Are we there yet?
I saw this parked at Quartzite over a year ago.
Now when you see a rig outfitted with Long Horns you would think the owner would be a character. Just the opposite in this case and quite unfriendly. If you don’t want people talking to you, then what are you doing with horns on the front of your rig?
It’s available now for $7400 bucks by a dealer in Las Vegas. I’ve been watching the price drop on “El Toro” and with gas near $4 a gallon I suspect it will sell around $4000 – maybe.
Pictured here is the reason I’m willing to part with the old Vogue.
Temptation!
Dodge Travco Model 270. I found a 1971 with 157,000 miles that looks terrific. If I can sell the Vogue quickly, I’ll be making a long trip to pick up Temptation!
Here’s a few pics of the 1971 270 currently for sale on RV Trader:
1971 Dodge Travco "270"
Interior
Ready to GO!
I’m considering selling our wonderful old Vogue and getting a Class C. The Vogue Coach is one of the best of its time and outclasses 90% of what I look at new or used today. Why sell then, you ask? Prep time. On average it take me one whole day to get packed up, gassed up, aired up, washed up, filled up and hook up the tow dolly and load the toad. If you have a day to burn this is no problem. I have found setting a departure time in order to “get out of Dodge” earlier is a waste of time. I’m usually a full 6 hours behind “my schedule” as we depart. Fueling up a 35 foot coach with a tow dolly can be time consuming at a truck stop or “hair raising” at the local station if you get stuck where you can’t pull through. Travel is great, but slow. I have pushed the old Vogue in the past to travel at 65-70 mile an hour and found the fuel and oil consumption to be unacceptable. “You’re blowing it out the stacks” a trucker once told me on explaining the oil consumption while “flooring it” through the mountains. He was right and I was a newbie. 60 mph on the flat is perfect. Easy does it over mountains and I don’t blow oil.
Arrival. With a 35′ rig and tow dolly, you don’t just arrive somewhere without careful planning. I once got stuck headed up to a destination where the staff assured me there would be plenty of room to turn around a BUS! Getting everything turned around took a full 45 minutes of unloading (the tow), turning around and reloading. This has always caused me a little anxiety and I have often thought of towing 4 wheels down, but that’s another story. Then there is the camp site. If it’s a pull-through you pay a premium at many places. I still have to unload the toad anyway, but at least I can leave the dolly hooked up. Many State and National parks don’t have large enough spaces. It all adds up to a lot of effort (not work) for a one or two night trip.
We are now starting the process of searching out a quality used Class C. I’m partial to Lazy Daze right now even though I’ve never been in one. I’m thinking 22 to 26 feet in length – no more! The object is to eliminate needing a tow vehicle in the future. I also spotted a 1971 Travco which got me interested in restoring a classic. I’d like a solar system on the next rig and possibly GPS – maybe a Garmin from Target. I hope to be able to throw in some food and depart within an hour in the next rig. Anyway, the search is half the fun!
We love our old Vogue. On two occasions she was a temporary home for us between jobs and states. She has plenty of room for the assorted critters I’ve been roped in to having by my FAVORITE daughter. The old Vogue has NEVER let me down or left me stranded. She is better than the space shuttle with triple back up systems. I will never forget being the only coach that was habitable and comfortable in 110+ degree heat while the rest of the campground huddled in the clubhouse to stay cool. We could laugh at subzero weather with our heated tanks, bays and engine.
Lots and lots of really good memories, but the time is quickly approaching for the old girl to have a new life with someone else.
Quartzsite with our beloved Vogue 2010
Update: April 2015.
I just had to laugh at my reasoning for a Class C motorhome. Now we have a 40′ Beaver Marquis. I’m still happy.
Most guys my age will have collected at least three or more tire pressure gauges over the years. Being cheap, most of mine were either free from Big O or Discount Tire or I might have paid a buck for one at Checker. I’ve had at least a dozen and the four I now have read like the stock market at any given moment during the trading day. Two of them will read pressures over 90 psi and I tried them out on a very unusual tire that was both over and under inflated at the same time depending on the gauge used. My inside dually was either over 120 psi or 70 psi. Not good on either count.
So I have now spent more money on a new digital tire gauge than I have spent on all the others combined in the past 35 years. It’s the $24.95 Trucker Tire Gauge that will read up to 150 psi and has a nifty led light on one end. It is well calibrated based on my scientific comparison between it and the tire monitor system on the Caddy. Only one problem with the new gauge is you can’t ware it in your front shirt pocket. Turns out my inside dually was only 112 psi – not so bad. I’m not yet ready to part with my old, wildly inaccurate and cheap gauges. Maybe a good soaking in Liquid Wrench will get them to work better?
The Cosmic Armadillo 