Chassis No. GE169P731417

This 'cab-over-engine' Sportvan 108 was originally delivered by the Rydell Chevrolet Company of Grand Forks, North Dakota, to Arthur Kesler of Crookston, Minnesota, on July 23, 1969, as documented by original paperwork in the file. It was outfitted as the Camp Wagon, a conversion by the Travel Equipment Corporation in the recreational vehicle hotbed of Elkhart, Indiana. This conversion included a dining table which folds into a bed for two, as well as a pop-up roof with candy-striped canvas curtain. Other equipment fitted including window curtains, a rooftop air conditioner, and a small galley trimmed in woodgrained Formica with a North Pole refrigerator, sink, and Coleman countertop propane cooker. An inverter is installed with a 110-volt outlet provided on the outside of the body for ancillaries.

Apparently the camper remained in service for many years; its subsequent owners were Robert and Karen White of Las Cruces, New Mexico, and it bears a camping permit from that state. In 1999 they sold it to William Pauley of Chicago, for whom a new 350 cu. in. V-8 was installed, mated to an automatic transmission. In 2005 it was purchased by Jim Taylor. Not only well-preserved, with the front seat upholstery, floor mats, and trim all in go order it has continued to be occasionally used, with the Taylor family having camped in it and used it to attend an annual beer festival.

One of the most eye-catching and charismatic vehicles in the Taylor fleet, and extremely original and well-preserved, this has the capability to make many happy memories for its next owner. It would be a wonderful paddock vehicle for the track, find itself at home in any U.S. National Park, the kind of locale it likely visited when new, or serve as the perfect home base for drinks and snacks in the trailer field following a concours.