I came across a guy that said he had a 1974, tandem
axle,
Boler that was bigger than the 13 footer
for sale and was asking only $1500 for it. He’s an older gentleman that is about to retire and doesn’t have a computer.
Anyone else see the issue here?
Boler never made a tandem
axle trailer and the bigger 17 footer didn’t come out until 1977.
As an avid
Boler fan, and after all the research I did when I restored my 1974 Boler, I said he must be mistaken. He swore it was a Boler. Since we live in Winnipeg, the birthplace of the Boler, maybe he had had a one off prototype. I’ve seen photos of a 15 foot Boler that was
for sale in Ontario last year. After an extensive google and fiberglassrv search I figured maybe he had a
Fiberstream.
He didn’t have any pictures of it and it was located 150km north of Winnipeg on a farm. I showed him the
Fiberstream photo and he said it didn’t look like it. Again he swore it was a Boler. He described the interior to me and it matched the floor plan of the 17 foot Boler, but the tandem
axle and 1974 year wasn’t right. I asked him if maybe someone took the Boler cabin off the original frame and dropped it on a tandem frame. He said he didn’t think so because when you look under the trailer, it’s all
fiberglass. The frame goes inside the camper and them comes out the back. He also thought that it was possibly 19 feet and not 17 feet.
So back to searching on google and fiberglassrv. I searched for 19’ tandem axle
fiberglass camper. What came up was the
BIGGAR camper. It was created by John
Biggar from Winnipeg. Turns out he worked for Boler Winnipeg in the 70’s. He left the company and made his own camper called the
BIGGAR in the late 70’s and then died. All references to the BIGGAR camper come back with a 1978 and 1979 model, which collaborates with the story.
I printed off a photo and showed him. He said that was his camper. When I said it was a BIGGAR, he had a confused look on his face and said “You’re Right”. He forgot and for some reason thought it was a Boler. As for the 1974 year, a lot of people on here will know that for some reason these 1970`s campers loose their identity over the years and then people guess what years they are.
So today I went for a drive to look at it. He said he bought it in 2002 and has done nothing to it but camped in it but hasn’t used it for the past 2 years.
A previous owner painted it and did a horrible job! These campers were all dark brown on the bottom and
light beige on the top. They painted it a peach colour on the bottom and a white on the top and over time it now looks awful! All 4
tires need to be replaced.
The inside is mostly original. Classic 70’s dark wood with orange/yellow plaid. It has a stove/oven, range hood w/fan, 3 way
fridge, bathroom with toilet, sink and shower and a hot water tank that he said all work. It has a
furnace that is unhooked and he hasn’t used and looks pretty rough. The door is
fiberglass skin on the outside and plywood on the inside which looks to be separating. A few of the
windows are also cracked.
He was asking $1500 for it, but told me today he`d take $1000. Is it worth $1000. Probably, but for someone with no knowledge or experience with 70`s fiberglass campers, it would scare a lot of people away. I can definitely see the potential for it. With this guy retiring to his remote farm in January, no computer and no truck to move it, I can`t see him selling it anytime soon. So in the spring I might offer him $500-$750 for it.
If I was to get it, I`d power wash the heck out of it!! Then remove all of the
windows and
lights and spray it with a grey truck box liner. Replace all of the exterior
lights and replace the broken glass. On the inside I`d remove the
furnace and put in a small
microwave and a window ac unit. Update the upholstery and install a flat screen tv…etc.
Here are a few pictures and please comment.