Hooniverse Asks- What's Your Dream Motorhome?

By Robert Emslie Apr 18, 2011

Ahh, the first really warm days of Spring are finally arriving to much of the country. And that means both wicked-bad storms down South, and the first twinges of vacation wanderlust for the rest of us. And when America takes to the road for those few precious days each year away from the office, a boat-load go by motorhome. Sure, back at the 9 to 5 the work will be stacking up and somebody’s bound to steal your Aeron desk chair, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend your days away stuck in a punky car and cheesy motel day and night. That’s why motorhomes, travel trailers, and cab-overs are so popular, and so ubiquitous on the highway. Plus, they let you take a little slice of your real home along with you – even if that’s just a few car magazines stashed next to the chemical toilet.
But maybe you don’t have a motorhome, perhaps that’s a dream for that far off retirement, or slip-and-fall lawsuit decision over the A&P. If that’s the case, then there’s no better time than now to start thinking about what you’d need in a home away from home – or potentially your permanent house on wheels should you choose to be an upper-scale transient. Would you need an expansive space the equal to the wide open roads upon which it traverses? Or would you want something smaller – better suited to getting farther away from the mainstream ? That’s usually how the worst of the slasher movies start, but those are just Hollywood fantasies, right? Right?!
Or, maybe all you’d need would be a wagon big enough to sleep in, and an old phone book for when nature calls? That’s about as basic a mobile existence as you can imagine, unless you’re able to sleep and crap on a motorcycle, in which case more power to you, and stay down wind if you don’t mind. So what is it – what’s your dream of a townhouse with tires, a cabin that’s a car? What motorhome would you like to have?
Image source: [Autosavant.com]

90 thoughts on “Hooniverse Asks- What's Your Dream Motorhome?”
  1. Well, you nailed it with that image of the GMC motorhome. At least for the outside.
    Inside, I'd do it up exactly like Jim Rockford's trailer, right down to the tufted leather sofa and the desk with the photo of Rocky, the playing cards, and the phone answering machine. Back in the closet, a selection of snappy tweed sportcoats and shirts with huge collars, the top button of which will never be employed. I'll also need a ceramic cookie jar to stash my .38 in.
    Finally, my tow vehicle will be a gold '74 Firebird, of course.
    The ultimate 1970s portable mancave.

  2. GMC, Ultravan, Sportsmobile, Westfalia…where to begin? All very cool for their intended purposes!

    1. I once met a guy who said that "Camping to me means a hotel without 24-hour room service."

      1. I actually don't mind camping, IF I am by myself or just with a group of guys. Basically if I only have to take care of myself. If I go with my wife that means I have to take care of her too and it becomes just way too much like work. She wants to go camping and I usually respond with "Can we just rent a cabin?"

  3. eff it. eff it all……. i want an RV. i'm sick of paying rent… i would like to go classic… but i could easily go the 50K new route… and then 20 bucks a night (or less) KOA campground style living…. or so much smaller… "stealth RV" pay for a gym membership (10-20 bucks a month) showers-etc…… i wanna go off the grid and do this…

    1. Yeah, there are a bunch of guys around L.A. who have done that. But their motorhomes have crappy plastic tarps held on with rope and duct tape, dented up sides, and engines that barely run. We call them transients.

      1. yeah, i'm not looking to do it in that fashion… i like the idea of a Sprinter van with drop-down bunks and a medium size generator. i could make do with a full size GMC or Ford van… or even the longest/tallest transit-connect..
        http://www.stealthvandweller.com/
        i have to goal of no-one noticing.

        1. i already drive a white astro-van (granted… it's not a panel van)… but the idea is to go un-noticed……

    1. Celebrities, directors and producers often have them on sets, instead of generic modern units provided by the studios. I can't remember who the actor was, but he was profiled in a magazine article a couple of years ago and was raving about his vintage Airstream.

      1. I know who you're talking about, but I can't remember his name, either. He actually pulls his around and travels with it. Now I'm gonna have to wrack my brain to remember the name. I saw him on a talk show; maybe it was on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

        1. I wanted to say it was Tom Hanks, but the first google result for "tom hanks airstream" turned-up lots of actors names that use airstream trailers. I swear it was him I saw on some talk show speaking about traveling with the airstream. He also took a trip with his brother recently in a VW camper.

    1. That, Sir, is a Road Condo. A newer one, but a Road Condo just the same. Truck front end, and a true class C motorhome, and can take you where you need to go.

    1. Hey, that's awesome. I think.
      So the boat detaches from the truck, I assume. Kind of like a redneck version of one of those planes in The Thunderbirds.

  4. This weekend I was talking with my wife. She liked my idea to buy a Ford Transit Connect and make it into a camper in the back. Just from old kitchen cabinets, lumber, basement carpet, etc. This would be in 12 years or so when the kids are gone. Oh please let them be gone and not the sort that live with their parents until their 30s… It needs mirrors in the back though to make it seem more spacious of course.

    1. I told my kids that when the youngest turns 18 we're moving on to a houseboat. If they come back, they're staying in the basement.

    1. My wife's aunt and uncle travel the country in a modern version – late '90s f-150 stepside with a pop-up camper. It's a bit cramped but no less than they've needed to travel from Alaska to Florida and points between. It's an alluring notion.

  5. I've got mine already, my '64 Chevy Road Condo. It's a '64 Chevy 1 ton with a permanent camper built on the back, with a cabover bed. It has a built 350, and granny low four speed. It's seen plenty of use up in the deserts and mountains of Utah, as it will basically go anywhere an old farm truck will go. Full amenities, although you have to carry a portable generator and there's no AC. When I moved here to Southern AZ, I lived in it out in the desert, off the grid for a couple of years before I moved here to town. However, it's been sitting for a while, and I need to work on its issues. Still, it's paid off, is basically solid, and is freakin bitchin.

    1. Yes. It IS freaking bitchin.
      I had a toy camper-truck just like Road Condo as a kid, and it was bitchin then too. One of my all-time favorite trucks because it had a real recognizable early Chevy front end. But I've never been able to figure out who made it or find any pictures of one.
      It kinda warped my young brain and paved the way for my own adventures in "Brownie, the world's Greatest Crappy Old RV ™."

      1. Doh! I totally thought I re-sized it but now I gotta' go, I'll try and fix it when I get home.

  6. <img src="http://www.cmhpf.org/fishbowl1.jpg&quot; /img>
    Since the GMC Motorhome's already been brought up, there's a part of me that'd like to convert a GMC New Look bus – in the time I took public transit, I think the TTC's continued use to them was the only thing I really liked. I'm sure a powertrain swap would be required for highway worthiness, but then again, I never really want to drive something that big, so it's all a little moot.
    Thinking slightly more practically, I'd lean towards this.
    <img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pzXhZ2v_RHI/SmGehyRhLLI/AAAAAAAACEw/loVxW-zhojo/s400/unimog.JPG&quot; /img>

  7. Do an image search for 'motorhome' and all kinds of ridiculousness shows up:
    Toronado-stream:
    <img src="http://www.rvtravel.com/blog/weirdrvs/uploaded_images/a-trailer2-710204.jpg&quot; width=500>
    VW Camper on steroids (photoshop?):
    <img src="http://www.deviantart.com/download/89723019/Motorhome___Kombi_Safari_by_stephanriederer.jpg&quot; width=500>
    The Terrawind amphibious RV:
    <img src="http://cbswomc.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/motorhome-e1278674836866.jpg?w=385&h=256"&gt;
    Uh, huh?
    <img src="http://images.travelpod.com/users/odillesphotos/1.1273315790.the-ultimate-motorhome.jpg&quot; width=500>

      1. That's the first thing I thought of when I saw that, "No way is that even close to 14'6", but it's clear that the top parts work like a slide-out except upwards…… Very clever.

    1. Nice!!! Just make sure you have an extra bottle of Liquid Schwartz & and an extra fire hydrant!

  8. I have thought about building a bed into he passenger's side of my Geo Metro to replace the passenger's seat and then using the space beneath it for cargo and a Coleman stove before, but I also found a ready-made solution for my needs as well: the Trabant roof Tent.
    <img src="http://home.clara.net/peterfrost/p60rt2.jpg"&gt;
    If I could find such a thing in the US, I think it would make an awesome addition to the Metro. Just think, you could get 55 mpg while traveling the US by car and camp out in rest stops. I bet it would even fit the cut down 90's Jeep Cherokee roof rack I have planned for it in the future.

        1. I've seen the very car on display at the San Diego auto museum. I thought everybody knew about this?

  9. I figured as much – like I said, I'd want to look into a powertrain swap. Or is the issue bigger than that?
    I suppose I could always look for a Scenicruiser instead,

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