Quote:
Originally Posted by ryanmcb
This is such valuable information and why it pays to be part of forums and groups. I have been very interested in this Chalet since the first listing. I felt uneasy about it from the beginning and it looked like something that could show better than actual. .....
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 68Timber
...thought it showed well in the pics and wouldn't have been too suspicious about it. Are those seats swapped in by a previous owner? It appears they were made to look correct but I don't think I've seen seats like that in a Chalet before.
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As the saying goes, "
knowledge is power, networking is priceless." The Chalet #0414 shined up so well, I didn't recognize it at first glance, and the text describing it as the 414th built didn't register, either. But the moment I dropped its VIN number into my mega-spreadsheet, I saw that I had noted in my 'Last seen' column that it was on Craigslist just a few months earlier, and from that I could see in my Craigslist history (including downloaded photos) for it, that it previously had different wheels, incorrectly reupholstered brown cloth seats, no front spare carrier, and a price of just $5500. It's two prior listings showed it much dirtier - see composite photo below. It also has what no other '76 Chalets have, a big swath of black paint across the front of the camper roof.
Yep, as seen in
the '76 brochure for these, the interior had a passengerside closet and vinyl-covered dinette seats. The cab seats were also covered in the same vinyl material and were low-backs.
1977 Blazers had cloth orange-plaid cab seats, but the dinette seats were tan vinyl. So, some prior owner swapped in the tall-back van style cab seats, and the current ebay seller was just guessing on what would pass for original-looking seat material.