well, it's a short story the way this came to be.
first off it is a 2003 350 eb 4x4 dually done by quigley for ford motors. the rest is done by sportsmobile / fresno
in 2001-02 we were going down to baja ,bay of los angeles, several times a year to fish and camp. this was at docs place called camp gecko. well he started leasing parcels and we got into one. i never was comfortable driving our class c in the mexico desert narrow hi-way so it was about time i looked into something else. so i bought a 38' toy hauler fifth wheel and parked it at our place in bola. i sold the class c and started to explore the sportsmobile. i had seen their set-up at the long beach fred hall show for several years but didn't really pursue the idea. when i finally did i was admittedly shocked at the costs for a new ride.
well i didn't want to finance a ride so i figured i would drive our 4x4 dually dodge. it was fine if our two little girls didn't have to go to the bathroom every hour. and on top of that i can't make the trip from cambria to bola in one drive. i have to stop, usually at the baja seasons rv stop between ensanada and tj.
then one day in early 04 i was reading one of the many equipment mags sent to my construction co. office. on the front cover of one of the mags was a pic of a dually 4x4 eb van. well i called on it for kicks. it was in riverside and the sales guy told me it was a special order for a guy that worked on equipment up on cell sites. somehow he contracted the sars virus that was going around and passed away before he could pick up the van. they were stuck with it and had it on the lot for a year. he asked me to make an offer. so i did some homework, came up with a number and went down to look at it. bought it and the sales guy drove it out to san luis for me the next week.
next i hooked up with jonathon at sportsmobile in fresno. they worked with me to build a little at a time so i could pay for it as it got built.
very cool. i really like companies that cater to a need like this. they could have easily said different and probably make more money doing it all at once.
since then we've made lots of trips to baja. the girls are happy and i get a good nights sleep in the rv park. it has worked out perfect. it tows and tracks perfect. i also do a lot of car shows and it's worked great for the overnight shows.
because of the border violence in baja we sold our place in bola. i can't take my family through that crap for any reason any longer. a great 4x4 road is san augustin to santa rosalilito, 120 miles along the pacific coast. also several spots down by abreojo's. i will miss those drives.
that's ok though as we are planning a trip into the pacific northwest next year. maybe get up to washington and canada. and we have some shorter trips planned in our own great state of california. the ultimate would be an alaskan hiway trip. we don't get into the four wheel drive much anymore, but i guess its there if we need it. we really like the things sportsmobile is doing with the sprinter so maybe in time we'll move in that direction.
i'm on the road a lot for various reasons and it amazes me that i don't see more sportsmobiles. i knew there were a lot out there, this forum proves it. i'll get some more pics up when i get a chance.
see you on the road!