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Self-Sufficient: Who Needs An RV When Your 1975 Oldsmobile Omega Has A Tent?


Self-Sufficient: Who Needs An RV When Your 1975 Oldsmobile Omega Has A Tent?

True story: the one time I went out to Bonneville, back in 2009, I had nowhere to sleep. And I was fine with that. I didn’t get a hotel room, didn’t know anyone who had a room, but that was not going to stop me from enjoying my time out on the salt. After one of the more hellish drives I’ve done to date and after throwing up Arby’s all over some poor desert plant that really didn’t deserve that kind of abuse, I proceeded to camp in my car. Which meant that I folded down the rear seats of my 2006 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS and stuck my frame through that port. Feet in the trunk, head on the backs of the seats. It worked pretty well…as long as I kept my legs folded just a little bit I was pretty comfortable and got a pretty decent night’s sleep that night. The only gripe I had was that I had to lay flat, either face-down or on my back, and I’m a side-sleeper. 

Maybe if I had something more like what you see here, I would’ve been a happier camper. I’ve often dragged out my nostalgic kick for Oldsmobile Omegas here. Kind of hard not to when the family car was a two-door on mag wheels, a jarring sight for every parent in their forest-green SUV when it was time to pick up the kids at my school, I’m sure. That Oldsmobile did plenty well, but it was a basic two-door coupe. No folding seats meant that unless you shoved a kid in the trunk and told them to shut up until we were past the ticket booth at the race track, there was no camping in the car. But if you had a hatchback model, then you were golden, because there was such a thing as a tent option. Made by Car Corporation in Livonia, Michigan, the setup consisted of a nylon tent and two posts that tucked into the bumper jack slots. The idea was that you had it all in one vehicle…an economical compact and an RV. Knowing how wide an X-body is, it’s a two-person sleeper at best, and those two people better appreciate being very close. 

The rest of the car is pretty standard fare: 260 V8, some rust to deal with (it’s a Missouri car) and zero sex appeal. A set of Olds Rally wheels would spice things up nicely here and the interior is pretty sweet. And dig the name-matched branding on that “I’m hunting wabbits” orange nylon material! I could see this being a cool roadtrip car with some work done. Camping at the bend in the road near Wendover would be pretty awesome!

eBay Link: 1975 Oldsmobile Omega hatchback


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3 thoughts on “Self-Sufficient: Who Needs An RV When Your 1975 Oldsmobile Omega Has A Tent?

  1. oldguy

    The small company I worked for out of high school ’72-’77 had one ( sans camper ) that was the gopher car , etc .
    The second time I drove it the throttle cable stuck on me !
    It was on a low speed corner and I might have goosed it to slide it around
    a bit in the snow , but DAMN – it stayed goosed .
    Shut it off ,stopped – no hits , no harm – loosened up the cable by hand and
    proceeded on my way …. the manager got an ear full when I got back though ….

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