GMC Motorhomes, Ahead of Their Time?
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- čas přidán 28. 01. 2018
- Part of our visit to GMC Motor Homes of Okeechobee, FL. Check out these cool, front wheel drive motor homes that many would say were ahead of their time. The only motor homes that were ever produced by an American car manufacturer. They were always made on an assembly line.
For more info on this place--
www.gmcmh.com/ - Krátké a kreslené filmy
Trip down memory lane. I was 8 years old when my father brought home a 1977 GMC eleganza 2. Thanks for the video and the memories!
Sure, the interiors are often very dated in 1970s decor but the exterior follows aerodynamic principles and the overall design is so classic that these coaches can be indefinitely updated and look modern.
I think that we are in a time where, if GM brought out new versions of these today, following the same format of special-built frame (not using a chassis from trucks like all other brands seem to do) I think that they would sell like hotcakes.
I've seen some many versions of these motor homes, but one I saw yesterday was the best reno I've seen to date.
The people doing the rebuild literally made it into something that you'd expect GM to do today.
Full smart screens up front, totally updated dash design, monitoring everything, to updated appliances, etc.
Even the equipment under the 2 front access panels (where you add oil and such) had several updates. Just beautiful.
They sold that one for something like $70K or $80K and worth every penny.
We had 2 78 an Eleganza then a Royal from 78 till the 2014plus another one for parts only. We loved them. Easy to drive. The sofa making 2 bunks that our boys loved. My husband kept them impeccable. My husband passed away, but I’m now ready to buy one for myself. They drive like a car. We had the dry bath, so even my grand kids later could take a bath in the small tub/Shower after a day on the Gulf. Being a flight attendant myself, I felt right at home. Such beauties... thank you for the tour.
Awesome!!! I just moved from a 3 bedroom house to an RV in the country.$4000 property taxes a year? No more!!! Bought my 24 foot Keystone RV for $6000 bucks.Free water and electricity at this park.$320 lot rent a month.I love your channel and I would love one these one day.God bless from Texas!!!😃🙏💪🍻
I remember seeing an old GMC motorhome ad that said: "finally, a motorhome that doesn't look like a box, or ride like a truck." I love all old RVs though.
Truer words were never spoken. Although it was said 48 yrs ago, it still applies to them today. Today's motorhomes look like the cargo crates these motorhomes came in. Not exactly very attractive (IMHO).
Excellent video, thanks for giving us a sneak peek.. I usually envy these from the road.
I own 1977 palm beach. It was rough when I got it and did a lot of mechanical work. Been living in it the last 7 years. Thinking about redoing the interior for my comfort and this video has given me a few ideas...thanks
Albert Cassler how much you invested into it?
Ah man I wish I was young and could get me one of them to restore. They are gorgeous!
Today, though, I find the Motorhome way more attractive than anything produced today. It's small enough that anyone with a standard (non-commercial) driver's license could drive it with no problem.
Really cool to see the various interiors.
I love the classic GMC RVs, but the fisheye lens video has got to go! The distortion doesn't show the true nature of the coach.
My brother used one of these for his first apartment. He used to drive it to work and if weather was bad he just camped out in the parking lot. It was a daily driver.
I worked as a tech for the GM proving Grounds in the late 60's and early 70's. I worked in a group called lighting and visibility. We were asked to evaluate the rear view mirror system on the GMC motorhome. An engineer that I worked with and myself went with a prototype GMC motorhome on a special road at the proving grounds called the Ride and Handling loop. This road had a variety of road surfaces. One of the road surfaces was a series of small bumps around a gentle curve. We are traveling a bit fast and the motorhome started going sideways headed for the boonies. Somehow the driver managed to recover and we finished the drive. I hated to think what kind of trouble we would have been in had we tipped over or rolled that brand new prototype motorhome. Brings back a lot of memories!
That's how every vehicle should be tested. You never know what sort of road surface one might find themselves driving their RV. :)
Larry Deboer, you MUST have been there in 1970 when John Hall (Revcon's designer) wanted to buy 60 Toro stub frames a month for his new company. GM said, ''Oh no, you will take your unproven prototype on our 'special road''' as you've described it. I've always heard it described as the ''24 torture track'.
At any rate, Revcon did so well, John Hall got his 60 stub frames a month and IMMEDIATELY, GM started up the GMC Motorcoach Division. I was employee #18 at Revcon in March, 1971 and saw many, many of these great coaches built over the 3 years that I was there. (Painted most of them in that time).They are still the 'first best'!
Thom, the proving grounds had another road called the Belgium block road. THAT may have been the test road you are referring to. That road would shake your eye teeth right out. This road duplicated block for block a road in Belgium.
@@larrydeboer9477 Thanks for that info.
@@jasoncarpp7742 That is how they tested/still test the vehicles at Milford ...it's just usually not lighting and visibility engineers behind the wheel. Lol
We had an Eleganza ll it was AWESOME, drove like our 1973 Cadillac Eldorado (which happened to be a pace car for the Indianapolis 500 so very cool & fast)! It was a dream to drive & use!
I like that plaid scheme.with the molded seat frames Nice to see that some stil retain their original Oldsmobile steering wheels. I wonder what kind of MPG that 455 Olds gets ? I know most Class C's average about 5MPG
Great vlog, i love the old US RVS , im thinking about one for my next project im in the UK.
Rip Alex Sirum. Loved your work
Greetings from England, yes definitely ahead of their time. They`re like spaceships
At the time they were super cool to own. Would be today too!
KOOL !!!! WOW I REMEMBER THEM WELL IN THE 70'S....👍👍🇨🇦🇬🇧✌
My Aunt and Uncle had a GMC I loved it. But theirs had big miles on it to where it needed new/rebuilt motor and trans. The cost was more than they wanted to spend so they sold it for a good price. They never offered it to me knowing how much I would have loved to of had one... Back then I was still working and making the money to where I could have afforded to get it all fixed up... Oh well that was over 12 years ago. I mostly was traveling on the back of my motorcycle any way. And when I'm physically able to travel again it will be on the back of my Blessed Can Am Spider but now i pull a trailer behind it because at my age I need a few comforts like a cot to sleep on and a tent 11X7 that I can stand up in, and it puts it's self up for me I love it and can hardly wait to be living in it again... It's been 3 years now since I've been able to travel. I was packing on about 20,000 miles a year on my motorcycle that got wrecked... This Can Am Spyder I bought in 2014 and just turned 6,000 miles on it. It's to painful to ride it very far. When I bought it I took a 3,300 mile road trip in 2014. But in January 2015 my walker hit a large crack in the sidewalk under the snow I didn't see and it folded up on me and down I went and going down on my knees as hard as I did more damage to my already nerve damaged hip and spine from the motorcycle wreck in 2013.... But who knows God may choose to heal me tomorrow... Then when this snow is over with come May I'll be heading your way or anywhere south on cold snowy Wisconsin!!!!
Nothing but the best of our great American Products, if any body rides one then you MUST have one
I wish you a speedy recovery.
The all green one at 7:00 is straight out of STRIPES!
With the current trend in tiny homes and people trying to minimize their environmental footprint, along with big advancements in battery technology, I'm surprised that no big auto manufacturer has tried anything like this lately. If they built something that could plausibly be lived in full time, and got it to market for under 80 or 90k, I think there's a lot of potential.
Do you have any idea of how much money they would LOSE if someone starts to make this things popular and without consuming any fuels or derivatives? happy people, wandering around without paying taxes, or spending their money on inflated housing subdivisions that consume a lot of resources like power, water, county inspections for livability...do I need to continue?...
New subscriber nice video . I live in a 1994 Winnebago warrior motorhome on a 1 ton Dooley Chevy frame with a 454 Chevy motor
Wow I love that style big I want one
WOW! Great video.
Awesome vintage RV. Shaped like a Barbie RV from the 70's.
NO dummy the Barbie one was taken from the GMC.
We used to sit on top of pur Barbie Camper and put our feet in the open roof, then we would push each other down a hill lol.
Road Wonder, lol..did you really think that an engineer from the Barbie collection designed this GMC Motorhome, then GMC came along and said, “Wow, that’s a really cool design, let’s copy it and build some 22’ and 26’ motorhomes just like it”?
It’s really true what I’ve been saying...at least 50% of the individuals walking down our streets are tards, with a below average IQ!
front wheel drive. that must be a beast going through anything
I dig that factory green one!
Test drive a new one in 1977, loved it, was like driving a sports car, ride was fantastic, but it cost more than my 2,500 square foot home on six acres of wooded land. So I had to settle for a tin box on a truck frame. But still had all the goodies like a bathroom, refrigerator, range, six beds, 4KW generator, TV antenna, and AC.
Even at that price , GM says that they never made money on these.
More more more and à salute from France!!!
Green one my favorite. Love the cozy bathroom. GMC make for a retro tiny home. Id gut camper redo, retro 1930s era. Nice!! Awesome vid thanks guys
You talk about moulded plastic bathroom. In Tokyo in the smaller flats they use that also..
Revcon was the true seed of inspiration for GM to start their GMC Motorcoach Division.
GMCs look pretty but they tend to sag after 50 years. Not the early Revcons, which are
essentially an Airstream with FWD.
@Santina Murphy I don't know about the overloading and full tanks making them hog,
I've just read the posts and reviews from GMC owners. BTW: You are not alone. Tanks,
valves and plumbing are a problem for boats, planes and motorhomes! Been through
all that on all of my boats and on our Revcon. I decided to just make f/g sewage-waste
tanks.
latters for luggage and to repair heater ac units mainly to hang out on the roof too.
The GMC MotorHome was definitely WAY ahead of it's time. With a modern, spacious front drive chassis and fully flat floor, it had plenty of room inside. Giving me some ideas on new design...🤔
green n gold where the popular colors especially in the kitchen in homes
Not a Toronado chassis, the drivetrain was Toronado - Eldorado front wheel drive. Yes I worked on a few in a dealer. The owner was well healed as they say with Olds/ Cadillac dealership and five more. The reason they sold them is he and his rich buddies wanted them to go hunting in Mexico. They took those things cross country down there. When you have the money and someone to work on them what the hell! Man that was over 30 years ago.
Love the old GMC
Those are the one I am wondering to buy, a little TLC and interior change makes this RVs the best on the road,
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa
awesome rides
my dream rv!
Mine to val
Amazing Car ... I Love it
Nice video And cool mobilehome from GM . Only the price ? What you pay for this type mobilehome’s . i’m from belgium .
lime green and yellow. nice.
Its fun to be in fmca. And required to be in a GMC group.
my dream mh. right there! but needs a 6v92 detroit under the hood
Can't fit a 6V92, but a 6V53 would (if you want to have that 2-stroke Detroit GMC Fishbowl sound).
C'est la grande classe !
that's a very cool dealership
The last two ( including the Christian themed one were the nicest for my pick ).
so cool
After watching this, my eyes turned into fish eye.
What are these going for now days?
The running chassis and body must have been solid to still be on the road after 40 years...
the first 1 you went in to has a Hudson's Bay blanket on the bed
Those had an Oldsmobile 455 V8 mounted longitudinally and a THM400 3 speed automatic that had a chain behind the torque converter going to the gearbox part and final drive unit driving the front wheels. It was the drivetrain straight out of the Toronado and they also had cool rear suspension to maximize the interior space. The only thing that sucks about that engine/transmission combo is that you’re limited on upgrades. The Cadillac 500 V8 can be swapped in, and there are performance parts for it... plus the THM400 is pretty bulletproof and can be built a bit... not sure about the final drive unit or half shafts, but I’d imagine they were pretty beefy from the factory. No overdrive transmissions available to swap in, so fuel economy sucks.
We had a 1975 with the 455 that had a mild build on it by my grandfather. At 70 mph we could get 11 mpg. Alot of it depends on the carb, ignition, and cam setup.
The transaxle used on this and the front drive Eldorado, Toronado, etc. was the THM425.
Gear Vendors overdrive unit would be an add-on option
@@steeltag unfortunately this isn’t an option for front wheel drive. Only rear wheel drive and that’s only if the transmission has a removable tailshaft
I have a handful of these things myself. Parts for a lifetime!!! I can walk on the roof of any of them, but don't try that on anything built the last couple decades!!!!!!
I am not Neil , I enjoyed your video very much thank you , I love these RV's I think they are very cool , did you know they made hotwheels toys of these RV's in many different colours ,I Would like to know how one could get better milage with this GMC motor home ? Are there any clubs for GMC motor homes in Canada ?
I'm not familiar enough to help you with those questions but appreciate you watching our videos!
my Boss had one that had a local engine builder build the Olds engine in his......got a speeding ticket for 123 MPH in Nevada!
Avocado Green! 👍👍👍
Fleetwood did the interiors on these coached. This is the same Fleetwood that did some if the Cadillac interiors.
that bathroom is huge.
Very Nice gmc and what gona happent with this gmc there?
the one with the eagle painted on it has new 1980s gmc chevy truck tail lights
The Royale is nice, they make another one that converts into a nice lab 🧪. It’s called the Chrystall.
you're wide angle lens distorts everything.. I'd rather watch it on a regular lens
I was thinking that myself it put me off a bit but otherwise beautiful classic RV 😎
... its a gopro
GoPro sucks.
Would love to own the white one wander how much
The one at 7:08 is just awesome with the original interior The others with leather seats are a shame.
I wish Allison would manufacture a FWD version of the MT650 so I could stick a Duramax or a 6V53TA under the floor.
tandum wheels are better to change if you get a flat and less of a bouncy ride when the wheels are spread more towards the back length leveling jacks also for uneven land should be switches on drivers left for them.
Hi The GMC is to the USA is what the Land Rover is to the UK GMC should not have stopped
making them I've been on there web site if I could afford one I would get one from them love them
a big problem with these was that since the drive train came from a toronado,,,
and they transfered this into the gmc,,,,
the weight the power train was asked to move increased dramtically.
hence, the wheel bearings were inadequate, and they needed frequent replacement.
Kept waiting for them to figure out that the front seats swivel.
I really hope the owners are alright with you going into their coaches. I know I'd be annoyed if a stranger looked in mine video'd the interior without asking. That said, thanks for the video, LOL. I'm always interested in other interiors. We will be taking ours to another GMC restorer in Florida to gut, redesign, and update the technology in it. We haven't been able to use ours yet, but I can't wait.
My 77 has been at The Coop in Orlando having a long list of mechanicals upgraded and repaired. I'm going on a long haul this summer...and I can't wait!!
We finally got our beast to the GMC Co-op this week!!!! So excited! Our GMCs are probably roommies right now. LOL
How would they be inside, if not?
THOSE WERE THE DAYS
GMC/Revcon, Travco, Avco, Vogue, Foretravel, Wanderlodge, Airstream... there were a few really good top-end RV makers in the era. GMC/Revcon's biggest issue to me is that you cannot put an overdrive trans in with the FWD layout. Also, read up on how the idea was originally developed by Revcon, but GM told them that in order to have Toronado power trains Revcon would have to do some durability tests to prove their (Revcon's) concept. Guess who kyped the idea once the testing was done? GMC...www.revcon.org/What
Can someone tell me where the shower area is in the original bathrooms? I see the sink & the toilets and maybe a shower Nozzle above the toilet. ?? Is there a drain on the floor and you shower right there? Not the bathrooms in the far back but the ones ones on the left side.
I'll bet it's what you call a "wet bath" shower sprays into that stall and everything gets wet, the floor is like a shallow tub.
Happy Wanderers ok yeah I was thinking when I heard “wet bath” earlier in the video but wasn’t sure. Thanks for that info!! Cool video! 👍
Was this place once an authorized GMC Motorhome dealers?
From what we understand, they started working on them when a family member bought a GMC Motorhome. I don't think they were an authorized GMC Motorhome dealer.
I love 70s design
plaid was in those or flower print
also front wheel drive made it better for room n head room and to fit tanks under
the motorhome at 9:54 looks like it has a steering wheel from a Pontiac
what i found strange which i think doesnt match well is green kitchen with a red counter top in some kitchens back in the day but in the 70's anything gos it didnt matter with anything
No link to the website?
www.gmcmh.com/
What is the web address for this place?
I'd buy a GMC Motorhome if I had someone to share the travel experience with who also likes road trips. I've never liked travelling by myself.
did they have all those for sale?
Some of these were for sale on consignment, and others were there to be worked on.
yes the gmc is O G off the shelf 1973 -78 those drawers you were looking at have a burned in brand that says GMC custom inside each drawer
gmc made the bodies maybe fisher,the rv part made by coachman rv manufacturer mechanically a olds toronado even the cockpit guages and steering wheel front wheel drive radio either had an 8 track or a cb radio bult in it made by delco am fm 8 track or cb in the radio where standard in toronado and cadillac eldorado which are both the same car.
Welcome to butico
different paint per model n year. the coka cola one is the real find to look for which is rare was what youd win in a coke contest then all red in white coka cola colors.
retro is a copy, those are original green plaid in style then shag rugs so set the vacuum on high level or the rug will get tangled in the beater bar roller.
Moo l nu nu
Boy they sure we're ❗
Surprised nobody took
After them❗
Danny Koker from the History Channel show Counting Cars has a very custom one. custom paint and airbrushing, leopard print and purple angel hair for the custom interior...
Danny's is an FMC, not a gmc...different company altogether
when they came out I thought they were way cool.
plasiitc covers is what saved the red plaid
Ain’t wrong your forgetting about chrystler and dodge motorhome that we’re almost identical to gmc motorhomes
Stripes
WHAT IS FOR SALE HERE????????