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Remembering the 1969 CJ-5 Jeep Camper, the Rarest Production RV Out There

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The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S. 28 photos
Photo: Jeep / cj5camper.com (Composite)
The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.The CJ-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U.S.
A Jeep is freedom, authenticity, passion, a sense of community, and adventure. For a year or so, a Jeep was also a factory-option home on wheels, thanks to the CJ-5 Camper, now officially known as the rarest production RV in the United States.
The CJ-5 Jeep Camper is a unicorn in the world of RVs, only manufactured in 336 units over the year the model was in production. Of these 336 units, less than a dozen are known to have survived in anything close to a decent condition: if the Jeep Camper was hard to come by in the ‘70s, it is even more so today.

The Camper was a patented concept by Charles “Chuck” Prater, a former employee at the circulation department of the Palm Beach Post in Florida with a very inventive mind and the obvious skill to put his ideas into practice. Prater built three Jeep-based prototypes: the CJ-5 Camper he sold to Jeep in the late 1960s, a Jeep dump truck he hoped he could sell to the same marque, and a CJ-7 camper that never got beyond the prototype stage. Only the CJ-5 idea was patented and brought into production, and would later become the RV unicorn mentioned above.

Prater went public with his idea, and the prototype for it, in the summer of 1968. Next year, Jeep announced that it was branching out into RVs, with the Great Jeep Escape campaign. Three new models, called the 2-car cars, would help Jeep owners evolve from weekend warriors to off-roading champs, but only one of these was a factory option – Prater’s Camper, for which Kaiser-Jeep had bought the rights. The other two models were slide-in units.

The CJ\-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U\.S\.
Photo: Jeep / cj5camper.com
The CJ-5 Camper was a “take it or leave it” unit, as brochures advertised it at the time. Assembly took less than 13 minutes in total, so you could either go out ready with all the comforts of home or continue using the CJ-5 as your daily without the added weight. The Camper was built by Honorbuilt, a division of Ward Manufacturing, was lightweight, and came with its own axle and electronic brakes. It also offered sleeping for as many as four people and came with all the creature comforts of a mobile home, as well as a choice of optionals and color combinations.

Prater’s idea was to use the Camper on most pickup trucks, which would have allowed for maximum versatility, but by the time it went into production with Jeep, only the CJ-5 would do, as expected. Brochures strongly urged against anything but CJ-5s equipped with the Dauntless V6 engine and 4.88 gearing, which was already the standard factory option by then: Kaiser had bought the license for the Buick 3.7-liter V6 Dauntless engine in 1965, and it was already in 75% of production CJ-5s by 1968.

The CJ-5 Jeep Camper formally made its debut in 1969 and would remain in production only briefly, until AMC (American Motors Corporation) bought Jeep in 1970, retired the Camper, and one year later, the Buick engine. Only 336 units were built and sold with a sticker price of $5,000, which is roughly $40,800 in today’s money, adjusted for inflation.

The CJ\-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U\.S\.
Photo: cj5camper.com
The Camper was envisioned as the perfect mobile home for the entire family, and a most comfortable retreat for a couple of adventurers looking to go off the beaten track. There was a queen-size bed/foam mattress in the cabover area, with a family-sized dinette that converted into a second sleeping berth by simply removing the dining table and repositioning the benches.

The kitchen had a three-burner propane stove and oven, a stainless sink with running water (20-gallon water tank and a pressure system), and a large 100-lb capacity icebox. The bathroom was small, with just a marine-type toilet and holding tank, and there was also a separate wardrobe for storage.

Standard features included one vent in the “loft” and dual lighting system, while optionals added a propane light in the dinette area, a gas or electric fridge, a second vent, and a 9,000 BTU heater. Some of the survivors listed online include these extras but, sad to say, not one of them is even close to road-ready without many hours of TLC.

The CJ\-5 Jeep Camper was briefly in production in 1969, is one of the rarest RVs in the U\.S\.
Photo: Jeep / cj5camper.com
Compared to today’s RVs, the CJ-5 Jeep Camper was far from luxurious, but it’s an apples-and-oranges kind of comparison, since it was never designed as such.

Instead, it was meant to be – and was effectively so – a complete solution that offered the basics in terms of creature comforts for a family vacation, or an improvement over a weekend of off-roading. It was versatile and lightweight, comfortable and easy to maneuver, and given the fact that it was never brought back into production after the first successful run, it is today a unicorn RV of the rarest kind.
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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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