A Marooned Motorhome

Some motorhome owners brag about it. This motorhome's owner brags about nothing.

There never was an era for the motorhome like the 1970s. As western nations grew fat on the post-war military-industrial complex's many excesses, homes, cars, and hairstyles alike swelled into ever more bloated atrocities against good sense. With the possibilities of bigger displacement, wider chassis, and vinyl wood, what had mostly been a market of modest van conversion kits and truck bed units bloomed into a broad range of heavy-duty trucks and motorcoaches wearing the skins of slain home goods departments. Corrugated aluminum-sided, shag-carpeted, plastic-lined, vinyl-paneled loaves the size of small houses began flying down the freeways at alarming speed, carrying extended families from the subdivided neighborhoods of America to government-approved stretches of wilderness with fresh-poured slabs of concrete to park on and high-voltage hook-ups to keep the built-in television colorful. A Kodachrome dream.

This never stopped, not really, though the motorhome was victim of the energy crisis and so-called malaise era same as everybody. It wouldn't be until the 1990s that the motorhome reached heights akin to the 70s again, but fashions had changed thoroughly by then and there's just so much less character in those younger models. Perhaps, curiously, there's even been an enhancement with age for those first full-size motorhomes, with the grime and dilapidation, that simply can't be born - it must be lived.

Clearly, this motorhome has lived... and maybe died. Overheating, seizure, fuel exhaustion, abandonment, something-or-other brought this sad-looking relic to rest here so long ago it's become part of the scenery. Obviously somebody tried to make the most of it, tacking on skirting to hide the cinderblocks and fixing the plumbing to the waterworks, but they've been gone a long time. Since then, local hoodlums have made the sorry hulk their occasional hangout and canvas, incidentally rekindling the camping spirit this motorhome strove for so long ago as it rests among the weeds.

One bed, one bath (shocker!). Despite the unkind years, the interior is in pretty great shape... as far as mid-70s faux-luxury can be "in great shape," anyway. Has the basic amenities, and while it's not exactly unfurnished, what is present is incredibly meager. Still, if your single para has a thing for 70s aesthetics and doesn't mind the grime, or is somebody who is eager to embrace the "trailer trash" lifestyle, this old RV is languishing on the market just for them. No mods went into this, though there was some build mode wrestling and weirdness involved (if the radio I skewed into a makeshift dashboard shows up, tell him he owes me $5!).

At over $17,000, the asking price on this beached aluminum whale is sorta absurd, but it only takes one to live this woodgrain and olive drab dream. Just don't get heatstroke in there.

Addendum I'm experiencing a fun issue where placing this lot is charging its cost twice, first for the walls and second for the furnishings. Not sure how that happened. It's also preventing me from fixing it, as each time I load it and resave it, the price is doubling... Which is REALLY weird! Doesn't seem to break playability, just be aware this RV might eat all your money. Like a real RV! A real, haunted RV...