Hi John, why not go with a House Boat and have an all purpose rig? See http://www.catamarancruiser.com/deluxe/8x31%20Lil%20Hobo.htm

Just saw one at the Seattle Boat Show. You could rig up a ramp, and put the Cat on the roof. Best of all worlds, and a possible Committee Boat also.

Caleb

Now that is just wrong....however, what I DO want to see is the driver get out of the minicooper that he just pulled in there.

Houseboat for a committee boat? NO! The windshadow would be relentless...although it probably would discourage barging.

Hi Jake,
I saw them demonstrate that motorhome on the Travel Channel.
It has a hydralic lift which lowers and slides the mini out for you

If you are buying new, ignore this. If you want good used consider 73-78 GMC's (23 or 26 ft). Often considered the best motorhome ever made. The only one ever puspose built from the ground up and crash tested by a manufacture. Around 11,000 made and somewhere around 8000 still licensed and driving today.

Here's mine... I am restoring as I go... a little every year.

There are some quite nice GMC's available. Many have had frame off restorations some by companies for which it is their only business. The 77-78 models get as much as 12-14 mpg, they fit in a double parking space, drive like a van. They were built for boondocking (not being connected) so many of the standard features are quite power concious.

You can pay as much or as little as you want... $3000 if you are an excellent mechanic, woodworker, cabinet maker and automotive painter... $70,000 if you want one that compares to new deisel pushers (recent ebay sale, 3 plasma screens, leather and mohogony).

Here is a link to find them on ebay Ebay GMC Search

Mike,

That's some great advice. Those GMCs have quite a following and every owner I've ever run into has been very enthusiastic about theirs. A div 9 Hobie 17 / 20 sailor has one that he has been restoring and it's been fun hearing his stories through the process. Your website is great!

Since those GMC's are so popular, why did they stop making them? It is exactly the kind of thing I am looking for, but we are not fixer-upper people.

John

I just bought a 1996 Class A diesel pusher after looking at a lot of RV's. I read not to buy a new RV for your first one because you are not really sure what you want in an RV and really won't know until you have owned one. I was lucky to have friends that bought before I did so when I traveled with them I could check things out to see what I liked. I chose an A class because I think they look better, drive better, hold there value better, less wind noise, better drivers view, made on a chassie for an RV. I chose a diesel pusher because of better resale, better mileage, engine in rear so it is quiet up front, diesel does not work as hard as gas engine,( I haul my boat with my diesel Ford truck and do not notice diesel smoke on boat). I also got a slide because of resale, the rv gets real big and Nigel said so. I think the qualty of most was pretty cheap until you started to get in the higher price range over 200K (I am a custom home builder though). You just have to buy what is in you budget.

They stopped making them because they stopped selling. They were selling for close to $40,000 in 1978... right in the middle of the gas crisis and when the auto makers were reinventing themselves to survive. GMC Motorhomes didn't make the cut. Rumor has it they ended up spending over $100,000 per coach by the time it was all added up. The plant was switched over to make highly profitable light trucks. The GMC Sierra series of pickups was produced in the plan and the numbers show that was probably the best decision a manufacture ever made. It was the beginning of the SUV trend in the US.

Several companies have tried to revive production but there just aren't enough RV's sold to justify a ground up build. Current manufactures build on chasis like the Workhorse, or other multipurpose truck chasis. They are into extreme cost savings, even budgetting the number of wire connectors they can afford to use on a coach. I am afraid the cost of a new GMC today would be laughable... probably $500,000.

Anyone willing to start production? The molds are available... Molds on Ebay When bidding just remember they are 400,000 lbs and you have to pick them up :-)

One more link... The leading restorer of the GMC motorhomes is in Orlando, FLA. Jim Bounds at the GMC Coop. Web Site Link Look at the examples. You don't need to be a fixer-upper. Jim does that for you at very, very reasonable prices.

See....I told you they were fanatical.

I am sure you were talking about the GMC community as a whole and not me specifically