally Posted by ncaress

LOL, that's what I'm trying to find out. Here are pics of the truck and the camper liner badge on the side. My neighbor has owned this since 1971 and the camper has never been off of it. The good....the paint is burned off the hood, but live in New Mexico so there is no rust...has 59,000 miles...he has kept the windows covered and the interior is near perfect....wood bed has never seen the light of day. The Bad..it hasn't been started in 15 years, but was running last he tried.

I've been searching around, but haven't seen anything about the camper liner package. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks

[sodly]

Are you there, ncaress? Guess not.