A Boeing Engineer Turned A Cadillac Into An Awesome Metal RV Built Like A Boeing 737

Throughout RV history there have been several companies and individuals touting their designs as being inspired by how airplanes are built. Few of these efforts have the distinction of actually being built by an aircraft engineer. Hidden away in Washington is one of those creations. A Boeing aircraft engineer took an old Cadillac Eldorado and stretched it out into a long, all-metal motorhome with the same kind of riveting you’d find on a Boeing 737. That’s right, there’s still a Cadillac Eldorado hiding under the body of what you’re looking at on your screen.

This motorhome is for sale on Facebook Marketplace right now for $20,000. I spoke with its owner, Rodney, a charismatic gentleman with a similar affinity for weird and old RVs. Rodney is such a fan of forgotten oddball RVs that he also owns a Clark Cortez, the all-metal motorhome built by a forklift company. After our conversation, I’m convinced that this all-steel beast might actually be a steal.

This Cadillac Eldohome–that’s what I’m going to call it–comes from an era when the RV industry experienced an explosion in demand, resulting in some awesome unique designs from manufacturers and ambitious builds from individuals. In the 1960s and the 1970s, an increasing number of Americans discovered that RVing is quite fun. The RV industry responded to the spike in demand by introducing lines of camping implements for all kinds of people on all types of budgets.

This was a time when the RV industry also experienced a period of innovation. The famous Boler and Scamp fiberglass trailers come from this era, as does the iconic GMC MotorHome. RVs were so hot back then that mobile home builders and bus manufacturers threw their own vehicles into the market. Winnebago’s entire business is rooted in this developmental era.

Relevant to this article is the Clark Cortez from the 1960s.

Clark, the company known for its forklifts, decided to build a motorhome that was just as durable as a forklift, which meant that the Cortez was outfitted with a heavy steel unitized body. The idea was that a Clark Cortez had the longevity of something like a house but was actually a vehicle.

Clark also wanted to build an RV that drove more like a car. So its Cortez had a front-wheel-drive layout, allowing for a lower center of gravity due to no longer having a driveshaft going to the rear.

Heavy Metal

This 1974 Cadillac Eldorado-home came more than a decade after the Clark Cortez and it very much follows the same concept, but with a lot more style.

Sadly, Rodney has informed me that much of the history of this unit has been lost to time. It’s not exactly known how many people have had this coach since it was built by its original owner. The only surviving evidence of its past is a book of photos from the build. That book does not contain any explanation of the build, its builder’s motivation, or why a Cadillac Eldorado was even butchered up like this.

What we do know is that this motorhome was built decades ago by an engineer at Boeing. Rodney, who is also a former Boeing employee, told me that there was even a chance he met the builder of this coach during his Boeing days.

The build started with a donor vehicle, a 1974 Cadillac Eldorado. This is a car that would have had a base price of $9,110 when it was new. We do not know how the engineer came into possession of this car, but an amusing guess by Rodney was that the builder might have had this car sitting around.

I have a different view. The ninth-generation Cadillac Eldorado features a front-wheel-drive layout. As shown by actual motorhome manufacturers, it’s easier to rip apart a front-wheel-drive vehicle to turn it into something larger. The engine of this land-based aircraft carrier is a meaty 500 cubic inch V8. Sadly, this was made during the emissions choking of the Malaise Era, so you got all of 200 horses for your 8.2 liters of displacement.

The build photos show that the construction process was extensive. The builder separated the front third of the Eldorado with the rear third, then pulled them apart. Bridging the gap was a custom steel skeleton and as you can probably tell by the photos, the builder also widened the front and rear ends of the donor Caddy. The widening was done so well that the only way I figured it out was through noticing the extra headlights added into the additional space.

Built on top of the steel skeleton is a body of riveted metal. Rodney tells me that the body is riveted and that the riveting work is so good that it would pass a quality test in an airplane factory. What’s fascinating about all of this is that it looks like the builder tried to save as much of the donor vehicle as possible.

It looks like the builder repurposed the hood of the donor car into the hood of the motorhome. Also, just look at those fenders!

The interior also has some great touches. The motorhome’s interior is decked out in real wood and I’m told it was built to be wheelchair accessible. It’s believed that the builder’s wife used a wheelchair and frequently stayed in the bed. That bed, which is pretty small for a motorhome, has a panic button to notify someone outside of the coach about trouble. Rodney explained to me that perhaps the builder might have found himself fishing outside of the motorhome and if his wife had an emergency, she could have hit the button to get his attention. I love how this vintage coach appears to be pretty accessible!

I also love how the coach seems to have been built with a professional level of quality. The fit and finish seen in photos looks better than many modern RVs. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought that this was made from a long-dead and forgotten RV manufacturer. Instead, this was built by an airplane engineer.

Unfortunately, Rodney says that it’s time to part ways with his Eldohome and his Clark Cortez. He notes that there isn’t anything wrong with these coaches, but he wants a modern camper van. Vintage motorhomes are great, he notes, but vintage powertrains don’t hold a candle to what you can get today. That’s fair.

As such, Rodney is hoping that someone will come out to Auburn, Washington, and pay $20,000 before taking this custom coach to a new home. Considering the work put into this one-off motorhome, I think the price is actually worth it.

Of course, don’t expect to get modern power, reliability, or fuel economy. But if you’re into vintage RVs, I think this one hits the spot in such a fascinating way. It looks like a motorhome giving birth to a Cadillac and I just can’t stop looking at that. If you’re the builder of this masterpiece or know the person who built it, I’d love to chat. Drop me a line at mercedes@theautopian.com.

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