Also be glad you are not in the hospitality business or would be in any way affected by it directly or indirectly. The former is probably true and the latter is probably false if you look hard enough.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Well, I am indirectly involved with the hospitality business. A large per centage of my customers are hotels as well as some larger restaurants. Fuel prices don't seem to have slowed the construction of new hotels significantly so far.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Give it time. It probably will. We had a stock crash here and it took 6 months before Asia felt it. Contracts are probably already drawn up but will new ones be there if this crunch still exists by year end?

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Teardrop, casita, trillium are all worth considering. I was looking at Vixens today. I wonder if the Vixen with diesel will pull my ut trailer with the autocross benz on board?

Tom W

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

If you're looking for a 70's motorhome, go for a Travco, not a Winnebago. Same chassis (Dodge with either 313, 413 or 440) but the Travco has a far superior construction since it has a solid fiberglass body on a steel frame. Far safer and virtually impervious to leaks. I sold my 1972 22' Travco with 48k miles about 2 years ago.
A Cummins 5.9 is a pretty easy replacement for the original gas V-8's.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Talked to a Vixen owner with the BMW diesel. He claimed 30 mpg. Don't know about its towing power. There's an RV dealer in the midwest (Iowa I think) who specializes in Vixens.
I think the Sprinter conversions are going to go up in value. Talked to a guy who had one last year (Winnebago I think.). He was very happy and was towing a pretty large boat. Can't recall his mpg but the vans get around 22.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I love the vixen design but 30 mpg is pretty hard to imagine.

I checked and found a dealer in ca who specializes in vixens. He claims to have sold 134 of them. At least some are consignment.

The asking prices for them are pretty stiff. 15K and up. the parking in a garage feature is attractive.

Tom W

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Here's a history:
http://www.vixenrv.org/vixen/vixen_chronology.html

It repeats the 30mpg claim.

I was thinking of Agency RV but it looks like it doesn't exist anymore.

I too was skeptical of the 30mpg. The owner was insistent it was correct. Lincoln Town Cars of the same era had the option of the same BMW diesel. I'd be curious as to the mpg in the Lincoln

edit--looks like the Lincoln/BMW diesel was rated at 27mpg highway from the factor with an automatic transmission.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Get a diesel pusher. My uncle's old coach bus based diesel pusher was a beast and got like 8mpg which considering the size was pretty decent. Towing a car up the mountains wasn't a problem.

Those front engined gas RV's are dogs, they are always slowing everyone down on the highway doing 60 and working to make it up any kind of grade. The best ones are based on over the road bus chassis and will run 70-80 all day long. The truck tires can also better handle the weight.



You want the tag wheels to.


He is quite happy it's totaled and gone though! He would have lost a bundle if he tried to sell it this year!

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2006 CL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2026 Genesis GV70
2007 Tiara 3200

3 years ago I traded my 1999 Intruder 36' Class-A for a Class-B 2006 Pleasure-Way Van motorhome built on the long and tall Sprinter chassis. I travel alone with my dog so the downsize was not too much of a problem. The class A got 7 - 7.5 mpg. The class B gets 22 - 23.5 mpg on diesel.

I LOVE my Sprinter! Good mileage, very tourqey and comfortable. Also, when I get where I'm going its easy to drive and park on city streets as opposed to towing a car on that damned dolly.

The latest models are selling for about $100K which is not much less than the larger ones sell for.

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1979 300SD 83k miles Astro Silver Metallic/Black leather #3447
1990 350SDL 202k miles (3L engine from an 87 300D)Black/Grey leather
2006 Pleasure-Way Class B MoHo (Sprinter chassis) 134k miles
2005 E320CDI 270k (car is sooo fast - I can't believe it's a diesel!!!)

Someone in my neighborhood has one of those- its ginormous! I also watched a segment of "How It's Made" featuring campers-pretty cool.

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"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

I worked on the side for a small comapny that owned a Vixen. BMW TD6 with stick shift. Seems to me it got in the middle 20's on the road. Whole thing tipped the scales at around 5400 lbs. Drove ok, handled ok. Shifting was a PAIN. Had a solid shift rod in a tube assembly that was not straight. Kinda had an "S" bend in it. Just about took two hands to move stick fore/aft. Taking it any place was always an adventure. Oh, and when you raised the "tilt-up" top, rain could come in.
I have a 2000 Diesel excursion and pull a 25' Camper. Hoping to get a slightly bigger (and newer) one. Getting around 10mpg towing. Don't travel to far, but the economics are still there. I can load a bunch of us in the big red X and go to stay somewhere (campground/park). Rent there is a lot cheaper than hotel rooms and we cook our own food if we want rather than paying to feed a whole family each and every meal. Take all the stuff we want with us. Don't have to rent a van when we get there. And we don't have to go thru the airport barefoot in our skivies with all our stuff in clear plastic bags worrying that if we don't kiss the @ss of the TSA knuckle-dragger, we'll get a $1500 fine or locked up because he didn't like us. I hope to never set foot on another airplane (and if I die and you need to ship my carcus, send me by train!).

I have a feeling that a lot of them are going to be retired in trailer parks, nation wide, as low rent housing.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K