![]() ![]() Sadly, one of the larger injustices thrust upon this poor, hapless E-350 is the Chevrolet tail lights. The yards of tape gleefully slathered all over this Ford certainly add to its curb weight, but can you imagine this rig in nothing but white? The amount of sunlight reflecting from its body surfaces would blind a person. The acres of tape adorning the flanks are a result of the 1980s pasteurization of 1970s era kitsch. Nor is it a shrinking violet, a vehicle that will effortlessly blend into the scenery. Their rear bumpers line up perfectly to show the difference in their length. For illustrative purposes, this is our subject vehicle parked next to a Ford Transit. The first thing one notices is the sheer size of this rig. The result does possess a swell behind the drivers compartment, but it’s roughly the same width as the trailer it was designed to tow, and allows for the availability of a bed in the cab for on-the road snoozing. The area directly behind the driver’s seat of the Cabriolet is a combination of factory van doors and custom fiberglass bodywork planted on the cutaway Ford RV chassis. Like Centurion, Cabriolet company, based in Constantine, Michigan, also offered customized crew-cab pickups for this role, with luxurious interiors to make life on the road a bit more comfortable. These were built on a Ford E-350 cutaway chassis, as would be used by motorhome manufacturers or for cube vans. Centurion was the largest, and Cabriolet also joined in for some years. There were several conversion companies that made purpose-built fifth wheel tow rigs during the boom years of the RV industry. That limited it to fairly small trailers only. International created its Wagonmaster specifically for fifth wheel hauling, but almost shockingly, flubbed the design, because the bed was too short to allow the hitch to be directly over the rear axle. Pickups now were the default tow rig of choice.īut the possibility of an exceptionally roomy tow rig was not overlooked by some manufacturers, like this 1969 vintage “Ultruvan” Econoline conversion, which kept the front/middle section of the van, and used an extended frame to allow an over-the axle fifth wheel. This yielded a large passenger compartment or extra storage space, as well as being a heavier duty chassis for even larger trailers.ĭesigned by Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky, this elaborate fifth-wheel trailer “Jungle Yacht” was used by Commander Gatti for his well-publicized trips through Africa.ĭuring the 50s through the 70s, fifth wheel trailers grew in popularity and size, as it allowed ever larger living space without compromising towability. It didn’t take long for specialized tow rigs to appear, built on a truck chassis. Fifth wheel trailers track much better than conventional trailers, as a substantial portion of the weight is taken in the front, directly over the rear axle, just like a semi-trailer truck. In the late 1920s, when the money and inclination for motorized camping really took off, fifth wheel trailers were easily adapted to the coupes of the times, with their short tails. The earliest fifth wheel travel trailer dates back to 1912 this one is an Adams Motor Bungalow from 1918. The advantages of fifth wheel travel trailers were discovered early. Ever since automotive-hauled fifth wheel trailers came into use a hundred years ago, a number of unique and specialized solutions to haul them most effectively have been created, like this Cabriolet fifth wheel trailer hauler built from a Ford Econoline E-350 chassis. One of the things I have most admired about the recreational vehicle industry are its hard charging people of remarkable determination, able to identify and satisfy a market need, no matter how small the niche. ![]()
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