Compared to our beloved spam cans, a junk is much harder to steer.   However
they do have their advantages in Tsunamis.

Not a member of Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club, but does own driveable junk.

Pensionerd.

On Fri, Mar 25, 2011 at 3:50 PM, Troy <colorworks@gci.net> wrote:

> I have read many times that there are no replacements for our beloved
> vanagon. I largely agree.  I was looking at the T5, aka "CALIFORNIA", and in
> the comments one person mentioned how lucky we are in the US to have
> Roadtrek's.  I really had never heard of Roadtrek, but a quick Google search
> revealed all kinds of information.  This is basically a small class B.
> motorhome, er van conversion.  These are built on either a Dodge 2500
> chassis, or the newer ones are on a Chevy 3500 chassis. They are 17 feet
> long (smallest) and about a foot wider than a vanagon.
>
> They had a 3 Cu.� refrigerator (3 way), hot water heater, furnace,
> motorized fan in skylight, a toilet, indoor shower, tons of storage, 26
> gallon freshwater tank, graywater tank, black water tank, 8 pound propane
> capacity, and a generator which runs an air conditioner and microwave
> (yuck), but I may change my mind when it was 100� outside;) auxiliary
> battery, swivel seats, airbags, antilock brakes, and well a bunch of other
> things.  They kind of remind me of an adventure wagon in some ways for
> height, but are a bit wider.  You would need a 9 foot garage door to put
> them inside, as I think they are about 8 feet tall.  Surprisingly, they get
> close to 20 miles to the gallon. Engine is a 318 V8.
>
> A brand-new one would set you back probably $85,000, but there are some
> very nice low mileage ones at under 30K and higher mileage ones at about
> 15K. Seems like all the complaints that we talk about with our westy are
> addressed in one of these. Yes, there are drawbacks too.  About 9 inches of
> ground clearance versus about 11 for a vanagon, longer wheelbase, but still
> van size. The newer ones have limited slip differentials and
> four-wheel-drive options.  Motorized seats, leather interiors, etc.
>
> I have only seen one of these in person and liked the layout.  Does anyone
> have any comments good or bad about these?  I know virtually nothing about
> them other than what's been mentioned above.  An alternative to a westy? or
> junk?
>
> Troy