1957 Little Champ

[Donna D.]

Hey check it out! A kind person sent me this information to share with everyone... too cool.

1957 15 foot Little Champ by Champion Home Builders Co., Dryden, MI
Champion Home Builders, in Dryden MI manufactured a 15 foot vacation trailer with an all fiberglass body in the fall of 1958 and it sold for $1,650.00. See the full description in the exploded image of the trailer below. This trailer was discontinued in 1959 and replaced with a standard-type all aluminum body that was 17 feet long and called it the Little Champ as well, but sold for only $1,050.00.

[theresa p]

very cool to see the original layout from the owner's manual......that's the year i was born. it'd sure be a conversation piece to have it!

[Raz]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Hey check it out! A kind person sent me this information to share with everyone... too cool.

1957 15 foot Little Champ by Champion Home Builders Co., Dryden, MI
Champion Home Builders, in Dryden MI manufactured a 15 foot vacation trailer with an all fiberglass body in the fall of 1958 and it sold for $1,650.00. See the full description in the exploded image of the trailer below. This trailer was discontinued in 1959 and replaced with a standard-type all aluminum body that was 17 feet long and called it the Little Champ as well, but sold for only $1,050.00.

The only things missing are a black and white TV and a table lamp with a pink base and a turquoise shade. Thanks for sharing, Raz

P.s. And a set of mouse ears

[Daniel A.]

This is what 1650.00 could buy in 1958 that sure was high end.

Single Family - 3 Bedrooms, 1 Bathrooms in OAKLAND, CA 94621 for $1,650.00




Price: Appraise now!
$1,650.00 Street: 1453 66th Ave City State and Zip: OAKLAND CA 94621 County: ALAMEDA
(More Listings in ALAMEDA) Property Type: Single Family Year Built: 1958 Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 1

[Thomas G.]

$1650 in 1958 = $12,941 in 2012

[BCDave]

At that price when new, it was awful close to the price you'd have paid for the car you'd have pulled it with!

[Donna D.]

And now we pay more for a brand new tug (usually) than a new trailer. I paid more for my truck in 2000 than I paid for my first home and that had a 30 year mortgage. Ahhhh the good old days and thank goodness for rose colored glasses.

[gmw photos]

Well I hope someone is planning on reviving that little guy ! Looking kinda forlorn there.....all sinking into the ground left front.

I love those old ads with the cutaway drawings. As a kid I used to sit there and admire those kinds of drawings in Popular Mechanics and Popular Science.

[bbuehler]

...my 1957 Metropolitan (AKA: Baby Nash). Shame I had the yellow & white two-tone rather than the red & white model Metro, to match this cute "Little Champ'! If I'm remembering correctly, the Metro cost about $1,800, brand spanking new!
Oh well, with that putt-putt of a British engine, it probably would NEVER have gotten this 15 footer up a hill!!! Damn.
How many other undiscovered gems are out there, that we never heard about?!!!!
Thanks for posting this one,Donna.

By the way, am I just not seeing the wheels/tires on this little girl, or is she not ambulatory?!!!

[BCDave]

The Nash Met was powered by the same Austin Engine that was in the 'big" Austin A40 (Sold as the Devon, the Dorset, the Somerset or the Cambridge!)

Although the car said "Nash" (or sometimes "Hudson") it was a rebodied Austin. The funniest bit was that the Austin had a 4 speed gearbox, but for the Met, they physically removed first gear and the Met was sold with a 3-speed! (Wife owned two Mets!) They had a 1.2 liter, 40 hp engine and took 37 seconds (!!!) to accelerate from zero to 60 mph!

[rgrugg]

One of my college profs had a Met. One night during the winter several guys (NOT including me) hoisted it up onto a large pile of plowed snow. And very few new cars could be had for $1600 in 1958, although my first new car, a 1958 VW cost $1863 in 1958.

[Greg H]

I drove a Dodge Neon the other day that took that long to get 60 mph.

[Frederick L. Simson]

So THAT"S what these unknowns in this old referral were.

[Roger Kimble]

Very nice trailer, glad to see it.

[Camilla]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

And now we pay more for a brand new tug (usually) than a new trailer. I paid more for my truck in 2000 than I paid for my first home and that had a 30 year mortgage. Ahhhh the good old days and thank goodness for rose colored glasses.

With white frames of course...

[Donna D.]

Well of course Camilla... and wings!

[BigMike]

Originally Posted by theresa p

very cool to see the original layout from the owner's manual......that's the year i was born. it'd sure be a conversation piece to have it!

Me Too Theresa...Great to be born in the "Year of the Tail-fin", LOL
Veru cool camper.

[Roger C H]

So Boler wasn't the first fiberglass trailer!

Although the Champ looks like a stick built design rendered in FG.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Roger C H

So Boler wasn't the first fiberglass trailer!

Hardly. Roger here's a topic for you: http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ced-49718.html

[StevieB]

If anyone knows of a 1957-1959 Little Champ for sale, I would be very interested in purchasing it. Please send me a Private Message or email at steveblackmer@aol.com
Thanks,
Steve