1975 Dodge Daystar Motorhome (LHD)

Description

DayStar Motor Homes was established in 1972, primarily to generate funds to build church meeting halls. Using a name inspired by the Star of Bethlehem, which claimed that it could be seen even in broad daylight, the DayStar motorhomes were built on a Dodge RM400 truck chassis and mechanicals, with a Cor-Ten steel body of eye-catching design and fitted out with a prefabricated interior imported from Asia. The DayStar is thought to have been penned by W.E. Miller, a prominent automotive designer of the 1930s, whose work included quite advanced examples in the “streamlined” style. One of these designs included a tank truck that not only bears a striking resemblance to the DayStar but has a similar profile. Inside, these DayStar St Tropez motorhomes were lavishly equipped with every conceivable luxury of the time, including a full-size Norcold DE-828 fridge hidden behind Rosewood paneling, a fully equipped kitchen, a shower, full-sized bath and Aqua Magic self-cleaning toilet, a full-sized wardrobe, two power-operated sofas that convert to double beds, a teak dresser and 35 separate storage compartments! The Bostrom captain’s chairs up front are individually suspended, there is a tilt steering wheel for the power steering, it is fully air-conditioned via two roof-mounted units, there is a built-in central vacuum system, skylights, a sunroof, even a trunk with torsion bar opening mechanism for golf clubs! And all of it trimmed in leather and hand-crafted dovetailed aged Burmese teak, with onyx counter tops in the living area, kitchen and bathroom, and high-quality brass fittings throughout. Power for the DayStar St Tropez comes from a 440ci Dodge V8 hooked up to a Lodeflite three-speed automatic transmission, plus there’s cruise control and electric windows. Unsurprisingly, the finished Motorhomes were expensive, with $70,000 reported as the “standard” price with the cost escalating from there as each was a custom vehicle finished to the buyers specs. Only 16 of these DayStar motorhomes were ever built before, in 1975, the company was shut down under allegations of involvement in money-laundering. That makes our example offered almost certainly the only one in Australia, and one of the rarest motorhomes ever built.