This low mileage, 23,000 miles, original surviving Dodge Camper Special is today a rare sight to see. This was manufactured when camping out was really starting to get popular. The new D Series arrived in 1961, looking pretty modern for the times. A wee bit odd, in certain respects and angles, especially that distinctive drop in the side window line. But then compared to a lot of the exuberance emitting from Chrysler at the time, it was fairly mild-mannered. Good thing; if it had looked like a Valiant or ’62 Dodge, it would never have made it until 1972. This ’67 Camper Special reflects the growing popularity of the slide in camper in the sixties, the precursor to the whole RV boom. I’m not exactly sure what year each of the Big Three started offering Camper Specials, probably in the mid sixties or so. Before that, one hopefully bought the 3/4 ton version. Slide in campers on half-ton trucks were an all-too common sight, and they were a dangerous one. A growing number of nasty incidents involving crushed families from rollovers made the industry realize they were at risk, legally and image wise. Thus the Camper Special. Camper Specials were 3/4 ton trucks with even beefier springs and shocks; the huge rear overhangs from campers and big families easily created dangerous sway and overloading. Add a boat out back; a recipe for disaster. In fact, Dodge specifically lengthened the wheelbase of its 8 foot bed trucks in 1965 for that reason too. In the seventies GM and Ford also offered even longer wheelbase Camper Specials. This Camper Special packs a 318, de-rated for truck duty to 210 gross hp; about 170 or so in today’s net ratings. It feeds the indestructible A-727 Torque-Flite. This is the new-for 1966 LA 318, not the old poly 318, although they shared essentially the same block. Both 318s were by far the most common truck V8 engines of the era, along with the six, but in 1966, the 383 was also available to feed the ever-growing appetite for more power in trucks. Note that this one doesn’t have power steering; that was pretty common still at the time. Dodge made a number of small changes to these trucks over its long lifespan, to make them look more contemporary, but that unique detail would have cost too much to change. The other thing that never changed was the solid beam axle and leaf-spring front suspension, other than some tweaks along the way. Hey, let's go camping in this trip back in time Dodge camper. I've seen even larger campers mounted on trucks during this initial camper fad. Thanks very much for viewing this 1966 Dodge D 200 3/4 ton Camper Special. Special indeed.