Description
Dodge RV Motorhome, Manufactured 1977, 7. 2 Litre V8 the legendary Dodge 440ci with LPG Conversion, Left Hand Drive. MOT and Road Tax free as its a historic vehicle.
This beautiful vintage American RV has been sympathetically restored to keep that 70s vibe and feel. We have used this RV for all our holidays for the last five years and it has been all over Norfolk, Suffolk and down to London, it cruises quite happily at 60 mph and has very good acceleration from that lovely Dodge 440ci engine, the largest engine that Dodge made at the time and the same engine as fitted in the Dodge Chargers. It has twin side exhausts with headers and stainless steel down pipes and silencers, but still make a lovely V8 burble. The LPG conversion is certificated and on the LPG register and has two 100 litre tanks for the engine alone and the original LPG tank for the cooker, heating and fridge. Runs on petrol as well, if you want to, although it starts and runs on LPG. I have not repainted the cab, as I think it would lose some of its character and patina, although you could. It was Waxoyl when brought into country back in the 70s so only surface patina and has been over to Europe many times in its passed, only 78, 000 miles on the clock, it does weigh 4. 4 tons, so needs the older granddads license to drive or uprated modern one. Length is 7m or 23ft, Width 2. 4m or 8ft, Height 3. 3m or 11ft built on a Dodge commercial vehicle chassis that is rated to 11 tons from factory.
We fitted a brand new one piece roof from front to back, custom made by a lorry manufacturer, it is 60mm thick with a one piece sheet of white fiberglass to each side with ply backing and sold core of high density foam with glulam beams and cable ways built in, they even CNC all the cut-outs for new roof lights etc. So no leaks or maintenance needed with this vehicle, you can walk around on the roof, it has a very high insulation value and keeps the RV very cool in the summer and warm in the winter, this roof cost £2000 for supply alone. It also has unusually a one piece fiberglass front over cab moulding and a one piece fiberglass clamshell rear. These avoid the usual problems with water ingress through the joins of aluminium sheet front ends. Very good headroom through out, as I am 6’4” and still have clearance above me, so a lovely bright airy place to be with the large lounge windows and extensive roof lights.
The RV comes with the fully working blown hot air heating, Fridge/ Freezer which is mains and LPG powered, fully working mains powered roof mounted air conditioning, new Suburban Hot Water Heater which is LPG and Mains, New Shurflo Water Pump, 3 New Roof Lights with blackout blinds and fly screens, New Bathroom roof light with 12v extractor fan, fully working seated bath/ shower in water proof refurbished bathroom, flushing toilet into black water holding tank, separate new grey water tank. Original 4 burner gas hob with oven and grill. Extractor hood above. Electric automatic step to side door. All lighting is LED, a built in Onan 4 kw petrol generator, the whole RV is still running 110 volt, but does have a professional 110 v to 220 volt transformer mounted in the rear, so still plugs into standard UK campsite sockets and everything works as normal. It has a new mains fuse board designed for 110 volt with MCBs for all circuits and a number of powered USB sockets for phone and iPad charging etc. Trojan T1275 150Ah very heavy duty house battery with split charging from uprated main alternator. Victron solar panel and Victron MPPT Solar panel controller with Bluetooth App, custom mounted telescopic pole mounted solar panel, so you can track the sun.
It has a very large double bed over the cab which is 7’4” long and 5 foot wide, with new memory foam mattress which is very comfortable, also the original sofa slides down to make a shorter double bed. Two original swivel arm chairs are placed opposite the sofa with a folding dining table between, with bottle storage built in. There are fly screens to all windows, side door and roof lights, so no problems with mosquitoes etc. All the windows have been out and rebedded on butle and all the RV side panels repainted. The kitchen is all original with a double bowl stainless steel sink, electric toaster and fan heater, crush shells resin worktops and padded fridge door and bar cupboard, very groovy !!
Front disc brake callipers replaced, along with all new brake pipes, rebuilt and balanced prop shaft, new filter and automatic transmission fluid, plugs, filters, water pump, belts, radiator, fuel pump, , fuel filters and hosing, new front tyres, new carburettor, complete new LPG conversion kit in 2019, all new opening roof lights, cd/ radio in dash plays through doors speakers and original lounge speakers. Its a really lovely thing to drive and gets looks and waves where ever it goes and would suit a American car fan or any of the retro camper scene events, we have always enjoyed our holidays in it, as it is all so quick to set up, just pull up at the campsite, unpack the outside table and chairs and crack open some beers, we don’t normally bother with electric hook-up pitches, because you don’t needs mains supply with this RV to enjoy it.
