Some of my favorite finds are homebuilt trucks and RVs; I should have a special category for just them. I spotted this at our local Lowes, and I’m still not exactly sure what to make of it. That sleeper cab has clearly been transplanted from a big semi truck. It even sports a tv antenna on top. And now it looks like it’s a perfect place to stow tools and such for this contractor’s truck.
Bonus points for it being a short nosed E-Series. More room for what counts.
I was hoping to find the exact same unit mounted on a semi, but gave up after a while. Here’s a close match: a Kenworth from the 1990’s with an Aerodyne sleeper cab. Maybe one of you will find the exact match.
It reminds me of a truck I posted here before, which was sort of the reverse: a pickup camper mounted on a semi truck.
Looks to be a very practical and useful rig. I assume it was originally an RV, but I suppose it could have had a box body on it.
Gotta love working rigs .
I remember many home built rigs in a similar vein in farm country .
-Nate
Seems like it would be perfect for the freight expediting (“hotshot”) trade, possibly pulling a gooseneck trailer. DOT regulations are fairly particular about what qualifies as a legitimate sleeper space.
Possibly owned by the Lincoln Lawyer’s rural cousin who went into the construction business? “Step into my office”
I especially enjoy that the semi truck with the slide in camper has a service truck bed with tons of exterior storage. That would be a very useful truck for the right job, tho I’m not sure I would want the job.
Considering that it has a black grille and bumper it’s unlikely that it started life as a motorhome. Those usually get the chrome package as do most Ambulances for whatever reason.
Im betting it started life as a box truck. Then some idiot tried taking it into a parking garage, the Taco Bell drive thru or under a low bridge. So that was the end of the box.
As for the sleeper part, it might have come from a 1980s Econoline “Centurian” conversion. Or a similar conversion from another company. Reason I say that is it looks like the sleeper is the correct width for the Ford chassis. The centurian conversion took the dually econoline van chassis and added a custom sleeper and bed made to pull a 5th wheel/gooseneck trailer. Made specifically for the monied horsey crowd in the 1980s. Pulls your horse trailer and you have somewhere to sleep at the horse show cause those were out in the middle of nowhere not near hotels. And you stayed close to your horse in the trailer to keep an eye on em.
Good review of the crazy Centurian from a modern perspective.
https://www.google.com/search?q=regular+car+reviews+ford+centurion&oq=regular+car+reviews+ford+cent&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgCECEYoAEyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigATIHCAQQIRifBdIBCTE1NDkyajBqN6gCFLACAQ&client=ms-android-att-us-revc&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8
Doesn’t look like a Centurion at all to me. The Centurian units were integrated with the body of the E-350 cab/van. They were not a completely separate unit like this one. Also, this has the tall spoiler at the top that’s specifically designed for improving the aerodynamics of the tall trailer behind it. There’s no doubt in my mind that this is a sleeper unit that once was behind the cab of a semi.
Hard to say where that sleeper bunk came from. Back in the 70’s/80’s the big bunks on a “large car” were made by several aftermarket companies
“Large car” is an old trucker term for a fully decked out Peterbilt/Kenworth/Marmon/Western Star/etc with a long wheelbase and a monster engine like a 12v71 Detroit, 3408 CAT, Cummins kta 600, etc
I have met a few hotshot type haulers using van chassis with a sleeper (using an F450 or ram 5500 is more common thou). There was a guy with a Chevy Express one who used to haul a 3 car trailer to wholesale auto auctions around new england.