1. 1975 GMC Transmode. This model was produced by General Motors and instead of fitted out as a 23' or 26' motorhome, the transmode was for commercial purposes such as a bookmobile, bloodmobile, mobile post office, etc. The previous owner was a cabinet maker in Grass Valley, CA and we bought it from his widow for $11K in 2000. I don't know who the first owner was. The cabinet maker had done a decent job with all the woodwork but before we could even drive it home, we had to purchase new tires and the front end was rather loose and wandered a bit on the highway.
There were a few other issues with the Olds 454 front wheel drive and we put another $11K into making it road worthy once we had returned to the Bay Area where we lived at that time. We enjoyed it for a couple of years, sold it to someone in New Mexico who was allegedly taking it to Michigan.
2. 1995 Barth. We found this beauty sitting on an RV lot outside of Joplin, Missouri, a 36' baby Newell, with a 300 HP Cummins, 6 spd Allison, all aircraft aluminum construction (like Newell) and here's the best part. It had only 18,000 miles on the odometer and 4 hours on the generator. The gentleman from Tulsa, OK who owned it was in ill health, could no longer drive it and we were delighted with the purchase. It was well designed, well-built, was on a Spartan Mountain Master chassis and from the front it looked like a fire truck. Small wonder as many fire trucks had the same chassis. No slides and limited storage but ran like a dream and we put a lot of miles on it through Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. When we left for London, we put it in the barn for storage and it sat there for two years. That's not good for any RV and when we returned we thought, erroneously, that we might be finished with RV's for awhile. We put it on ebay with a fair reserve and it sold quickly to a man from Michigan who flew to Santa Fe and picked it up. Sad to see it go but it went.
3. 2005 Roadtrek Sprnter on a Dodge chassis with that 5 cylinder Mercedes engine. It was being sold by a fireman in Angel Fire, NM. Decided to downsize to this 22' Class B and while economical, it was not practical. Insufficient head room for my 6'2" frame and the bed was a sofa in the rear, facing forward that folded down automatically into a double bed without any room on either side. It had all the necessary amenities but they seemed squeezed into small spaces and while we enjoyed the fuel mileage. Comfortable to drive, easy to park and maneuver around almost anywhere as it was really just a van made into an RV, and a nice one at that. Put it on ebay and it sold immediately as we were now veterans of buying high and selling low, thus selling quickly and easily.
4. 2006 Allegro Bus, 39' Cummins 8.9 L engine, turbo, (450 HP?) also an Allison 6 spd electronic transmission, three slides, very comfortable. It was purchased privately on ebay from a private owner who had purchased it new. Had 50K miles and was very clean but the owner was not entirely clean about some of the issues including a faulty inverter. Various problems continued to appear, mostly minor but annoying and although we drove it to many places, including back to Mexico, we had longed for a Newell if we could find one that met our criteria and was within our budget. We found one that exceeded both our criterian and our budget but we bought it anyway and that is Number 5.
We traded the Allegro Bus on the Newell in order to reduce the purchase price of the Newell.
5. 2005 Newell, 47', yes forty-seven feet as a few were ordered and made. We picked it up at the factory in February 2014 and lived in it full time for 9 months before designing and building a manufactured home last Fall. With four slides and all the bells and whistles of an '05 Newell including steerable tag axle, the Detroit 60 series 515 Turbo, the 6 spd Allison, stacked washer/dryer, Fisher-Paykel dishwasher, sub-zero refrigerator with two freezer drawers, desk with a file drawer, two flat screen TV's, power awnings and window shades and you get the picture. It is coach # 729 and we love it. At 56,000 pounds, my wife refers to the "law of tonnage" when on the highway. We tow an F-150 pickup and carry everything we need in the basement compartments. Love the air operated leveling system, mid-entry, inside and outside sewer controls, also air operated, one full bath with shower, plenty of closets and storage space inside.
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