Vacationland USA

1952 FORD and 1949 SPORT KING F-2 Pickup and Truck Camper

Dissatisfied with the cramped quarters, difficult handling, and poor weather protection of the teardrop trailers he produced under the Kamp Master name, Walter King designed an aluminum camper that could be carried in the bed of a pickup truck. Placing the camper in the pickup bed resulted in improved traction, drivability and maneuverability. King added truck campers to his product line soon after the end of World War II. Following his lead, numerous other local manufacturers began building truck campers and Los Angeles came to be regarded as a center of pickup camper production during the 1950s. Promoted as “the World’s Greatest Trucks,” an F-series Ford was the ideal platform for a pickup camper because of its reliability, inherent load carrying capacity and robust construction. Collection of Milton Newman