Meet the 1925 Chevrolet House Car

(November 18, 2013) It's a house! No, it's a car! Actually it's both a house and a car. It's an historic 1925 Chevrolet House Car, and one of 225 vehicles that General Motors put up for auction from its collection in January 2009.

The house car brought $123,200 at a Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The Chevrolet House Car was built before the days when motor homes were available commercially. Many campers produced in the early days were built around plans supplied to a carpenter or cabinet maker.

It was built on a one-ton Chevrolet chassis with a 125-inch wheelbase pulled by a 4-cylinder 35-horsepower motor and ran on a 6-volt electrical system.

The Chevy came with a custom-built wood body with two-tone blue exterior paint with red striping and black cowl and chassis.

The Chevrolet "house" featured oak with mahogany trim, maple flooring and countertops, dark blue mohair cushions, dark blue wool carpet, dark blue roller shades with blue and white gingham curtains.

The house contained a sink with hand pump water faucet using a five-gallon oak barrel for water storage, a commode with removable bucket for waste, auto flip down front step, 6-volt electrical interior lights and kerosene lamps. The house was heated with a kerosene heater and food was prepared on a single-burner kerosene stove.

A carbon tetrachloride fire extinguisher was standard equipment.