Posted by Judd on Tuesday, October 05, 2004 at 10:15PM :
In Reply to: Re: The next toy on the auction block posted by Todd Wilson on Tuesday, October 05, 2004 at 10:01PM :
Up for auction here is a 1975 30ft Silver Streak class A motorhome.
It is one of twelve ever built (1 of 12). Silver streak is known for it’s very well made pull campers that are similar in design to Airstreams but according to serious collectors of the two, Silver Streak made a more durable and better built camper. They built aprox 12 of these class A’s in 1975 and on through 1976 according to the experts I have talked with. I guess they just cost too much to really have caught on back then.
In 1975 this camper retailed for $36,000! Man that must have been the ultimate toy back then! A new winnibago was only $12,000 or so.
I am the third owner of the camper. Camper has 50,000 miles on it now and 12,000 have been put there by my family. The engine is the sturdy reliable Dodge 440 big block with a new Carter 4 barrel carb and aluminum valve covers because the old ones were allowing oil to seep by the gaskets. Engine is backed by the reliable 727 automatic transmission from Dodge and has given us NO problems whatsoever. PS and PB, easy to drive, handles wind very well on the road.
The camper is built on Dodge’s M-500 chassis with 19.5 tires. Camper was one of the first Class A’s to have Hydraulic levelers at each corner of the rig so that you could pull in a level without even getting out of the vehicle, I tested the motor for the hyd and it worked fine but I never filled the resivore because I figured the whole system would need to be gone through and leaks fixed and I never had the time to do it so I just used leveling blocks.
The factory fridge has been removed and destroyed as it had a bad freon leak and we never replaced it. We replaced the old microwave with a new one, stove and oven work well as well as the water pump system, 60 gal or so of fresh water, grey and black wastewater tanks. Lots and lots of storage, It has a central Vac system that we never bothered with as we didn’t have the hose for it and just brought along a small vac.
Lots of sleeping room for you and the family, two single beds in the back with a kid’s bed above one of them. Also the front couch folds out into a double bed and is very comfy. Practically new awning for the side so you can have friends over and avoid the sun or rain, it’s blue and white.
Newer 2 ½” exhaust from front to back, one new front tire, you will need to buy another one to match as I have the spare on the other side. The rears are in fine shape with lots of life left in them. AC has been disconnected due to the nature of these vehicles tendency to run hot in warm weather. Roof AC had just been serviced last year and works super!
The generator was the top of the line back then and I believe is a 6000 watt? I have had it running a couple times but the previous owner never emptied the fuel from it when he would put the camper away for the winter and I believe it will need a complete carb kit. The generator shows only 250 hours on it.
This is a very unique camper that you will likely see only once in your life! I know of 4 still running and actually meet with the owner of one of them and his rig in SD one summer, which made for some neat comparisons.
Fuel tank will hold over 60 gal of fuel and we always averaged 10 MPH and sometimes better.
We are selling due to the fact our family has grown and we don’t use it very often anymore and I hate to just see it sitting there.
Now for the down side’s………..
Drivers window is cracked, rear escape window is cracked, the spare tire compartment cover lost it’s rivets holding the buckles that secured the door to the body, an easy enough fix but I will let you do it. I had an extensive tune up done last year and replaced the water pump and harmonic balancer as well as adding heat shields for the spark plug (it runs warm in there) It runs well but has been sitting for all this last year, brakes have been replaced in the front (disc) and the drums in the rear had been adjusted. Occasionally the headlights refuse to come on and when you wiggle the headlight dimmer they usually come back on?
I assume a back ground somewhere. It is a running driving camper but you will need to tinker with it to make it rock solid. It will need a tire replaced in the front, usually around $100 at the CO-OP here. Camper has a few dings and dents on it, no more than would be considered normal for a vehicle of this vintage. Built with anodized aluminum (no polishing here folks it’s not like an airstream) Bumpers are all aluminum as well. Carpets in fair shape, window coverings are originals I believe and are in decent shape.
We put twelve thousand miles on this camper after we bought it and enjoyed all of them! I paid $9000 for the rig and I know I’ve put over $4000 easy into it for misc things and it will still need things to be completely reliable. It draws attention everywhere you go and rides nice and will cruise as fast as you want to go! It has pulled a 24 ft car trailer through the mountains and never missed a beat except for running a little warm. If you’re looking for a cool unique camper this is it! I’ll provide all the documentation I have about it and help you find the owners of the other one’s if you wish.
Please email me if you need other pics or questions regarding this camper and I’ll help as best as I can.