By John Johnston, Associate Editor
When it was time to part with their 16-year-old Type C motorhome and get a new one, Chuck and Susan Speyerer, F384878, couldn’t find a replacement they liked. So Chuck decided to build his own.
That was back in 1999, which happened to be the first model year of the Ford Super Duty series of trucks. “I wanted a manual transmission, which is very tricky to get in motorhomes,” Chuck said. “I wanted four-wheel-drive, and I wanted a diesel (engine).” All those features, as well as a 200-inch wheelbase, came with the Ford F-450 chassis cab that Chuck bought in March of that year. Then it was a matter of turning it into a motorhome.
“How are you going to do that?” Susan asked.
“I’ll figure it out,” replied Chuck, a retired AT&T telephone installer.
“I had visions of this motorhome with shingles on the side and a little smokestack coming out the top,” Susan recalled. “But it turned out really good.”
Chuck devoted a year and a half to building the motorhome, which sleeps two. The sides were made from aluminum sheets with preformed corners that Chuck bought from a factory in Indiana. He insulated the motorhome body with 2-inch-thick rigid foam.
Susan saw an RV with a rear kitchen and liked it, so that’s what Chuck built. He procured appliances from RV suppliers near their Carmel Valley, California, home. The cabinets are made of plywood, medium-density fiberboard, and Formica.