Tamara Sawfert never thought she’d own a 1976 Toyota Chinook camper.
In fact, she was reluctant to own this Toyota camper, but her mom pushed her into ownership, and the rest is history.
Jerry Sutherland
The truck entered Tamara’s family through her brother. It was payment for a loan, so he took the truck in trade. He liked the Toyota, but his wife didn’t so it went up for sale and Tamara’s mom bought it.
Tamara’s mother was really sold on the little camper, so she went on several trips and used the Chinook for what it was—a home away from home. These Chinooks are compact, but very functional camping units so it was all Tamara’s mom needed to hit the road. It has heat, water, dining area and a fridge very efficiently laid out in the camping area.
She eventually had to sell the Toyota and Tamara was fine with that decision—but she didn’t count on her mom pushing her to buy the little truck. Tamara couldn’t see the point because owning it was never on her radar—but her mom was clear. She wanted the Chinook camper to stay in the family.
Tamara caved in because she knew how important the Toyota was to her mom, so she bought it. It sat for a few months, but the first thing Tamara did was clean it out because she said her mom; “Had a lot of stuff in it”.
After that, she learned more about how the camper unit worked. It has 93,000 miles on it now, so it was well-used, but the Toyota was also well-maintained. Her mom had it tuned up and put new tires on the camper before the sale.
This truck has the bulletproof Toyota 20R four-cylinder so it still runs like a champ, plus it will do a comfortable 50-60 miles per hour—”even more with a tail wind”, said Tamara. It’s an automatic and the seats are comfortable, so Tamara is also very confident behind the wheel.
Tamara uses the Chinook more than the family fifth-wheel trailer now because it’s so much fun and easier to set up. It’s also a great unit for car shows because the little RV is so self-contained you can relax inside during the show. Tamara said her dog is also a big fan of the Chinook camper.
There’s one thing Tamara didn’t expect—her Toyota is a rock star at every event. She was told her truck would be more popular than classic muscle cars at these shows, but Tamara wasn’t convinced.
That changed after Tamara had countless offers thrown her way for the camper–including a guy who pulled out a check and told her to “write a number down”. She’s learning how popular these campers are, but Tamara is also learning how much she likes her Toyota camper.
At this point, Tamara has a list of things she wants to do with the truck because it has a few minor issues like missing trim pieces and other little details. That’s the fun part of ownership.
The lesson from this story is obvious—always listen to your mom.
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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