America Might Have Just Built The Coolest Affordable Fiberglass Tiny Camper Trailer

The classic American “egg” fiberglass camper has been one of the greatest ways to enjoy RVing for more than half of a century. Fiberglass campers are known for their longevity, affordability, and ease of towing. Now, America’s iconic purveyor of fiberglass RVs, Scamp, has found a new way to update its classic camper for the modern day. This is the Scamp X, and it’s a classic camper, but with a beefy off-road kit so it can camp in more places than before. Oh, and it’s shockingly affordable!

The terms “overland” and “off-road” have permeated throughout the RV industry. Nowadays, it seems that pretty much every manufacturer markets at least one rig as an adventure camper, even if the subject trailer or motorhome doesn’t actually have any business leaving pavement at all. In my experience, some of these off-road kits are little more than knobby tires on an otherwise typical trailer. It sounds silly, but that’s what sells nowadays. I mean, how many crossovers now have an off-road trim, too?

One of the brands that had somehow avoided the off-road trend was Eveland’s Inc.’s Scamp Trailers. The beauty of Scamp is that, for more than 50 years, it has largely ignored RV fads and just done its own thing. Yet, I was surprised it never offered a dedicated off-road product. I have seen plenty of Scamp owners do their own off-road builds, and it seemed like Scamp was leaving cash on the table by not selling its own off-road-friendly egg from the factory. Well, now that’s changed with the Scamp X, Scamp’s first dedicated off-road model.

Why Scamp Is An Icon

Fiberglass has been around for most of RV history. The promises of fiberglass are strong. A molded fiberglass camper has fewer places to leak from and has no wood in its walls to rot. Modern fiberglass designs even eliminate wood in their floors, ensuring a longer service life. Couple that to the fact that fiberglass campers tend to weigh less than ones built out of wood and metal, and you have the recipe for the kind of camping unit that many believe is at the apex of RVs.

Airstream got into fiberglass back in 1952, and other, smaller companies also experimented with the material in the same decade. Back then, fiberglass was seen as a wonder material, but RV manufacturers hadn’t really figured out the best formula for how to use fiberglass.

Scamp was created in the ashes of Boler American. Canadian salesman Ray Olecko, who hated getting washed out of tents, made a brilliant and cheap 13-foot camper that weighed only 800 pounds. The Boler, which launched in 1968, was a revolution, but Boler struggled to stay afloat.

When Boler American crashed in 1972, RV remodeler Duane Eveland, with siblings Gerald and Gladys, put the molds back into production as Scamp, and the rest is history. Scamp has long outlasted Boler, which folded in 1988.

Many brands have come and left the fiberglass space, including Burro, U-Haul, and Trillium. Yet, Scamp is one of the only brands that has proven to be everlasting. Perhaps even more impressive is that, throughout all of this time, the Scamp brand has not fallen into the clutches of a big Indiana RV conglomerate. Scamp is still run by the Eveland family in Backus, Minnesota.

Scamp’s designs have also remained largely true to their 1970s form. The campers have gotten updates over the years, sure, but they have remained gloriously vintage in look, and refreshingly simple, regardless of what the rest of the RV industry has been doing. The continued existence of Scamp is fascinating, given how little advertising the company does and how it doesn’t even participate in the largest RV shows. It seems like Scamps pretty much sell themselves.

Scamp Gets Dirty

Scamp has built all sorts of fun RVs over its 54-year existence. The company builds a micro-size fifth wheel trailer and has briefly offered a pontoon boat, cargo trailer, and a motorhome. But through all of this time, Scamp has never officially experimented with an off-road trailer. As of last week, Scamp has changed that.

The new Scamp X starts with the iconic Scamp 13 design. That means two tubs of molded fiberglass bonded at a central seam. That has been Scamp’s basic design since forever, and unlike the last Bethesda video game you played, it just works. A basic Scamp used to ride on a steel frame, had a wooden subfloor, and rode on a torsion axle. New Scamps sport a composite floor, which is great!

Now, many folks have taken these campers off-road. While a standard Scamp doesn’t have armor, skid plates, or any fancy suspension, they’re usually durable enough to survive being taken down a fire road. But some folks install aftermarket lift kits, suspensions, and axles to enhance their Scamp’s ability to go off-pavement.

The Scamp X takes the Scamp 13 and swaps out the torsion axle for a Timbren Heavy-Duty 3500 axle-less independent suspension. This new suspension allows the Scamp X to sit 18 inches off the ground, which is now the highest ground clearance offered by Scamp. The changes are good for a 17-degree approach angle and a 22-degree departure angle.

Other changes to make the Scamp 13 into the Scamp X include a high-density polyethylene skid plate, an articulating hitch, and ST235/75R15 mud tires. All of it is wrapped up in an off-road-style paint and decal package. The trailer even has aggressive little fenders, which are just too cute.

Inside, the Scamp X is built with your choice of two layouts: the Trek “TRK” layout and the Altitude “ALT” layout. The Trek layout has a rear U-shaped dinette that turns into a 76 by 54-inch double bed, a front sofa that turns into a 76 by 30-inch bunk, with the kitchen in the middle.

The Altitude layout trades the combo sofa and bunk for a wet bathroom with a shower and a flushing toilet with a black tank. The Altitude is realistically a two-person or solo camper, while the Trek is meant to be a four-person camper.

That kitchen contains a dual-burner gas stove, a stainless steel single-basin sink, and a refrigerator. It’s simple, but that’s all you need in a simple rig like this! I also like the Maple used on the cabinet doors with nickel hardware, which helps add a little contrast to all of the gray fiberglass.

Also nice are the other upgrades designed to make the Scamp X more friendly for off-grid camping. Normally, a Scamp 13 has a single 20-pound propane tank, but the Scamp X doubles up on the propane. You can also option the camper with a TV and Starlink package, 400 watts of roof solar, portable solar panels, a generator, a lithium battery, a portable toilet (for the Trek model), a Bluetooth speaker, an outdoor shower, and more.

Since Scamps are pretty basic in their standard form, it’s notable that both an air conditioner and a furnace are options, so keep that in mind when shopping.

Scamp says the Scamp X trailer has a starting weight of 1,986 pounds and a gross weight of 3,500 pounds. There’s a roof rack and a two-inch receiver in the rear, so you can use some of that carrying capacity to carry bikes, kayaks, gear, and whatever else you’re taking into the wilderness with you.

I will also note that while Scamp tried to make the Scamp X more off-grid-friendly, it’s still pretty limited as the water tank holds only 11.8 gallons. But I suppose you could use the carrying weight to load up on more water.

Surprisingly Affordable

Add it up, and I think the Scamp X is a pretty cool trailer. Scamp isn’t reinventing the wheel here. Really, Scamp is just offering its buyers the same upgrades they would do themselves, but now it comes from the factory with a warranty. Do I think the Scamp X is going to be conquering Moab anytime soon? No, but a little extra capability doesn’t hurt.

At a starting price of $28,495, the ask seems pretty reasonable, too. For comparison, a standard Scamp 13 starts at $23,399. Of course, you could probably do these upgrades for cheaper by yourself, but at least Scamp isn’t jacking the price straight into the sky.

I also like the honesty of it all. I have reported on countless RVs that promise to do this and that, and sometimes they can’t live up to the promise. After all of these decades, a Scamp is still one of those trailers where what you see is what you get. It’s a trailer that’s shaped like an egg and doesn’t even have an air conditioner if you don’t want one. Is it for everyone? Of course not. It’s not big or luxurious. But if you want an upgrade from a tent, and want it as jacked up as your SUV, a Scamp could be a decent enough pick.

Top graphic image: Scamp