Sprinter?

[Mabouya]

If you need more room, Winnebago just came out with a small class C targeted at active lifestylers with more room based on a Ford Transit AWD duallly called the Ekko. Not as nimble as a Sprinter van based rig, but it checks a lot of boxes.

From their web site: "Starting At: $171,845"

For me, at the price it better check just about ALL of the boxes.

[boots2000]

Got the van- Now I have to learn how to use it and accessorize.

[Chad]

Got the van- Now I have to learn how to use it and accessorize.

Pretty cruel not to share any inside pics...

[j44ke]

Got the van- Now I have to learn how to use it and accessorize.

There's a turny thing and some pedals on the floor. I suggest fuzzy dice or a hula girl.

[Mabouya]

Got the van- Now I have to learn how to use it and accessorize.

1) Be sure to keep the door on the privy closed when in use, and verify that the fan works.

2) Accessorize with some air-freshener.

[rwsaunders]

Sprinter, schminter…nothing like a free-form, dyi project.

[Tom]

My brother and sister-in-law stopped over on their way back to Vermont this weekend after retrieving their Sprinter from getting a new transmission in British Columbia on the way back from them working at Camp Denali over the summer. I don't know when they bought the thing from Camp Denali, it was the supply truck, but it was born badged Freightliner. Under the covers it is a Mercedes. It is almost a cube truck configuration that my brother stripped out and rebuilt with enough solar on the roof and batteries under the floor that they had 110 power for 9 days after leaving their last sunny day in Seattle, some new windows and ventilation. They can stand upright in it, they have a chest refrigerator/freezer, a sink, an induction cooktop, a little counter space, a Murphy bed and a folding game table on the wall. My brother is an extremely good craftsman so it is like a little luxury hotel room in there. Great sound system, too.

They needed the game table... the tow to the Mercedes shop that could fix the vehicle was an epic multi day endeavor with intervals of being dropped by the side of the road for a day or so while the tow operator went to deal with another job pulling an ore truck out of a jam so the rest of the ore trucks could get through. They broke down in a pretty remote area, they didn't have a satellite phone so a fellow on a road construction site offered my brother a ride 100km back to his home town where the store had a landline. After my brother waited for the one person allowed in the store at a time because of Covid restrictions to come out and called to arrange a tow he came back out and the fellow was waiting to take him back. My brother assumed he was hitchhiking but the fellow would have none of it and drove him back and then drove back home... 200km out of his way. He wasn't going to take money for gas and his time but my brother wouid have none of that!

I took some pictures of the inside but they don't show how cool it is.

[Markco]

If you want to check all of the boxes and have design input, then go custom with Advanced RV in OH.

They'll do any floor plan they can squeeze in a box or a standard sprinter, either the 144, 170 or 177 ext. They'll design your bike storage or whatever you want.

The power systems, design and craftsmanship are high end yacht quality as is the customer interaction I'm told. I've toured the facility, it's drool worthy.

https://advanced-rv.com/

If you have to ask the price, you probably wouldn't be interested. 18 month plus lead time. Analogy might be like giving a blank check to firefly or buying a rival equipped specialized off the floor.

If one has got to have it one's way, then the only impediment is a wire transfer.

Winnebagos Ekko would be the specialized.

We went shopping at the equivalent of the LBS....

[sk_tle]

I always thought that 80% of the joy of camping in your own van was for the satisfaction of your own DIY job to reach that point, not the ultimate comfort obtained. Otherwise you are kind of always better of with what we call "integral" campers here in europe which maximize the external/internal space ratio:


and if you really need some adventure stuff with real offroad capabilities you can't beat the unimog or cabintruck based campers.

In that sense all those luxury sprinters things looks totally half assed and not really interesting except for throwing money to the window.

[j44ke]

I saw one of these pulling into a gas station here in Hillsdale a couple days ago. Uses a two-axle semi. I didn't even know there were two-axle semis. It was huge.

Just what you need for Europe Thomas! Imagine climbing roads of the Swiss Alps to find the perfect camping spot!

[sk_tle]

I can imagine a few roads where that thing would get stuck.

Last summer I slept for a few days in a regular paid camping area in Tarifa. A family was there with one of thuse huge US sized RV. Those with sliding room extension on the sides and a slot to carry a car at the back. It looked so out of place in the middle of regular euro campers and utterly impractical with all the infrastructure made for much smaller form factors.

[rwsaunders]

Speechless in Seattle.

[bigbill]

I always thought that 80% of the joy of camping in your own van was for the satisfaction of your own DIY job to reach that point, not the ultimate comfort obtained. Otherwise you are kind of always better of with what we call "integral" campers here in europe which maximize the external/internal space ratio:


and if you really need some adventure stuff with real offroad capabilities you can't beat the unimog or cabintruck based campers.

In that sense all those luxury sprinters things looks totally half assed and not really interesting except for throwing money to the window.

I saw many campers like that when I was stationed on Sardinia. I was at the north end near Palau and cycled the Costa Esmeralda which was dotted with RV parks. I spoke with a few campers and about half were renting their RV for holiday. Ferries from the mainland arrived in Palau and Olbia with tourists from all over Europe. One of the big disappointments for me was seeing a Chrysler mini-van with fake wood panels sporting Swiss plates. I expected more from Switzerland.

[nahtnoj]

Speechless in Seattle.

Priced out of the housing market in Seattle.

[DJB]

I just bumped into a friend who is selling his son’s Revel. (Tragic Mtn Bike death in PNW- horrible) Shan and I had just started talking about something like this. I’ll shoot some photos when we go see it.

[steve garro]

I can imagine a few roads where that thing would get stuck.

These big rigs get stuck all the time = weight matters

- Garro.

[Scott G.]

These big rigs get stuck all the time = weight matters

- Garro.

Ground pressure matters too, add some tracks and you can go more places.
Citroën P17 half-track truck, overlander 1931 style, comes with matching luggage too.

2022-05-11_12-14-40.jpg

[steve garro]

Ground pressure matters too, add some tracks and you can go more places.
Citroën P17 half-track truck, overlander 1931 style, comes with matching luggage too.

2022-05-11_12-14-40.jpg

Watched a 4x4 sprinter get hella stuck on flat, packed sand just a few days ago actually - stuff people drive little zippy-cars on daily............

- Garro.

[ides1056]

When I drove through the Grand Canyon last week I saw a new Range Rover that had made the mistake of going off road by less than fifty feet. It was buried to the axles. I guess the frost wasn't out of the soil. I also saw a French RV, tattered and diesel. Its owner brought it over on a boat and had spent six months with his wife and parents in Mexico and was now wandering the state.
My general rule is: if you need a four-wheel drive to get there you don't belong there. I know they are necessary when towing, but boon docking in the boondocks isn't for the crowd who don't know what that extra gear shift on the floor is for.

[sk_tle]

Here in Spain farmers and people living in the countryside live a religious cult to the citroen c15. You can find ton of videos of it clearing stuff a nissan patrol or mitsubishi pajero hardly clear. With the correct tires it is so light it can go everywhere and it is also cheap and easy to maintain.