First post, as of yesterday I need to change my screen name!

[Lefty]

I absolutely agree with LJ-TJ here.. That's a sweet looking rig, and I'd be thrilled to come across a find like it... That dash is a true work of art...
I have looked at more old Winnebago's than most folks (with the exception of some members in this club...lol) in junkyards,for sale, and while out driving around. In all the years I've searched, I've never found one with the Deluxe Dash.. I've only seen it in pictures. Thats how rare that option was...
As for the selling date and mileage, that's perfectly reasonable if you look at the "Big Picture", The dealer likely received it from the factory with it driven there from Forest Hills, Iowa.. I'd bet a quick map check would show it roughly 900 miles from the dealership. As for the length of time it was on the lot.. Well, in 1973-1974 fuel prices were skyrocketing (remember OPEC shortages and gas lines?) Insurance was climbing, and it very likely was the most expensive, heaviest optioned coach on the lot...No wonder it took them a year to sell it.

[Wantawinnie]

Thanks for the kind words guys!

I hadn't even thought of the drive from Forest City to the dealer. That does account for around 600 miles right there. I had guessed that the original price of the rig may have been part of the "sitting on the lot" issue. I would also guess the original owner didn't pay sticker for it.  I don't know the extent of dealer network at the time but it was sold in Michigan and the original owner was from Ohio so there is some distance there. It may have been a hard to find model or just a good deal he came across. 

The work in progress comment more relates to the interior of the coach. I have some paneling to do in the back, flooring, cabinet repair, replace front seats, plumbing, etc.   All pretty typical repairs for a 38 year old rig but the items need to be done before I can get it on the road. The exterior has it's fair share of knicks and bruises but it is still presentable as is. The oxidation on the paint from sitting outside for a couple years really took away from the true condition when I bought it. I tend to be rather picky on stuff too so that might be part of it. 

I haven't made the final decision on which way to go inside. While the retro theme would be fine with me I do want my wife to be happy as well and she is not entirely on board with that route.

In regard to the dash, I located another Chieftain II Custom with that option and tried contacting the owner to no avail. I think I save a pic on one of my computers. It was over 1000 miles away and looked to need exterior work. Seemed pretty original on the inside though. Once this one popped up I let that lead go because it was priced quite a bit higher and I couldn't figure out how to get it home to make it worth while anyway.

I am really excited to get started on the makeover but time is short lately with work and winter coming.

[LJ-TJ]

If you happen to run across that other lead, can you post it? Thanks

[Wantawinnie]

It was for sale down in Chase City, Virginia on Craigslist. I haven't seen it for a few weeks but did print the add off. It might show up again as sometimes those adds expire and have to be relisted. If I see it I will post it up. It had the optional dash, built in blender/ice crusher, am/fm 8 track, drop down bunk, queen bed in rear, and supposedly hydraulic levelers. It was faded outside but looked to be pretty complete and original. I really would have liked to go check it out but it just wasn't in the cards. Price was $3,950 and then dropped to $3,350.  I emailed him through Craigslist for better pics and more info but never heard back. The guys name was Joe and his phone number was 434-210-2407. I followed it for a month until the one I found popped up and then dropped the idea.

I think the pics are on my home computer, will check tonight.

[JimVol]

Great job so far!  Keep it up and keep those pics coming.  Curious, what was your mpg coming home?

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Yeah, that dash is pretty darn cool!  I love guages!  Sweet!

Kev

[Wantawinnie]

Great job so far!  Keep it up and keep those pics coming.  Curious, what was your mpg coming home?

It was around 6mpg. I think it can do a little better with a tune up. I recently purchased a couple cool things on the cheap from craigslist to help out in this department too. I have not had any time to work on the rig but hopefully this winter I can start.

[HandyDan]

That sure is an eyefull of guages.  What it the large guage on the top left.  I don't recognize what it does.

[Wantawinnie]

That sure is an eyefull of guages.  What it the large guage on the top left.  I don't recognize what it does.

It is an altitude gauge.

[bergmarkdale]

Heavens to Murgatroid, what a find!  I am insanely jealous, having wanted one of these for years and seeing it on the old Tin Can Tourist advertisement, and assuming it would never re-appear.  The Chieftain II Custom is extremely rare and if a collector market ever developes for old motor homes as it has for classic automobiles, this will be one of the most valuable.
   Here's a little story:  I was employed by Winnebago (Forest City, Iowa) right out of high school from 1972-1977.  I first worked in the truck "Kap" division which was located right next to the travel trailer factory, across town from the big motor home factory (Big Bertha, they called it)  One day in June 1972  they asked for a couple of spare workers to walk over to the trailer plant and work on a couple of motor homes to get shipped.  So me and another fellow walked over there to finish the trimming on two 1973 Chieftain II Customs (very possibly wantawinnie's unit) that were parked in the trailer factory.  I didn't know what I was doing, not having worked on any motor homes before, but I immediately fell in love with these because of their striking, almost gaudy, interiors.  A total "wow" factor, red shag, queen bed, black countertops, animal fur upholstery, deluxe dashboard, etc.  They were astonishing.  I was dinking away not knowing what to do when suddenly the president and founder of Winnebago, John K. Hanson, walks up and wants to know basically when the hell these things are gonna be done they were supposed to be shipped days ago, and of course I didn't know, I just worked there.  This was my only encounter ever with Mr. Hanson, who was a totally cool guy.  We finished the odds and ends on these two Customs, and it was back to work on the truck Kaps, which was totally boring after having worked on the highest end motor home that Winnebago had.
      What's interesting to me is that these Customs were made in the trailer factory, NOT the motor home factory.  The regular D28 Chieftain IIs, which had the normal Chieftain interiors as in the D24 and D27,were made in the main motor home factory across town (Big Bertha).  I do not know how many regular Chieftain IIs were made, not having worked at Big Bertha at the time.  But I am going to guess that less than 10 Chieftain II Customs were built, and here's why:  In November or December 1972, I was a tractor driver moving travel trailers at the trailer factory, and they asked if I would move some motor home chassis from a nearby lot to the area near the travel trailer assembly line.  These chassis had been through the weld shop and were ready to assemble.  It was cold, and they were hard to start, and all they had was a hard plastic seat to sit on, and they had no traction at all on the snow and ice since there was no real weight on the rear wheels.  It was fun to move them, but a pain, and I kept thinking hey man, these are more of those cool Chieftain II Customs, what a machine!  Then at the end of December they moved all the travel trailer shipping to a new ship-out building near Big Bertha, where all motor homes and travel trailers went through to repair defects and add/delete options, cleaned up and then shipped.  I kept a close watch on all the units that went out, not because it was my job, but rather because it was just fun to see all the stuff that went out of there.
     I recall seeing quite a few Chieftain IIs, I'm gonna guess maybe 100 at most.  I saw very few Chieftain II Customs, however, maybe not even 10.  Maybe they didn't even use the 10 chassis that I moved to build many Customs, possibly they moved them back to Big Bertha and made regular Chieftain IIs out of them.
     Why would they make the Chieftain II Customs in the trailer factory rather than the motor home factory?  I'm going to guess that it's because the production manager of the trailer factory had excellent quality control skills and really cared about the final product.  It's also possible that Big Bertha was running at full tilt and they just didn't want to mess with this special unit (in this period Winnebago was producing around 100 motor homes per day in the peak periods).
       Obviously I'm just guessing at production numbers.  I called Winnebago once to see if they kept records of all production by models and of course you can't find anyone who knows, or perhaps they didn't want to tell, or maybe they were going on break and didn't want to be bothered.  But I believe very strongly that there were ten or fewer 1973 Chieftain II Customs built.  Maybe a couple hundred regular Chieftain IIs.
       On the Deluxe Dashboard, I think all Customs had them, even though it was listed as an option.  I have also seen them on D24 and D 27 Chieftains.  I have a recent picture of a junkyard that had photos of them crushing an old D24 and it had a Deluxe Dashboard in it!   I became ill, the dashboard is history.....
       Did you notice that the gauges around the speedometer are shaped like a "W"  ?!
        The Tin Can Tourist advertisement shows the original "animal fur" upholstery...too bad the previous owner got rid of it, that is a shame.  I'm sure the red shag was gone long ago.  I don't recall what the driver and copilot seats were made of.  The rear would have been a queen bed, with a red velour panel at the head of the bed.  I don't recall what the toilet and shower colors would have been.
         This is truly a great find, at an incredible price!  So Mr. Wantawinnie, you have your Winnie, and it is the rarest of the rare!  Congratulations!
     

[Wantawinnie]

I still wonder how I ended up with the Tin Can Tourist rig and can't tell you how many times I looked at that ad wishing it was still for sale. To actually track it down was pure chance and good timing.

Thank you for taking the time to post all the great information! It is nice to have your first hand knowledge of what went on at the factory. It is very interesting they were not built along with the other motorhomes.  Whatever the number of Customs produced, I am very happy to have found this one in relatively good shape. I wish the interior was more original but most of these rigs have been changed around or modified as the years went by.

If there were only 10 or so built I hope they are all still around and well cared for. I know there is at least one more out there in the Virginia area, hopefully it survives to RV once again as well.

[Wantawinnie]

Good news, I had procrastinated on sending in my title work on the Winnie until I checked on licensing laws. It cost some more upfront but the old girl qualifies for lifetime classic plates. 

It took a few weeks but the title just came back and the plates will be here shortly. It is officially mine now.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Awesome! 

Kev

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Hooray  , since you are now the offical owner can we get back to the "Title" of the thread?

Your new name is going to be.........

Drumroll Please       Drumroll Please       Drumroll Please       Drumroll Please       Drumroll Please       Drumroll Please       Drumroll Please       Drumroll Please       Drumroll Please       Drumroll Please

[Wantawinnie]

Hooray  , since you are now the offical owner can we get back to the "Title" of the thread?

Your new name is going to be.........

Drumroll Please       Drumroll Please       Drumroll Please       Drumroll Please       Drumroll Please       Drumroll Please       Drumroll Please       Drumroll Please       Drumroll Please       Drumroll Please

Hmmm, it is time to work on changing that. I really do like what you originally mentioned...GottaWinnie has a nice ring and continues from the original name quite well.

Kicking around something like BigChief or CustomChief too. Hm?   

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Or....WHATawinnie...since your rig is so awesome!

Kev

[Wantawinnie]

Thanks Kev, that's an cool name too.

I forgot to mention that yesterday I checked the build info. According to the tag Dodge built the chassis in January of '73 and Winnebago assembled it in March of '73. Looks like it wasn't built in the batch mentioned earlier.

BTW: Anybody care to guess when I was born? Yep, March
of 1973.  Pretty cool!

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Well shucks, they do gotta mix up new batches now and again!   

[HandyDan]

March of 1973!  Man you're just a baby.  I was overseas fighting the Vietnamese at that time.  Glad you got your Chieftain II.  Just what is the difference between a Chieftain and a Chief?  Does a Chief get paid more?

[Wantawinnie]

March of 1973!  Man you're just a baby.  I was overseas fighting the Vietnamese at that time.  Glad you got your Chieftain II.  Just what is the difference between a Chieftain and a Chief?  Does a Chief get paid more?

Thanks for your service. 

I don't know the difference but, if it is like most things, the Braves and Indians end up doing all the work anyway.  Y!

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Bah....Chiefs work their butts off...they just don't have to do the dirty jobs anymore.



Kev

[Wantawinnie]

I must be stuck somewhere between an Indian and a Chief....neither choice seems that fun really.

My wife is a Brave for sure, she doesn't ever back down when cornered.  W%

[ClydesdaleKevin]

I like my title of Skipper, now that I captain my very own terra-bound submarine...But Patti isn't thrilled about the idea of me calling her Gilligan...lmao!  She prefers XO.  :)rotflmao

Kev

[Wantawinnie]

I came up with a name last night but it is more of what I plan to do with the rig than what it is now. I really, really want to go with a diesel and, of course, that will mean a Cummins transplant.

So, 6BTWinnie is what I am thinking because the 5.9 Cummins 6 cylinder Turbo diesel is referred to as that. I am a little leary to change until the swap happens though because it just doesn't seem right.

[Wantawinnie]

Getting stuff together for the rear bedroom wall repairs. Also discovered a bad spot in the rear roof area that was already repaired previously.

In just the right sunlight I can finally read the remnants of a prior owners nickname for the rig above the back window. She was called the "Leaky Tiki Two" at some point in time. lol