Home » Fifty Years Ago, GM Built The Motorhome Of The Future. Here’s Why It’s Still One Of The Greats

Fifty Years Ago, GM Built The Motorhome Of The Future. Here’s Why It’s Still One Of The Greats

Gmc Motorhome Ts2
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Because I’m a goth dandy, I like to be comfortable when I travel. Long distance flights usually require the application of alcohol, headphones, and a few good movies of my own choosing. Upon arriving at the hotel, I don’t need obsequious service – a cocktail bar, the ability to obtain a decent cup of coffee, and a large bed with a lot of pillows are my pre-booking prerequisites, and a good post-arrival shower helps when hopping time zones. In other words, I like to be comfortable, clean, and presentable. This is why I have never really got on with camping.

Camping baffles me. It’s like a holiday with extra aggravation and less comfort. You spend ages sticking things in the ground, erecting tents, setting equipment up, and generally faffing about just so you can drink something resembling coffee from a tin cup. Once set up in the great outdoors, there are insects that want to bite you and wild animals that want to eat you. A lot of this palaver can be minimized by using a caravan or an RV, but out of all the aluminum boxes Miss Mercedes has towed behind her broken panzers, none of them have so much as a drinks cabinet.

Vidframe Min Top
Vidframe Min Bottom

I have camped in the past. A couple of years ago I soiled the back seats of my Ferrari with tents and sleeping bags to go to the Le Mans Classic and will do so again this July. I’m an insufferably pretentious idiot, so imagine my horror at discovering my camping stove struggled to boil a Moka coffee pot. What might change my mind about all this is a wheeled home away from home that allows me to travel with dignity. An RV with a sense of style that doesn’t drive like a waterbed and with enough design credibility and comfort to make me rethink my anti-camping stance. Fifty years ago such a thing existed: the GMC Motorhome.

It Started With Oldsmobile

The GMC Motorhome was a ground-up rethink of how to design and build a recreational vehicle with none of the inherent compromises present in mobile homes available up to that point. Its revolutionary layout and construction encouraged GM to explore using the platform for a wide range of commercial uses. It wasn’t some off-the-books skunkworks project – the Motorhome had the full backing of the board and all the resources of GM design behind it. Never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity, GM pulled the plug after six years just as the RV market was about to explode.

1966 Toronado Ad
1968 Oldsmobile Toronado. Image: GM

The GMC Motorhome story begins with the Unitized Power Package (UPP) that debuted on the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado. At the time, each GM division still operated independently with its own engineering staff, and Oldsmobile’s intention for the UPP was to create a lower-cost front-wheel drive car. America’s last front wheel drive car had been the 1937 Cord, so working out how to package a V8 engine with an automatic transmission to drive the front wheels meant the project spiraled in development time and expense, and the UPP initially ended up in high-end models. The November 1965 issue of Car and Driver was particularly effusive in its praise of the Toronado, writing:

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“The Oldsmobile Toronado is a beautifully engineered product that indicates a spare-no-expense attitude from conception to completion. The entire design is uniquely free of most of the traditional Detroit engineering prejudices and the only area which indicates anything less than utter open-mindedness is the retention of drum brakes.”

After a year of proving its worth in the nose of the Toronado, the UPP was mated to Cadillac’s 429cu in V8 and installed in the new 1967 Eldorado.

The advantage the UPP gave these big yachts was not just technological bragging rights over traditional rear-drive sedans. Tires weren’t so great back in the sixties, so having the weight of the engine over the driven wheels gave significantly more grip in low traction situations. With no transmission tunnel to factor into new front-drive designs, the passenger cabin could be bigger, and crucially from an aesthetic point of view, lower. No bulky live axle meant a larger trunk and improved ride quality. These positive attributes would be instrumental when it came to designing and manufacturing an entirely new kind of RV.

The Nascent RV Market

Our very own Mercedes Streeter is the resident RV expert around here, and lest she slip a rusty screwdriver between my ribs, here’s an article she wrote that is an excellent primer on motorhome history. When Winnebago started out, their initial offerings were aluminum houses on wheels. This 1968 Winnebago F17 (for its 17-foot length) doesn’t have a single curve on it – Winnebago tried to make this a selling point by noting it maximized interior volume. Some enterprising individuals tried to make softer, more aerodynamic-looking vehicles, but nonetheless all these RVs had one big compromise in common: they were bolted on top of existing commercial truck chassis.

Mini Winnie
The 1968 Winnebago F17. Photo: David Tracy

Building on top of a truck chassis not only meant a higher floor, it also meant a crunching ride and relatively poor handling due to the higher center of gravity. On top of all that, traditional body-on-frame construction was not ideal for fragile interior fixtures and fittings. Finally, you need the cooperation of a manufacturer willing to sell you a complete chassis and engine package. None of this was lost on RV pioneer John Hall, the stepson of Airstream founder Wally Byam. In 1968, Hall took the UPP and mated it to an aluminum body with a bespoke chassis to create the first Revcon motorhome. According to the website Tin Can Tourists:

“In 1968, the first Revcons were built. They included aircraft aluminum monocoque body construction, and a custom built chassis with Oldsmobile Toronado front wheel drive. The lightweight, low profile and front wheel drive made the Revcon handle as well as any American car of the day, quite a feat for a 12,000 pound motor home. It certainly helped the fuel economy, consistently 2 to 4 MPG higher than the competition. The innovation didn’t end with the drivetrain and body, Revcon took it to the interior as well. Lightweight materials were used throughout. Cabinets were constructed of aluminum honeycomb core sandwiched between 2 thin layers of Formica. Not only did this save weight, it was much more durable than the plastic or pressboard cabinets that were typical of the era and are still the industry standard today.”

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An ad for the Revcon 250. Image: Revcon

The Revcon proved that the idea of advanced construction and lower ride height with front wheel drive gave noticeable improvements in ride and handling and gas mileage. The problem was the Revcon’s under-the-skin revolution was undermined by its unsophisticated and dumpy appearance. Even though they were lighter than other RVs of the day, Revcons didn’t look it. The vehicle sat heavily on inset wheels, and despite having flush skin with rounded edges, it seems little consideration was given to aerodynamic efficiency or aesthetic appeal. Thanks to the expanding market, there was still an opportunity for a motor home that holistically combined advances in construction and powertrain in a vehicle where the external appearance represented the same leap forward. There doesn’t appear to be any direct connection between the original Revco and the new GM RV other than the fact they both used the UPP, but it’s not uncommon for different manufacturers to have similar ideas because they are looking at the same problems.

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GMC Motorhome
The GMC Motorhome. Image: GM Heritage

General Motors Wants A New Halo Vehicle

Under the supervision of GM Vice President Martin Caserio who also headed the GMC Truck and Coach division, the new vehicle was to be “the Chevrolet of motorhomes” – something designed from the ground up with the full resources of the mighty GM design staff behind it. GM began by comparing the layouts and floor plans of existing RVs and began by building full-size interior bucks in the basement of the Tech Center. This might seem like overkill, but designers and engineers need something physical they can touch, see, and sit in to try out. It helps them understand exactly what problems they might encounter, especially if it’s a type of vehicle they have not designed before.

GM was determined that the TVS-4 (Travel Vehicle Streamlined) as it was first known would have a comfortable ride. To that end, the  TVS-4 featured a novel tandem twin-wheel arrangement at the rear. Each pair of rear wheels was connected by a railway-style bogie and suspended by a hydraulic spring, pressurized via the power steering pump. This eliminated the need for a rear axle spanning the chassis, and wheel well intrusion into the interior was kept to a minimum, further liberating space. A test chassis with a fake bus body on top named the Pie Wagon was used to convince GM executives to approve the project. This also had the benefit of throwing spy photographers off the scent, as rumors were already circulating that GM might be turning its attention to the increasingly lucrative leisure vehicle market.

With serious design work underway by 1970, the exterior team got to work. Michael Lathers was in charge, and his team soon had walls of sketches, and according to the GMC Motorhomes International website three or four exterior sketches progressed to 1/8 scale clay models. Today, the normal scale for smaller theme clays (used to decide what to take forward to full-size clay) would be 1/4 or 1/5 scale to keep the model to a reasonable size.,

The one full-size model that was completed was probably the largest clay the GM studio ever made. A smaller 1/16 scale sculpt was created for wind tunnel testing, and eventually achieved a Cd of 0.31. Once the full-size clay was completed and signed off, plaster molds were taken directly from the surface to make prototype fiberglass body panels. These were then used to draft the technical drawings for the actual tooling. The production body used an aluminum frame with fiberglass panels bonded directly to it above the belt line, with aluminum construction below the belt line. This made the final shell incredibly strong and light for its size.

Gmc8
Images: GM Heritage

While the exterior design was progressing, the usual GM rigmarole was taking place elsewhere. The hydraulic suspension system went overdue and was over budget. According to Silodrome, Firestone came through in 1971 with a simpler compressor-driven air suspension system to replace the hydraulics. Chevrolet had wanted to keep the motorhome as a second halo model alongside the Corvette, against the wishes of GMC. Because it was projected to weigh over 10,500 lbs, GM management decided TVS was a better fit for the commercial vehicles division. Again according to Silodrome, some at GMC favored a cheaper, more traditional slab-sided motor home; fortuitously Alex Mair took over from Caserio in 1973 and decreed the TVS wasn’t going a Chevrolet of motor homes: now it would be the Cadillac of motor homes, and the TVS’s status as a showcase halo product was assured.

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Gmc6
Image: GM Heritage
Gmc4
Image: GM Heritage

For the interior design, GM had a dedicated team working on different layouts. They wanted the furniture and fittings to represent contemporary tastes in interior décor, further demonstrating a commitment to ensuring the TVS was a complete, well-considered design inside and out. To that end, House and Garden magazine consulted on various interior décor finishes. According to GMC Motorhomes International (GMCMI), in one meeting GM president Ed Cole even went as far as to suggest bright, attractive colors should be used –  pointing to the orange of chief engineer Wally Edwards’ tie.

The prototype GMC Motorhome was revealed to the press and public at the enormous 1972 U.S International Transportation Exposition – Transpo ’72. According to GMCMI:

Martin J. Caserio, General Motors vice president and general manager of GMC Truck & Coach, said the motor home prototype is representative of GMC’s long-term development program for a new chassis and body adaptable to a variety of purposes. “The 26-foot motor home to be exhibited at Transpo is the first application of the new GMC chassis and body design,” he reported.

Caserio said development work is continuing for other potential applications, such as a small bus for metropolitan transit operations, an ambulance and rescue vehicle, a mobile medical clinic, a vehicle for physically-handicapped riders, an airport bus and a display or service van. Many GM cars and trucks were on display there as well as the tan colored 26-foot Motor Home. The exterior was rather plain with no stripes or trim. In a brochure it was described as “An experimental prototype of GMC Truck & Coach Division’s complete motor home, to be marketed in early 1973″. The GM display was still labeled as a ‘Multi Purpose Vehicle” although all efforts were now focused on developing and producing a Motor Home.

Gmc7
Image: GM Heritage

It Wasn’t Just Going To Be A Motor Home

The GM team had such faith in the TVS that they decided to not only offer the motorhome fully fitted out in two lengths – 23 feet and a 26-footer — but also offer empty Trans Mode models to existing RV builders for them to add to their line of existing conversions – although these ‘unofficial’ motor homes were only built in small numbers.

GM had much bigger plans for the Trans Mode. Its structure was deliberately designed with a removable body ‘cap’ on the rear. Commercial vehicle builders could simply unbolt the end of the Trans Mode, fit it out as they liked, then simply bolt the end cap back on. GM created sales documents listing possible adaptations to the basic Trans Mode box including executive long distance transport, mobile laboratories, bookmobiles, mobile corporate showrooms, mobile classrooms, crime-prevention vehicles, bloodmobiles, and even horse boxes. If you can imagine a business use for a smooth-riding and quiet commercial vehicle with a voluminous and infinitely adaptable interior, GM either sketched it or built it.

Gmc12
Image: GM Heritage
Gmc10
Image: GM Heritage
Gmc9
Image: GM Heritage
Gmc
Image: GM Heritage

Production began in late 1972 – the main vehicle was built at GM assembly plant no. 3 in Pontiac, Michigan, and interior construction was subcontracted out to Gemini, a new company set up by PRF Industries which already had experience building RVs.

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There was the usual bewildering choice of interior layouts and options, and the base price was $13,569 for the 23’ model and $14,596 for the 26’. GMCMI says GM anticipated an annual volume of 8,000 units a year and expected to take 10% of the market. Even though it was a low-volume, high-priced product, the motor home sold in reasonable numbers considering the pressures all the automotive industry was facing at the time. Despite this production lasted only six brief years until 1978, and a total of 9715 Motorhomes and 3206 Trans Modes were built. The official reason GM gave for ending production was the space was needed at the Pontiac plant for more profitable trucks, but we now know GM executives were not enamored with expensive to build, design led vehicles and were gearing up to take a much more cynical approach to the business of selling cars. A low volume high image product was a poor fit in a company designed to stamp out vehicles by the hundred thousand.

How The GMC Demonstrates The Importance Of The Design Process

In 1973 the GMC Motorhome must have looked like a spaceship. In a way, that’s exactly what it was – a vehicle to transport you from one location to another in ease and comfort. GM took the design of the Motorhome just as seriously as they did any of their cars – and it shows in the refined, considered appearance.

The wrap around glazing gave the driver confidence on the road – opening up the driver’s view out for great visibility. The progressive and modern exterior reflected the fact that the GMC was unlike any other van on the road – and it didn’t drive like one either. It was lighter, more spacious and more refined than any of its competitors. And the beauty of it for paying customers was it was built by GM, not some company they’d never heard of advertising in classified adverts of a small town newspaper.

Gmc11
Image: GM Heritage

One of the reasons I wanted to discuss the GMC is because it starkly illustrates what car designers actually do and contribute to the development of a successful vehicle. Look at the RVs currently available. Large ones are McMansions on wheels – tackily trimmed and garishly decorated. The pioneering form factor of the GMC – lower to the ground and front-wheel drive, only exists in smaller RVs today thanks to the proliferation of Euro FWD van based conversions. The rest are just overlanding boxes crudely bolted on a truck chassis.

Quite often, any vehicles (not just RVs) from smaller companies look terrible because they don’t have the resources to employ professional designers. They might see it as an unnecessary expense, a drag on time to market or just don’t understand what a designer can contribute beyond making things look pretty. Something I learned a long time ago is even in vehicle categories where you think aesthetics don’t really matter, they absolutely do. Given two products of similar capability and feature set, customers will always choose the one that appeals to them visually.

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One of the lines GM used in advertising the Motorhome was “our goal was to make getting there as much fun as being there.” To steal a phrase beloved of UI/UX designers they wanted to make camping and road trips as frictionless as possible. The GMC Motorhome website estimates that of the 12,000 or so built, between 8-9000 are still registered. Revco even copied the basic exterior design for their later models. The most cursory of internet searches confirms these glorious RVs still have a dedicated and enthusiastic following, a testament to their rightness fifty years later. With updates to the lighting, grill and bumpers you could imagine the GMC Motorhome being sold today –  it would still look incredibly fresh and modern, because brilliant design transcends time in both form and function.

[Mercedes’ Note: Part of what’s so fascinating about the GMC Motorhome is that GM’s designers and engineers basically found the ideal medium motorhome formula. The coach was low to the ground, comfortable, had huge windows, unmatched style, and had a build quality that too many RVs from today cannot match. It’s not surprising that some people would rather spend a half-million dollars modernizing an old GMC Motorhome instead of buying a new coach.

This piece makes me wonder what modern Class A RVs would be like if they were penned by car designers. We sort of see a glimpse of that with the new Lightship and Pebble trailers, which were designed by Tesla and Rivian alum. – MS]

Car design isn’t something that only takes place when the sun is shining. You need to view models outside in natural light all year round. When GM designers wanted something they could sit in to view models outside during the harsh Detroit winters, guess what they used.

Once again my sincerest thanks to the GM Heritage Archive who dug into their records for these images. Also thank you to The Bishop for additional research – keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Finally special thanks to resident camping masochist Miss Mercedes for fact checking this piece for me. 

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MrLM002
MrLM002
8 hours ago

I know a guy with a GMC Trans Mode, they replaced the end cap with a rear ramp for loading and unloading motorcycles, the guy used it as a race van/mobile repair shop for the vintage motorcycles he used to race. It’s a wonderful vehicle.

1978fiatspyderfan
1978fiatspyderfan
9 hours ago

Wow great article but now I have so many ideas:
1. The only reason for tent camping is juvenile jokes about erecting the tent.
2. The yellow/white camper must give your goth vibes the heebee geebees.
3. You stated the 1939 cord was the last front wheel drive car in America? I think I can 1 or 2 hundred since then
4. When air tunneling a camper is it different than a car? I get a race car you want down force. But on a heavy RV do they try to adjust down force for traction but up force for less weight on the frame and tires and rolling resistance?
5. Am I the only person that realizes that turning over interior design of RVs to IKEA or LEGO is the best idea?
6. If people are willing to spend big bucks modernizing a GM Motorhome why not spend it on customizing a sweet town bus with better everything from the start?

CanyonCarver
CanyonCarver
8 hours ago

Responding to remark 3, I think he was referring to at the time when the GMC Motorhome came out, the last front wheel drive vehicle had been the Cord. Not from when the GMC was penned to now.

CanyonCarver
CanyonCarver
5 hours ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

I always enjoy getting a response from the author of a story. Makes you guys feel more accessible.

Ronald Pottol
Ronald Pottol
5 hours ago

Not much has the floor height of the GMC, only 14″, I don’t bother with a step, though I have one for guests. I expect you’re not driving a Motorhome fast enough to get much down force, not if I’m paying for the gas anyways.

Andy Individual
Andy Individual
10 hours ago

Odd. Most of the people I know around me who identify as goth love to go out once a year to a muddy field and complain about how the summer solstice is too long. I suspect they might also be into the leeches and black flies though too.

Baltimore Paul
Baltimore Paul
9 hours ago

I know, right? And comfortable and Goth are not two things I ever associate with each other.

Bassracerx
Bassracerx
10 hours ago

one of these was in my neighborhood by t he bus stop in highschool. I don’t think i ever saw it move but it as right there and i saw it every day for four years . i assume the neighbor inherited it and planned on fixing it up eventually. one day it was just gone and that as that.

Ben Eldeson
Ben Eldeson
10 hours ago

Some friends of ours owned one that they would take to burning man. First of all, the engines in those absolutely drink gas. As in, another friend of mine has a 73 Cadillac with the same engine and holy shit it gets “maybe” 10MPG. The friends with the RV? Much worse then that. And at the end of the day it was not powerful enough to comfortably drive up any hill of significance. And the brakes were not really adequate either. In fact the brakes overheated on them coming back from their trip.

Are they cool looking? Yes. Practical? Not really.

1978fiatspyderfan
1978fiatspyderfan
9 hours ago
Reply to  Ben Eldeson

The people who go to burning man are the same type of people who drove VW Vans. Acceptable vehicle performance is something they abhor

Captain Avatar
Captain Avatar
11 hours ago

My brother in law (a lineman by trade, but an ASE certfied mechanic right after HS) had one of these from 2011-18. He bought it from an older couple for a song. Structurally sound, kept in a bay big enough for it, hadn’t run since the late 80’s or early 90’s.

He fixed all the mechanical and electrical things, including upgrading the brakes and putting better exterior lighting (including headlights) on it. So….like a light restoration with mods as needed). The inside just needed a good cleaning and a check of the plumbing.

They are a family of 4, and they used to take it down to the area south of Ocean City, MD (Berlin and Assateague). They’d park in some camp ground, and we’d drive down because we were living in Delaware at that time.

These are weird and kind of cool. They don’t look as old as they are, because they seem more like precursor to the big bus RVs we started seeing in the 80’s.

He ultimately got rid of it because the insurance was high and it lacked modern safety features. And he also knew he could sell it make a good profit, which he did. Somebody bought it for like $11k, which is insane…but……’a fool and his money’,….etc.

1978fiatspyderfan
1978fiatspyderfan
9 hours ago
Reply to  Captain Avatar

My brother has a friend who has Jimmy Carter’s Campaign Trail Bus still in original condition. It doesn’t run as far as I know I wasn’t inside it to do a sniff test but hey at least you don’t have to worry about DNA testing

Mr. Canoehead
Mr. Canoehead
11 hours ago

I was an impressionable kid when these came out. I remember camping with my family in Banff and Jasper and occasionally seeing one of these in a campground. It really was like a spaceship landed compared to the suddenly ancient looking Winnebagos of the time.

Church
Church
11 hours ago

Sees lede photo, double checks byline.

Speedway Sammy
Speedway Sammy
11 hours ago

Update the drivetrain to a modern efficient direct injection gasser and you’re ready to roll. Needs a multi-speed lockup transmission too but not sure if any fwd configs being built in this torque rating category. Maybe a built 4T80?

Michael Beranek
Michael Beranek
12 hours ago

Wow, I always assumed that the UPP in the Motorhome was positioned at the rear. You learn something every day!

M SV
M SV
12 hours ago

It seems like GM might be trying to do this again with the brightdrops.
They are always quite eye catching in that orange color. I do wonder if it’s simar to the vintage airstreams they crashed some afee people spent crazy money redoing them. These seem to keep going up and people pouring money in them.

ChefCJ
ChefCJ
12 hours ago

That description of camping is prehaps the most accurate to me I’ve ever read, and perfectly eloquates exactly why I hate it.

Michael Beranek
Michael Beranek
12 hours ago
Reply to  ChefCJ

Camping is an acquired taste. I like Boundary Waters in Minnesota, the outfitter will take you, your gear, and the canoes on a powerboat out to the limit line. They leave you there with an arranged day and time to pick you back up.
From there, you paddle deeper into the wilderness. The only man-made things are the iron fire grates, and the fiberglass cones with the hole on top (for, uh, evacuations).
No clean water. No electricity. No cell service. No nuthin’.
Now that’s camping.

Michael Beranek
Michael Beranek
5 hours ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

Yeah, but falling asleep to the sound of loons is worth it.

Slower Louder
Slower Louder
4 hours ago

You can fall asleep to the sound of loons every weeknight on The Autopian. One of life’s little pleasures.

Cheap Bastard
Cheap Bastard
12 hours ago

With updates to the lighting, grill and bumpers you could imagine the GMC Motorhome being sold today – it would still look incredibly fresh and modern, because brilliant design transcends time in both form and function.

I get this is a design review but updates to the drivetrain is what it would REALLY need. A nice REX EV drivetrain powerful enough to move it up a mountain (in the right lane) and with a big enough battery to power it for a day or so without needing to fire up the engine.

Speaking of which that drivetrain should have a generator mode to turn gasoline into electricity as efficiently as possible and harness the waste heat to keep the cabin comfy and the hot water hot.

Last edited 12 hours ago by Cheap Bastard
Bags
Bags
11 hours ago
Reply to  Cheap Bastard

Some camper-vanners started using marine water heaters that run engine coolant through a heat-exchanger to do the bulk of the heating. Smart if you don’t want to carry propane, since doing all of that with electricity takes a ton of power. Pretty easy to adapt that to radiant heat from there.
Seems like a good way to gain some added efficiencies in a hybrid type system rather than using a gas engine only for electricity generation.

Cheap Bastard
Cheap Bastard
10 hours ago
Reply to  Bags

There should already be a heat exchanger providing radiant heat – the heater core. It shouldn’t be difficult to run insulated coolant hoses to the back and put in cores along the way to bring heat throughout the cabin and to the water heater as well. Then have the ICE start and run to generate just enough heat and power as needed.

Last edited 10 hours ago by Cheap Bastard
Ok_Im_here
Ok_Im_here
12 hours ago

I remember looking at one of these with my family as a kid. We then bought what we could afford: a full size van that had a sink, icebox, and bench seats in the back facing a table that could be dropped down and make a bed… a sort of weekender package. What it did not have was a high roof, and as such, never functioned well as a camper.

These do have a timeless look, but like a lot of these classics, probably can’t handle being turned into EVs very easily, which is what I would do if I had tons of money. Also, we now live in a world of slides. I would have to assume that at some point you’d have to make a version that could handle slides. They are really a game changer.

The last issue is that while these had a bunk option, generally speaking, they were not made for families with kids. If you had kids, you got a class C, generally speaking–a bed in the back for you and up top for the kids.

Baltimore Paul
Baltimore Paul
8 hours ago
Reply to  Ok_Im_here

Ours could sleep 6. Large bed in back, sofa converted to bunk bed, and galley table converted to a bed
Ours was orange and we called it the Great Pumpkin.

Howie
Howie
13 hours ago

Back in the late 70’s (78 or 79) My dad’s company had one of these as an “executive transport”. It was really nice. It was yellow with warm colors through the interior. “Palm Beach” We borrowed it one time to go to NH and VT to go leaf peeping. I was the last kid in the house, so it was a bit overkill, but wow it was cool. We went to several campgrounds and we had a crowd everytime we parked it. I remember dad filling it up with gas, I seem to recall it was a couple hundred bucks. He laughed as it took a while to fill up; “Just making sure its not pumping onto the ground”. He really liked the way it drove. Even my mom drove it for a short bit, it was a bit large for her, but she didn’t mind it on the larger roads. Kancamangus, not so much.

Howie
Howie
13 hours ago
Reply to  Howie

I guess my old guy brain needs color correction. This is it though! https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1976_GMC_Palm_Beach_Motorhome_RV_(27267298232).jpg&ved=2ahUKEwjd69Lu6pGMAxVUhYkEHZguEjYQh-wKegQIGBAD&usg=AOvVaw2kkCZVZ3HGqjxWvOzSyWHD

AssMatt
AssMatt
13 hours ago
Reply to  Howie

“leaf peeping”
+1

3WiperB
3WiperB
13 hours ago

The Trans Mode options graphics are gold. I’ve never seen that one before, and it’s awesome to see all the options. Good stuff and “Damn Good Design”!

AssMatt
AssMatt
13 hours ago

Also thank you to The Bishop for additional research – keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Wow, I can’t wait until a salacious SlackTales expands on the rivalry we all suspected!

Cheap Bastard
Cheap Bastard
10 hours ago
Reply to  AssMatt

Surprise twist: Adrian IS THE BISHOP!!

AssMatt
AssMatt
10 hours ago
Reply to  Cheap Bastard

That’d be amazing. Put a Van Dyke on him so we know which one is evil.

Cheap Bastard
Cheap Bastard
10 hours ago
Reply to  AssMatt

Extra surprise twist: They’re BOTH evil!!

(OK, not such a surprise…)

Baltimore Paul
Baltimore Paul
8 hours ago
Reply to  Cheap Bastard

Torch is The Bishop . But he doesn’t know it
Like Tyler Durden

Cheap Bastard
Cheap Bastard
4 hours ago
Reply to  Baltimore Paul

Hmmm… Torch wears glasses, does the Bishop?

Has anyone ever seen them both in the same room at the same time?

No to both questions?

It’s plausible…

Canopysaurus
Canopysaurus
13 hours ago

As I read this, Americans are celebrating St. Patricks’s Day with parades and drinking green beer. I imagine you Brits are quaffing some Black and Tans to mark the occasion.

Cheap Bastard
Cheap Bastard
10 hours ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

Yeah, one shouldn’t order a Black and Tan in Ireland unless trying to start something:

In Ireland, the term “black and tan” is associated with the Royal Irish Constabulary Reserve Force, nicknamed the “Black and Tans”, which was sent into Ireland in the early 1920s during the Irish War of Independence and resulted in violent outbreaks between the forces and the Irish people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_and_tan

Last edited 10 hours ago by Cheap Bastard
Canopysaurus
Canopysaurus
7 hours ago
Reply to  Cheap Bastard

Yeah, that’s why I implied the British might celebrate St Paddy’s that way.

Canopysaurus
Canopysaurus
6 hours ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

I expect so. I fear over here we’re about to experience the opposite, though I hope not.

Cheap Bastard
Cheap Bastard
4 hours ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

I would hope not.

TheNewt
TheNewt
13 hours ago

Adrian, I know you may not catch the cultural reference, but you didn’t mention it’s use as the EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle.

Ranwhenparked
Ranwhenparked
13 hours ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

It is a bit overused, like mentioning Only Fools and Horses anytime a Reliant comes up, even if it isn’t a Regal-based Supervan

Bomber
Bomber
13 hours ago
Reply to  TheNewt

Came here to say the same thing LOL

Bob the Hobo
Bob the Hobo
12 hours ago
Reply to  TheNewt

The truly cultured will recognize it as the 1976 Barbie Doll Star Traveler GMC Eleganza II Camper RV Motor Home.

Last edited 12 hours ago by Bob the Hobo
Live2ski
Live2ski
13 hours ago

for me, this will forever be known as the EM-50 from Stripes
https://www.imcdb.org/i039534.jpg

Lizardman in a human suit
Lizardman in a human suit
6 hours ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

And if any one mentions it again, will they end up on The List?

Nic Periton
Nic Periton
13 hours ago

Hesketh Racing had one, James Hunt used to drive it.

https://www.heskethracing.co.uk/portfolio/the-hesketh-gmc-motorhome/

Jnnythndrs
Jnnythndrs
13 hours ago

People still love these motorhomes; a few years ago when I owned a differential shop, we built a fairly large number of final drives for these(they’re like a very odd-looking independent rear differential in design) with custom-made lower gears. The factory used very tall(for a motorhome) gears of around 3.07 to 3:21 and we would put 3:70 and 4:10’s in them.

4jim
4jim
13 hours ago

Oh the heady days of interior color schemes!! Why are our homes beige: https://youtu.be/kQ_JIen4vV8?si=kVq_ummlb07WmXu6

BunkyTheMelon
BunkyTheMelon
13 hours ago

What you need is a Vixen!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vixen_(RV)

StillNotATony
StillNotATony
12 hours ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

You want to live on the edge of a broken heart? Didn’t think that was your kind of music.

StillNotATony
StillNotATony
11 hours ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

I saw Vixen as the opening act of a Vixen/Winger/KISS lineup. They were amazing, but there were a LOT of hammered gals with big hair determined to get into Kip Winger’s trousers.

StillNotATony
StillNotATony
5 hours ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

I was there for those two, but I must admit I saw my first pair of IRL boobs as a result of Paul Stanley going out on a catwalk part of the stage and singing to one woman in particular. At least, he seemed to be singing to her, and she took her top off to express her appreciation.

Jack Trade
Jack Trade
13 hours ago

And befitting its original era, one was featured in an episode of the Six Million Dollar Man! Steve uses it to take the reformist head of state from some iron curtail nation on a cross country trip, to avoid assassins or something. It’s no Death Probe, sure, but I’ll take it.

Last edited 13 hours ago by Jack Trade
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