1960s trucks get a lot of attention, but it’s mainly about the Fords F100s and Chevy C10s. However, the Dodge D Series is particularly popular with the off-roading community, as proven by the many concepts shown at the Easter Safari. And if you’ve ever wanted to go camping in the Moab valley, we’ve found the perfect vintage vehicle for you, a 1965 Dodge D300 with a Caveman Camper conversion.
This thing is currently for sale on Bring a Trailer out of Auberry, California. And we think it could be amazing with just a few cheap off-road mods to the chassis, maybe an engine swap. The D300 was a heavier grade of truck, but it’s not much different from a modern 1500 in size.
1965 was the last model year of the first-generation D Series. It was manufactured at the Warren plant in Michigan. While you could order Chrysler’s 426 wedge-head V8, it’s pretty rare to find one of those. Instead, this D300 1-ton truck is equipped with the smallest V8 available, the 318, which was a Chrysler 5.2-liter making about 200 horsepower (originally). It would obviously be interesting to have a HEMI in there, but given this is a camper, the Cummins seems like a logical choice for the long haul.
Caveman Campers used to be all over the place, especially combined with late 1970s Ford and Chevy trucks. They have this rustic look to them, with simple square windows, paneling design and sometimes the brown stripes. The company is still in business today, making RVs and 3rd-wheelers, but they don’t look like this.
In any case, I’ve never seen a Caveman Camper on a Dodge truck. It has a certain retro flavor to it, right? The color, which is probably Arctic Blue, matches the stripes of the camper and the white on the bumpers and wheels. I think Tonka made an exact camper truck toy replica of this, and that’s collectible as well. Granted, there are some rough spots, but it doesn’t need new paint.
Inside, the small camper comes with a kitchen, a small stove with gas burners, double sinks, a bed, and a toilet unit. It’s not exactly luxurious, but there’s blue everywhere, which gets the vintage message across.
