History of RVing
1937 Ford House Car
Produced in limited numbers the Ford House car had steel cladding and wood paneling .
Only six of these were made every year . The interior was lined with wood and the door frames were thick solid wood . A storage cabinet under the bed , curtains and pull down shades feature on all the windows .
A fold down table is located on the back of the driver ’ s seat .
1937 Ford House car interior
1938 Fleet wheels
Attila Gatti made 10 expeditions to Africa using these “ jungle yachts ”.
Flxible 1955
Flxible is now known as Custom Coach Corp . It was founded in 1913 and made the Flxible sidecars for motorcycles . Flexible soon removed the E and became Flxible gaining distinction for its unique sidecars . Ford then made the Ford Roadster and sold it at $ 360 making the sidecar and motorcycle obsolete . Flxible then turned to the RV market .
In 1936 , Flxible concentrated on coach conversions and introduced its clipper range of buses . In 1955 , Flxible started converting its buses into luxury motorhomes . The interior of these coaches features wood grain plastic drawers and cupboards . Coaches with a triangular mesh on the rear rift side of the vehicle have air conditioning . In 1958 , the first pop up truck camper was made and five years later , production began of this unit .
1963 Dodge Travco Motorhome
Dodge and Travco 60 ’ s to 70 ’ s
These motorhomes were a popular RV built on a Dodge Chassis . When Dodge stopped manufacturing the Chassis , Travco went under . It sold for $ 9000 and enjoyed the bulk of the budding motorhome market . Dodge motorhome was revolutionary in shape and construct utilizing fiberglass and eliminating dry rot . They had fully equipped kitchens and the interiors were well made and practical . A dinette , refrigerator , double sink , floor coverings and large closets are featured in these cars .
1955 Flxible
Winnebago
Founded in 1958 , Winnebago began as a company designing furniture for travel trailers . The first Winnebago was made in 1966 and was sold at half the price of competing models . The name soon became synonymous with motor homes .
Volkswagen 1960 ’ s Volkswagen was already entrenched in America by the 60 ’ s . The Westfalia camper by VW was manufactured in 1967 .
Around 100 of these conversions with electrical hook ups and an ice box , curtains and optional popup tent were purchased in Germany and brought to the states .
Even before roads and flushing toilets , travelers placed their supplies on whatever they could find and headed out into the wild . Many contraptions existed but it wasn ’ t until 1959 when the term Motorhome was applied .
Split-windshield VW Camper . Photo by Paul Palmer .
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