Anymore it's a rare day that I look to see what's offered on ebay. I do sometimes look if someone posts about a particular car here - but I don't go just to browse. Couple of weeks back tho, a friend of mine casually asked if I'd seen my old Champ make a run at the bay - I hadn't. Not that I'm looking to buy it back, but it is a bit of a different Champ and I did have alot of memorable times with and in that veteran hauler.
We've talked about it on the forums before. It's an 8E-12 with a factory 5-spdOD behind a V8. The one thing that makes it stand out beyond that is my addition of a '57 car speedo blister/head. I was setting the truck up to suit myself and I'd decided that I'd use the two holes in the dash - the one for the instruments and the one for the monaural speaker to serve as ports for stereo speakers. I had a Sony boom box as my entertainment system and it worked as well as I'd hoped. This was in the late 70s, so I could use the various radio functions as well as play my cassette tapes.
Other mods included a second fuel tank and a selector valve under the seat. It sported a walk-in camper shell when I had it and I literally lived outta that Champ for weeks at a time. I only wish I'd kept a diary during those years.
Last time someone brought this Champ to my attention was when it was listed with a classic car broker in Los Angeles. The asking price was in the low teens which was somewhat better than when it was on ebay for $19K!!!
Anyway, in '82 I was living in LA and just about broke. I sold the Champ at a Newport Beach auto auction for a grand. And at that, I had to let it go no reserve so I could have it run in the auction - I didn't have the listing fees! When I finally got paid, my return was seven hundred bucks
Heh - I had paid $600 for it a few years prior. Sadly - within a couple of weeks of my selling it, I got a job and was back on my feet financially. If only I had forseen. I'd probably STILL have that cool old Champ.
We've talked about it on the forums before. It's an 8E-12 with a factory 5-spdOD behind a V8. The one thing that makes it stand out beyond that is my addition of a '57 car speedo blister/head. I was setting the truck up to suit myself and I'd decided that I'd use the two holes in the dash - the one for the instruments and the one for the monaural speaker to serve as ports for stereo speakers. I had a Sony boom box as my entertainment system and it worked as well as I'd hoped. This was in the late 70s, so I could use the various radio functions as well as play my cassette tapes.
Other mods included a second fuel tank and a selector valve under the seat. It sported a walk-in camper shell when I had it and I literally lived outta that Champ for weeks at a time. I only wish I'd kept a diary during those years.Last time someone brought this Champ to my attention was when it was listed with a classic car broker in Los Angeles. The asking price was in the low teens which was somewhat better than when it was on ebay for $19K!!!
Anyway, in '82 I was living in LA and just about broke. I sold the Champ at a Newport Beach auto auction for a grand. And at that, I had to let it go no reserve so I could have it run in the auction - I didn't have the listing fees! When I finally got paid, my return was seven hundred bucks
Heh - I had paid $600 for it a few years prior. Sadly - within a couple of weeks of my selling it, I got a job and was back on my feet financially. If only I had forseen. I'd probably STILL have that cool old Champ.
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