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1972 Winnebago Brave Gets Rescued From the Junkyard, Hides a Surprise Under the Hood

Remember the nicely restored 1972 Winnebago Brave we showed you back in December 2021? Yeah, I'm talking about the one with the modern interior and an LS V8. Well, here's another Brave with a Chevy swap, but this time around it's a junkyard survivor.
abandoned 1972 Winnebago Brave 6 photos
Photo: Life of Lind/YouTube
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It's hard to believe that someone would abandon such a cool shorty camper in a junkyard, but apparently, someone had enough of this Winnebago and left it to rot in a motorhome graveyard.

It was parked there in 2012, so it hasn't moved for 10 years now. Luckily enough, the folks over at YouTube's "Life of Lind" discovered it and decided to give it a second chance.

And this 50-year-old Brave came with a few surprises. For starters, it's in pretty good shape, which is surprising for a camper that's been out of use for a full decade. Sure, the headliner needs fixing and the rear window is missing, but the interior is complete, down to the bathroom and the oven.

The Winnebago doesn't look all that bad on the outside either. The roof is still in one piece and the body panels are straight, with no signs of abuse. And the iconic two-tone livery has survived the test of time rather well.

But the biggest surprise lies under the hood. Or between the front seats, if you want to be accurate. The Winnebago Brave was originally delivered with a 318-cubic-inch (5.2-liter) Dodge V8 engine, but this one sports what appears to be a small-block Chevrolet.

There's no info as to why the old Dodge mill was ditched, but the swap seems solid. However, the V8 was no longer running and refused to fire up despite Lind's efforts. After almost four hours of working on it in the junkyard, he eventually decided it was time to bring a trailer and haul it to the shop.

Unfortunately, we can't see this camper run just yet, but Lind promises he will put it back on the road. Not in this state, but with a fully redone interior and a different engine inside. He won't disclose actual details, but says he'll swap the Chevy V8 for something "very cool" that will make the Winnebago "extra fast." Is it getting a Hellcat engine? Not very likely, but it's definitely something to look forward to.

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About the author: Ciprian Florea
Ciprian Florea profile photo

Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer.
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