Throughout most of RV history, the most well-equipped motorhomes have been gargantuan, boring boxes on wheels. This sucks if you want a coach that has everything but also want it to be small enough to fit in a garage. Lieutenant Colonel Paul Jones didn’t let that stop him and he built two amazing small RVs with his hands. This 1976 Star Streak II motorhome is the second of his builds, and it took the style and bones of a Cadillac Eldorado and combined them with the luxuries normally found in larger motorhomes. The result is easily one of the coolest coaches you’ll ever see.
The 2024 Thor Open House ended last week, but there’s still a great reason to go to Elkhart, Indiana. Located directly next to the grounds for the Thor Open House is the RV/MH Hall of Fame Museum. This museum is dedicated to preserving the history of RV pioneers and innovators from over a century ago to the modern day. Part of the museum’s mission is educating the public about the people and the vehicles that helped shape both recreational vehicles and manufactured housing.
At the museum you can learn how the typical RV is built and then take a stroll through over a century of unique RVs you won’t see anywhere else. When you’re done, you can walk across the hall and then go through over a century of manufactured housing, starting with covered wagons and glorious Spartan trailers to today’s manufactured houses.
Small Yet Ostentatious
I found a lot to love in the museum, but the RV that caught my attention the most was the Star Streak II. This wasn’t the creation of a startup or a big company, but a man who was fed up.
As the California Automobile Museum notes, the story starts with Lt. Col. Paul Jones. He retired from the Air Force and in the 1980s, Jones decided to hit the road with his spouse. Lt. Col. Jones started off by checking out the existing market of RVs and was disappointed in what he found. Well-equipped coaches were too big to fit in his garage and the smaller ones were comparatively bare inside. Jones was experienced in aeronautical engineering, so he cracked his knuckles and got to work building his own RV.
The first build by Jones was the Star Streak, a coach that started life as a 1971 Oldsmobile Toronado before Jones constructed his own custom body on top. The Star Streak features a hand-formed aluminum body, hand-made glass, and trim from Cadillacs. He then filled it with the equipment expected in a much larger motorhome.
The California Automobile Museum notes that Jones built the Star Streak in his Florida garage, yet the quality of the engineering and materials are above and beyond typical garage builds. Jones fitted the first Star Streak with a television, stereo, skylight, sink, and stove, plus a dashboard resembling a flight deck. The museum goes on to note the first Star Streak also features hot and cold water, a heater, air-conditioning, and even a central vacuum cleaner system. There’s even a hidden bathroom onboard complete with a shower. Somehow, Jones even baked in enough storage for a barbeque grill, bicycles, and folding chairs.
The California Automobile Museum goes on to say that Jones then took the Star Streak around America, racking up 100,000 miles, often with his highly customized Crosley Hotshot in tow.
The Cadillac Of Motorhomes
Now, this would be a great story for any guy, but then Lt. Col. Jones doubled down. In 1988, he decided to build a sequel to the Star Streak, which is what I saw at the RV/MH Hall of Fame Museum and you’re looking at now.
The 1976 Star Streak II started life as a 1976 Cadillac Eldorado with the powertrain from a 1976 Oldsmobile Toronado. That gave the Star Streak a 455 cubic inch V8, good for 215 HP and 370 lb-ft of torque. The front-wheel-drive layout was crucial as it allowed Jones to build both of his coaches with low floors, permitting his goal of a coach that fits in a garage.
With that said, the Star Streak II will not fit in every garage. Its 6.9-foot height is just perfect, but its 22.5-foot length may leave its glorious tailfins poking out of the garage.
Still, the Star Streak II is just as impressive as the first. Once again, you’re looking at custom aluminum metalwork, custom windows, a custom interior, and awesome paint. The attention to detail is incredible down to the smallest bits. Jones even managed to keep the weight down to 5,400 pounds, which isn’t too bad!
The Star Streak II is similar to the first coach, down to the paint color choices and the interior equipment. That includes a double-basin sink, stove, Formica countertop, refrigerator, and a dinette that transforms into a bed. The coaches are different, especially when you study their exteriors and dashboards. Reportedly, Jones used polystyrene foam for insulation and bullet-resistant glass for its insulation and scratch-resistant properties. The Star Streak II is also a little longer, wider, and more refined than its predecessor.
It should be noted that you cannot fully stand in either motorhome, but that’s the price you pay for a fixed-roof coach that fits in a garage.
If you’re even slightly interested in the weird ideas of RV innovators, the RV/MH Hall Of Fame Museum can be found in Elkhart and it’s currently open daily. Admission is $20 for adults, $12 for kids and teens, and free for kids 5 years old and younger. Seniors 60 and over pay $15 while families with 3 or more kids pay $45.
The Paul and Maureen Jones family donated the Star Streak II to the RV/MH Hall Of Fame while the original Star Streak remains in the hands of the California Automobile Museum. While Lt. Col. Paul Jones may not have been an RV pioneer, I think he was definitely a visionary. His motorhomes look like nothing else on the road and I bet they stopped the show at every campground he went to. Both Star Streak coaches are fantastic examples of the kind of camping equipment you can get when you think outside of the box.
(Images: Author)
Very interesting but I’m not sure you haven’t shown us better
I am lucky enough to see that as it’s just a handful a mile away from me. They hace some great interesting cars in there as well.
My kind of person and these things are amazing! Incredible that he even did glass himself. I assume the second one uses polycarbonate, but the first, is it tempered glass?
I wonder why it has a Toronado drivetrain? Eldo’s had the same set up, just with caddy motors.
Sadly, there isn’t a ton more history about these out there. However, given that the Caddy was 12 years old at the time I wonder if he bought one that was wrecked or had a bad engine.
Could be! Or maybe he wanted the gas sipping efficiency of the 455 vs the 500 that came with the Eldo.
Parts, probably. My wild guess would be that Olds 455 parts would be more widely available and cheaper than Caddy parts.
I’m guessing that it was weight. If I remember correctly, the Olds and Buick big blocks used a different, thin-wall casting technique, that resulted in a lighter engine with comparable power.
That interior looks fantastic, much better finished and thought out than typical for even the more ambitious home built rigs (and, obviously, a major step up from the basement rec room paneling, plaid benches, and sickly flower print curtains of the typical factory built ’70s RV).
“….plaid benches, and sickly flower print curtains…”
Nothing wrong with plaid and flowers –
Sure beats the greige marine vinyl that’s ubiquitous in today’s RVs.
There was lot wrong with the ones used in the ’70s
Next you’ll tell us you don’t like shag carpet….
Just Wow
Ditto.
Wasn’t there a 23′ version of the GMC motorhome? That one had a bathroom.
Don’t want to be too negative, because this thing looks awesome. I just think every motorhome build should start with the bathroom.
There was! However, a GMC Motorhome is about a foot too high for Paul’s specific demand that the RV had to be able to park in a garage.
Then get a taller garage.
Save the Shitters!
But the GM version was 8’-1” to 9’-2” high, so it would take a special garage to fit it. That said, I’d love to have a nice example of a GM coach. I doubt they got much worse fuel mileage than the olds/caddy they were based on.
Every now and then I shop for them. I would love to have one, but definitely don’t have the time to use it.
I always wonder why nobody installs fuel injection on them. It’s probably not going to make it actually efficient, but should be good for a few MPG, which count when you’re driving the thing long distances.