Smallest M.H. you ever had and your fond memories of it

[Allaloneami]

I wrecked my beloved VW bug in 1971 on the highway near the turkey capital of the world, Turlock, CA. I got just enough insurance $$ to buy a brand new VW camper w/ a little sink, ice box, small closet, and great bed it back. I made 2 trips from SW corner to NE corner of US over 2 years and lived in it totally for a year and half. Finally sold it to pay for the final year of my college education at Oxford, England. Been hooked of traveling and living in small places ever since.

To revisit that lifestyle 40 yrs later, I bought a used VW/Winnebago Rialta. I couldn't believe how great and well made it was. Was like a luxury MH compared to living in my sparce '71 camper. It had everything I always dreamed my VW camper would have had. It is a shame they stopped making them. I think you would see them everywhere if they were still in production. Just perfect for what they were. Had everything a motorhome has in it (shower, generator, TV, kitchen), just in a small package, and gets 22 mpg (driving up, over, and down the Rockies), and drove just like a nice car would. The nicest thing though was I could explore places a MH could never go while seeing the Northen and NWern states. Sold it mainly because of how small it was. Too old to live quite so sparcely now. Need a big fridge, bed that is easy to make, and decent size bathroom.

Closest thing to them now price wise and engine wise is probably the 6 cylinder Dynamax REV and Winnegago equivalent on the Dodge Promaster chassis.

[texkayaker]

Traveled 41 of the lower 48 and lots of Canada with my wife In a 90 class B Coachman on a F250 Ford van chassis. Great RV.

[Waiter21]

1988 21 ft Toyota Dolphin Class C. Drove it all the way to Deadhorse Alaska. Got about 14 mpg

Alaska | Alaska Trip Log

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[dexters]

'17 Casita - I had it for 10 years.

It was so simple and easy to get around. On the highways you didn't know it was there.

It had everything you needed. I went full time and sold it.

[Allaloneami]

Originally Posted by Waiter21

1988 21 ft Toyota Dolphin Class C. Drove it all the way to Deadhorse Alaska. Got about 14 mpg

Alaska | Alaska Trip Log

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These were really something for the time. Used to see them everywhere. Always wondered about the power though. I always laugh for some reason whenever I think of one.

[Waiter21]

These were really something for the time. Used to see them everywhere. Always wondered about the power though. I always laugh for some reason whenever I think of one.

Power? What power.....

When we made our Alaska trip, gas was running $4 a gallon in the states, $8 -$10 a gallon in Canada and Alaska. We would not have been able to make that trip if the MH we drove only got 7-8 mpg.

They looked kinda funny. Like a full size motorhome rear ended a little tiny Toyota pickup.

It was a great little starter motorhome,

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[Winemaker2]

1st was a Dodge van DIY conversion w a bed / dinette, storage cab, cooler & Coleman stove. Went X country 4X including trip to Alaska from NY.
Later moved up to a 28' Georgie Not w/o slides
Then to a 31 Winnie Adventurer which we are selling to make what will likely be our last...2014 Newmarket Ventana 34 DP that we pick up tomorrow.
It's been a great adventure and progression...looking forward to the next step

[GoneToTheDog]

My first was a 1977 Coachmen Presidential 25ft Class A, on a Chevy chassis with a 454.
(and people complain about gas mileage today) lol
Bought it in 1994. It was in immaculate condition, and had obviously been much loved, and had had the best of care. It had a front kitchen with booth, tiny but full bathroom, large closet, gaucho type seating that wrapped around the back and made into a bed, and a pull down bunk above in the rear.
I lived in Denver at the time. We drove it all around Colorado, to Texas, several trips to Arizona to visit my parents. We had more fun in that thing than I could even begin to tell. Good memories.

[Isaac-1]

My first one was a conversion van on an E-150 chassis with a sofa bed in the back, it also had a small sink with a hand pump faucet and maybe a 3-4 gallon water tank, an icebox (not refrigerator, it had a space for a block of ice in the bottom that kept stuff cool), and a porta potty with a curtained closet. No shower, no generator, and only engine driven air conditioners (front and rear R-12 units). It was a mid 80's model built in the era of the 55 mph national speed limit, I bought it used in the 90's when 70 mph zones were starting to appear or rural insterstates, and while it would do ok at 55, things would get unsteady if you tried to push it past about 62-64 mph. I would commonly take it on boondocking camping trips to places like west Texas for 5-7 days at a time, of course I was younger then.....

[TinCanTee]

We had a 1964 Bee Line Honey Bee. It was 13 ft, had a gaucho bed, 2 person dinette, sink with hand pump, two burner cook top and an ice box. The 4 gallon water tank was copper and we were afraid to use it because we couldn't tell if it was tinned well, so we used a 5 gallon plastic water carrier. It had 2 light fixtures, one looked like it had originally been propane over the dinette but had been changed out to electric. The sink drained out to the ground. A small closet, but no bathroom facilities. We dragged that little thing all over the place with a 4 cylinder Mazda pick up truck with a ball on the bumper. I put a ball hitch on the riding mower so I could move it around the yard. We used it a lot on forestry land in Indiana and had a ball.

[Dupdyke]

Well the home part was small but pass compartment was large

[vapor3000]

About 40 yrs ago, I bought a totaled 20' Pace Arrow class A on a Dodge chassis for $2K (totally self contained). The insurance co totaled the rv due to roof/sidewall seal failure.

I replaced the entire left side and half of the top which was rotted out. Drove the thing for a couple of years and sold it for $7500. Not much fun to drive in the wind with that short wheelbase.

Oh to be young again!!

[George Schweikle]

Back in the early 70's we rented a 18 ft. Winnebago class A built on a 6 cylinder Ford pickup truck chassis with single rear wheels. 3 couples piled in to go to a sports car race and each macho driver tried to horse the thing up to the 70 MPH speed limit on I-75. There were at least 3 degrees of motion whenever an 18 wheeler truck blew past us and we finally agreed to slow down before there was an accident. We slept on the couch/bed, and front & rear drop down beds, and had a wonderful time. This experience led to our first purchase in 1977, and we have continued RV'ing to this day with relatively small motorhomes. See signature for our purchase history.

[azpete]

george, i drove a similar coach as yours, but it was a 1966 lifetime by winnebago.
it was a 17 foot with a 6 cylinder engine. rode likt the truck it was and handles the same. my wife and i traveled from rockford il to anniston al. got stopped three times by law enforcement just to look at it. we camped in police parking lots and by the courthouse with their blessings.
we actually had a good time, and my father in law started a dealership selling winnebagos.