Man Turns his Toyota Car into Micro RV for Stealthy Car Camping

tinyhousetalk ^ | May 6, 2014 | anonymous

[Brother Cracker]

Have you ever thought of converting your car into a stealthy car camper so you can easily sleep in it while traveling without being noticed?

This way you don’t have to spend so much extra money and time getting in and out of hotels while you try to get somewhere.

So I wanted to show you what I’ve been working on for the last few days. Of course it’s considerably smaller than your average tiny house so I’m not sure if you’re still with me but even if you’re not…

Isn’t it fascinating what can be done to make an economy size car a comfortable place to sleep for the night......

[cuban leaf]

My brother owned one of those ramble americans in metalic, uh, pink?

[bicyclerepair]

My Duster has a 318 with 904 auto-trans, every factory option exc moonroof. It’s not peppy around town but on the highway watch out.

And there’s a 340 (& 727 auto-trans) in pieces in the shed waiting for $ and time.

[cuban leaf]

I loved the torsion bar front suspension. Totally adjustable.

[Brother Cracker]

[bicyclerepair]

Yeah, torsion bars..... Mine are still from the slant-6 that blew up before installing the 318. Not too great handling.

Bought the car for $300 like 20 yrs ago. Drove the slant-6 until it spun a bearing. Then found a 72 dodge dart with a 318, took it out, put in Duster. Then cut up the old Dart and put it in the dumpster.

[moovova]

“A shower ?”

Is the breakfast bar included?

I love those cinnamon buns at Holiday Inn Express.

[tiki]

LOL, my husband had one.

[Brother Cracker]

[1Old Pro]

It often amazed me that all cars don’t have openings to the trunk. many european cars had seats that folded down to accomplish the same thing, LONG before American manufacturers ever caught on.

I used to pack many a 2x4 into my old 3 series beemers.

[cuban leaf]

I bought mine for $300 back in the mid-80’s and sold it two years later for $600. It was actually a very nice looking yellow with that partial brown vinyl top. By today’s standards it was HUGE inside. Handling? Hey, it was rear wheel drive. I could drift! :-D

[Brother Cracker]

1958 Rambler sedan

[Joe 6-pack]

The Aston Martin Lagonda had a picnic table :)

[bicyclerepair]

You wish you had it now? I can’t bear the thought of selling my Duster. My friend who helped me restore it just passed away. We rebuilt the 318 from the bearings up, 100% rebuild. Brand new interior. Could use a paint job now.

All it needs is new tires, and a carb. Plus the reg. ins etc..... It just lives in the garage now with a ton of stuff on it. :-(

[cuban leaf]

You wish you had it now?

---

Not really. Terribly inefficient car by today's standards. My wife does have a hankerin’ for an early 1950’s pickup, though. If I were to get some sort of "antique" car, it would be a convertible.

[woodbutcher1963]

The best conversion design was/is the Dodge mini van with the stow and go seats. It can go from all second and third row seats folding into the floor to seating for up to 8. Pretty ingenious design. A piece of crap automobile though.
My former neighbor was a finish carpenter. He used one because with all the seats down you could get full sheets of plywood in the back.

[bicyclerepair]

My 318 Duster gets reasonable mileage actually. I think the 318 is a perfect match for a Duster.

[MCF]

My parents had a 59 Nash Ambassador and I remember the seat backs folding down flat.

[cuban leaf]

Mine got something like 16 mpg. I tried everything and could not budge it. It is the reason I sold it.

[Brother Cracker]

[Lurker]

Back in my long hair bass guitar playing rock and roll days a band mate had an AMC rebel. The seats folded flat and it was a fret place to sack out for a coup,e of hours after a gig.