This is a Winnebago D22 from 1970 that benefits from some recent work, including new wheels, tires, and carpet, a full repaint, and the roof has been resealed.
The Winnebago D22 was one of the Minnesota company’s best-selling models of the time, offering an affordable entry point into the world of RVs, with a bulletproof drivetrain headed by a Dodge V8 and handling that was more like a van than a truck.
Fast Facts – The Winnebago D22
- This 1970 Winnebago D22 has been updated with new wheels, tires, carpet, a full repaint, and a resealed roof. Compact in size, it’s ideal for first-time RV owners or small families. It includes a kitchenette, bedroom, bathroom, and modern amenities, making it both practical and comfortable.
- Winnebago Industries, founded in 1958 in Iowa, gained fame for its innovative “Thermo-Panel” construction technique and its high quality offerings at a lower price point. The Thermo-Panel construction method involved lightweight insulated walls made from insulation and ducting sandwiched between layers of sheet metal, making the RVs cheaper and easier to produce.
- The D22, introduced in 1968, was based on a Dodge truck chassis and powered by a 318 cubic inch Dodge V8 engine. Its automatic transmission and manageable size made it user-friendly for drivers unfamiliar with larger vehicles. The cab design also offered excellent forward visibility.
- The D22’s distinctive boxy design contrasted with the curved, polished look of Airstream trailers of the era. Inside, it was equipped with a kitchenette, fold-down bed, and bathroom with hot water. The model’s popularity helped establish Winnebago’s reputation and continues to be recognized as a classic early RV.
A History Speedrun: Winnebago Industries
Winnebago was founded back in 1958, right in the midst of the nationwide explosion in popularity surrounding travel trailer and RVs. The company was founded by John K. Hanson with backing from a group of community leaders from Winnebago County, Iowa in the hopes of reviving the local economy.
The interior of the D22 includes a kitchenette, dinette set, a toilet and shower, and a rear bedroom.
When it was first established, the company was a subsidiary of Modernistic Industries which was based out of California, and they produced travel trailers. The company didn’t prove successful at first, and in 1960 it was bought out by five Midwesterners, with Hanson staying on as company President.
The name was changed to Winnebago Industries, and Hanson restructured the firm, bringing the manufacturing of the furniture and fittings in-house to improve quality. It was at this time that the Winnebago “Thermo-Panel” construction technique was perfected.
Thermo-Panel is essentially a sandwiched insulation and ducting between two sheets of metal. This provided a strong shell that could be built quickly, and resulted in a lower overall weight than more traditional construction techniques.
Thanks to clever management and economies of scale, the first officially Winnebago RV released in 1966 cost almost half as much as competing RVs. As a result of this, sales were strong right out of the gate and the name Winnebago quickly became synonymous with RVs, in the same way that Hoover is often used to describe vacuum cleaners, and Kleenex is used to describe tissues.
The Winnebago D22
The Winnebago D22 was released in 1968, it was only the company’s second RV, after the earlier F-19 from 1966. The D22 was built on a Dodge truck chassis and measured in at 22 feet long, it was powered by the Dodge 318 cubic inch gasoline V8, and power is sent to the dually rear wheels via a Torqueflite 727 three-speed automatic transmission.
This drivetrain made the D22 relatively easy to drive for people with no experience behind the wheel of trucks or busses, and the absence of a manual transmission was a major selling point. Up front there are two seats separated by the engine cover between them, and the glasshouse surrounding the cab offered unparalleled visibility to the front and each side.
There are twin bucket seats up front, and the forward visibility is excellent thanks to the large windscreen and side windows.
The body was largely built from Winnebago’s “Thermo-Panel” construction, this was essentially a sandwich of aluminum alloy on the outside, Styrofoam insulation in the middle, and pre-finished paneling on the inside. This resulted in a lightweight body that was highly corrosion resistant.
In the rear you’ll find a dinette with seating for four and a table in the center, a kitchenette with two sinks, running water, a fridge, oven, four gas burners, a microwave, and a rangehood. Further back you’ll find a bedroom with a folding sofa and an upper bunk, the sofa folds down into a rear bed and many owners simply leave it set up with a bed with all the bedding in place semi-permanently.
The Winnebago D22 also has a bathroom, with a flushing toilet, a sink, and a shower with hot and cold running water. It could be ordered with a house air conditioner, and it had house batteries powering standard outlets for operating appliances, televisions, radios, etc.
The body design of the model follows the boxy and somewhat angular styling of the company’s earlier travel trailers with bold colorful graphics – almost the antithesis of the curved minimalism of the popular Airstream travel trailers with their polished aluminum bodies.
The D22 would sell well for Winnebago and today it’s looked back on as one of the firm’s key early models, it even gets a mention on the official company history page.
The 1970 Winnebago D22
The Winnebago D22 you see here is a 1970 model that benefits from a series of recent works, including a resealed roof, a new paint job, new wheels, tires, and carpet.
Thanks to the smaller size of the D22, when compared to Winnebago’s larger models, it’s typically seen as an ideal RV for those new to RVs, or a good-sized model for singles and couples.
The dinette set can be converted into a double bed when required, and there is an additional double bed above the driver’s cab.
Inside you’ll find a kitchenette with a laminate countertop, a four-burner range with an oven, a double-basin sink, a refrigerator, and an exhaust hood. It also has a rear bedroom that has a couch that folds down into a double bed, and it has a toilet with a shower and sink.
It’s now being offered for sale out of Moses Lake, Washington on Bring a Trailer with records, manufacturer’s literature, and a clean Washington title in the owner’s name. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
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