Retro is the new in thing.

[Keyair]

Nice concept sketch, but not a realistic hope of that ever being produced.
Sadly I don't think Thor has the wherewithal to produce something so advanced.
Now, take a FRED chassis, add an aluminum structure and bond aluminum sheet to it with epoxy. All the main body sides would be staight and use standard aluminum sheets with a mild curve top to bottom. A design cue radius top and bottom. Top radius should hide awnings. Roof would be flat above that and walkable. Careful design of wall structure would isolate the aluminum exterior from interior.
Front and rear would be aerodynamic, with signature wrap around panoramic glass. Slide outs would be easy to incorporate if needed.
This body would be easy to produce in a modular fashion in various lengths.

[Kota]

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, my one and only Chevy was my Mac Tools truck. Chevy P-30. This was also my worst vehicle ever. At 18,000 miles the engine blew up, at 25,000 miles the trans went out, and at 42,000 miles the new engine blew up too. [services were done at every 1,000 miles] When I replaced the truck with a Ford truck, some of my customers told me that I wouldn't be happy with a Ford truck because their transmissions were only good for 75,000 miles. "Well that's three times as far as I got with my Chevy trans."

I'm not a Chevy hater or a Ford fan but I've driven a lot of gas powered commercial vehicles. They all seem to be working way to hard compared the the diesel powered stuff. They seem to be beat to death at 50k. Generally well maintained and used hard.

[martin300662]

Since Tony shared, I have been looking into the FRED chassis; is the whole MH industry in the same boat (ie lack of wherewithal) as none of the motorhomes listed on the Freightliner site as using the FRED, a few (e.g Tiffin) seem to have dipped their toe a little but then backed off. Or maybe everyone that wants a new, off the shelf MH is happy with a van conversion, or a tricked out box truck, or a DP?????

[Kota]

Originally Posted by martin300662

Since Tony shared, I have been looking into the FRED chassis; is the whole MH industry in the same boat (ie lack of wherewithal) as none of the motorhomes listed on the Freightliner site as using the FRED, a few (e.g Tiffin) seem to have dipped their toe a little but then backed off. Or maybe everyone that wants a new, off the shelf MH is happy with a van conversion, or a tricked out box truck, or a DP?????

There are pros and cons to both FRED and RED. Dirt is the biggest advantage of having the engine up front with nice clean ram air for cooling and breathing. Having the engine 30 feet away under a bed makes for a nice quiet ride. Running a driveshaft the length of the coach limits options on storage and poo tank installation. I saw a mid engine design that looked pretty awesome.

http://www.customchassisinc.com/midengine.html

[bobmiller1]

A Chevy p-30 chassis is a poor choice for a tool truck, but then again....it WAS a Brand X tool company truck and they don't usually carry to much inventory so it should have been fine. I on the other hand have been driving a Snap-On P-60 Chevy for 26 years with no breakdowns....powered by an 8.2 Litre turbo backed up by an Allison 540 transmission. Yup, 172,000 miles and still going strong.

[Isuzusweet]

In the 2 pages of this thread we have covered:

Airstream Classic moho replacement
Uber expensive Porsche 911
Drooling over Frieght liner chassis with powerful front engine diesel power.
I have had my wrist smacked for Ford bashing or starting something else, I'm not sure.
Bashing Fords
Bashing Chevy's
Extreme RV's and a pretty wild 345 interior to....
Smack talking tools.

I love it
Cheers
Tony

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by Isuzusweet

In the 2 pages of this thread we have covered:

Airstream Classic moho replacement
Uber expensive Porsche 911
Drooling over Frieght liner chassis with powerful front engine diesel power.
I have had my wrist smacked for Ford bashing or starting something else, I'm not sure.
Bashing Fords
Bashing Chevy's
Extreme RV's and a pretty wild 345 interior to....
Smack talking tools.

I love it
Cheers
Tony

Hi, as a mechanic I bought from all of the trucks, but mostly Mac and Snap-on; I chose to be a Mac man because they were always nice and the Snap-on guys always bad mouthed everyone else. I see things have still have not changed. I was happy to leave Mac tools on good terms and return to working at Ford dealers.

I said F-550 because of the size and I know it wasn't their motorhome chassis, but what I meant is that I wouldn't ever buy another Chevy whether it be in a motorhome or car. I chose Ford because they would be easier to get serviced and parts. Not that many Freightliner dealers around, even for big rigs. I like Freight liners, but not hunting for dealers; hard enough to find Airstream, dealers.

So build that Classic Motorhome on a Ford Chassis, gas or diesel, and watch them sell.

[dljosephson]

Here's another thing to cover in this thread -- people already doing over-the-top Airstream motorhome and trailer restorations. Have you all looked at the Hoffmann Architecture pages hofarc.com? His restorations *start* at $120,000. There are some good ideas there, not for everyone but good ideas. Note while you are looking at his home page that it's not a single graphic, but with birds and dogs moving through the frame if you watch it long enough.

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by dljosephson

Here's another thing to cover in this thread -- people already doing over-the-top Airstream motorhome and trailer restorations. Have you all looked at the Hoffmann Architecture pages hofarc.com? His restorations *start* at $120,000. There are some good ideas there, not for everyone but good ideas. Note while you are looking at his home page that it's not a single graphic, but with birds and dogs moving through the frame if you watch it long enough.

As one of the people that is doing one of those over-the-top restorations (it was booked into be done at Hofarc, and with hindsight I wish I had gone through with it but two coast-to-coast sets of shipping and the Massachusetts RMV, made plans change), I can say if a new 'short' classic rear-bed motorhome was available I would (probably even now still would) buy one.

Personally, I think guys like Hofarc, Timeless, etc have three core client types. Those having a unit built for 'promotion', 'personalization', or 'no off-the-shelf alternative'. The last two are different, and here the comparison with the trailer world kicks in; you can buy a new trailer, and there are enough option to cover what most people want; not everyone and there is still a few that personalize. However in the case of motorhomes there isn't the option to buy new, and I think that is the reason for the thread, owners are having restorations done not for the core reason or personalization (although they get that) but because Airstream don't make one off-the-shelf. So really here we are talking about what lengths and layouts would be needed to capture 95% of the market (accepting there will always to some that want to go the personalization route), as they do for trailers.

For me the core issue is I want retro looking not retro functioning.

[Isuzusweet]

Originally Posted by martin300662

For me the core issue is I want retro looking not retro functioning.

Judging by your share of teething initial quality problems, you also have retro quality.

Sorry Martin, couldn't resist as I can be a bit cheeky sometimes.

Cheers
Tony

[martin300662]

100% agree Tony, just wish I could have had the body dropped on a new chassis at the beginning, but that would have caused big issues during the exportation to UK.

Just another reason I wish they made a new classic.

[Isuzusweet]

Originally Posted by martin300662

100% agree Tony, just wish I could have had the body dropped on a new chassis at the beginning, but that would have caused big issues during the exportation to UK.

Just another reason I wish they made a new classic.

Yes, I was thinking that Isuzu powered mid engine chassis would have been perfect for your rig.

We're all rooting for you and hopefully we can meet up one day in the old country as my Uncle and Aunt live in Hastings. I'm hoping to go back in April of 2017 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Vimy Ridge, for my two girls to understand what real sacrifice is; as losing internet while out camping isn't it.

Cheers
Tony

[Brett - TTT]

Looking at my own 1979 AS MoHo as a future personal project I am seriously considering transplanting the classic body onto an Isuzu NRQ truck chassis. I would adjust the spring loading down from 26,000# and install air bags for a great ride. We have used these chassis in a few builds and find them nearly bulletproof. They are highly adaptable, fully electronic control, worldwide parts and service availability and they meet modern pollution and performance specs. For a lighter version, an NPR model would work well and would not have the commercial driver license requirements in some countries.

We built one of my favorite NQR conversions for MillerCoors Batch 19 Beer:

https://www.facebook.com/batch19/pho...type=3&theater

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by Brett - TTT

Looking at my own 1979 AS MoHo as a future personal project I am seriously considering transplanting the classic body onto an Isuzu NRQ truck chassis. I would adjust the spring loading down from 26,000# and install air bags for a great ride. We have used these chassis in a few builds and find them nearly bulletproof. They are highly adaptable, fully electronic control, worldwide parts and service availability and they meet modern pollution and performance specs. For a lighter version, an NPR model would work well and would not have the commercial driver license requirements in some countries.

We built one of my favorite NQR conversions for MillerCoors Batch 19 Beer:

https://www.facebook.com/batch19/pho...type=3&theater

That is a cool looking truck Brett, and good observation about the weight consideration. As an example, in the UK anything over 7 ton (rating not actual weight) requires what is called a Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) or Public Service Vehicle (PSV) (if carrying fare paying passengers) license so there would be advantages to any new MH being on the NPR rather than NQR platform.

[martin300662]

So I was just wasting 5mins thinking that the new Basecamp is just the old Basecamp redesigned to do what the original Wally Byam kit built's originally intended....

So maybe there is hope the new (upcoming) motorhome will be based on the original design but be more practical in use?