This Awesome Vintage Camper Is So Light That Any Car Could Tow It

This Awesome Vintage Camper Is So Light That Any Car Could Tow It

Taking a road trip with a travel trailer is fun, but choices for trailers are pretty limited for those with smaller, less capable vehicles. Owners of a small car shouldn’t fret, because you can still hitch up to a vintage camper that weighs basically nothing. This 1964 Serro Scotty Sportsman is a pint-sized camper that weighs in at just 442 kg.

I often write a lot about palatial RVs that should probably require its owners to have a CDL to drive. Even I have a big transit bus with a gross vehicle weight rating of nearly 18,144 kg. But you really don’t need to drive a mobile penthouse. How about a travel trailer that’s still practical, yet can be towed by even the smallest of cars? That’s what fibreglass campers offer, as well as this:

This Awesome Vintage Camper Is So Light That Any Car Could Tow It
Image: Facebook Marketplace, Other

According to the National Serro Scotty Organisation, Serro got its start when John Serro, a retired car salesman, built a 5.03 m trailer in his garage. Nobody bought it, but it didn’t stop him from opening up a company to build travel trailers. Serro started in earnest in 1957 with a 3.05 m Scotty Sportsman teardrop (later called Sportsman Jr.) before adding a 3.96 m Scotty Sportsman Sr. in 1958 and a 3.66 m Scotty Sportsman 12 model in 1959. The Sportsman 12 is exceedingly rare, with just six known to still exist.

Serro expanded even further in the 1960s, adding a 4.57 m model as well as opening a plant in Oklahoma. The Scotty trailers were popular enough that Serro opened up Scottyland, a 93.08 ha campground just for Scotty owners.

The little trailer you see before you was built in 1964.

This Awesome Vintage Camper Is So Light That Any Car Could Tow It
Image: Facebook Marketplace, Other

It’s a 3.96 m Scotty Sportsman. Based on the floorplans available for the 3.96 m unit this one is likely the Mattress model. On the outside, it’s clean with a gorgeous two-tone paint scheme.

The layout of the camper is pretty simple. There’s a table and seating up front, a small kitchen unit in the middle, a couple of cabinets and a bed.

This Awesome Vintage Camper Is So Light That Any Car Could Tow It
Image: Facebook Marketplace, Other

This Awesome Vintage Camper Is So Light That Any Car Could Tow It
Image: Facebook Marketplace, Other

There is no shower and no toilet. You have more or less similar amenities as a pop-up camper, but with hard walls. One thing I love about this camper is that the colour theming continues inside, too.

This Awesome Vintage Camper Is So Light That Any Car Could Tow It
Image: Serro via National Serro Scotty Organisation

And as I mentioned before, it makes up for its lack of features by being incredibly light. At just 442 kg it could be towed by just about anything. I’ve towed more weight with a Smart Fortwo before. Including its tongue, total length is around 4.88 m, which is short enough to fit in some garages!

The seller for this Scotty Sportsman says that it’s road-ready without any leaks. It just needs a set of tires. It’s unclear whether this one has been restored or not. But if it hasn’t, it has survived incredibly well over the decades.

This Awesome Vintage Camper Is So Light That Any Car Could Tow It
Image: Facebook Marketplace, Other

Sadly, the same cannot be said for Serro. The company continued to expand through the decades, producing trailers as long as 9.75 m-long and even producing park models. Serro even made a motorhome in 1995. But in 1997, Serro’s factory burned down, putting an end to camper production. Serro Scotty trailers would be revived in 2007 just to end production again in 2014. Now, the name basically exists in name only.

The price for this piece of camping history is a reasonable $7,200. Go ahead and hitch this up to whatever you have!


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