Cars from the 1950s aren't hard to find in the big self-service wrecking yards I frequent, with everything from a 1951 Cadillac Sixty-One sedan to a 1957 Nash Metropolitan to a 1955 Buick Special to a a 1957 Mercedes-Benz 180 falling before my camera lens over the years. However, while I do see the occasional 1950s delivery-van conversion, today's Junkyard Treasure is my first encounter with a camper-ized 1950s Detroit sedan.

The upgraded rear springs show that the camper conversion was not half-assed. Murilee Martin

This looks like an exceptionally high-quality backyard conversion, from what I'm guessing was the early 1970s. Someone with fabrication skills had a pickup camper shell on one side of the yard and a fully depreciated '56 Montclair sedan on the other, and the two were mated in fairly skilled fashion (note the heavy-duty leaf springs in this photo, for example).

The interior is scary now, but that's what you get with all junkyard RVs. Murilee Martin

Campers that end up in wrecking yards tend to be nasty inside, almost invariably having spent their final decade serving as habitat for various rodents or worse. I have spent too much time in such places, and I'll wear a hazmat suit next time. This camper looks like it would have been pleasant enough when it was in active service.

312 cubic inches, 210 horsepower. Murilee Martin

If this is the original Ford Y-Block engine that came with the car when new (which is possible), then it's a 312-cubic-inch plant rated at 210 hp. Since Detroit V8s tend to get swapped around with abandon over the decades, this could just as easily be a 256 or 292. Regardless of displacement, this vehicle would have been on the underpowered side when climbing steep grades, though nothing near as miserable as Toyota Dolphin Mini-Motorhome.

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