SMB Ford Classic 4x4 Cutaway Chassis - The Thread

[Flux]

i hear that. SMB has a great formula with the E Series. The classic is a badass rig and the cutaway is a monster. It's probably a whole lot more complicated and expensive to go after than my little brain can imagine.

[MountainBikeRoamer]

I find it very interesting....

......I bet that the idea of creating/building the "Sportsmobile Classic" made a lot of business sense --- on paper --- when they first came up with the idea. And once production scales up, for the price point they will be able to charge, it probably still does?

But wow. To take **this long** to make its way from concept to production (and, correct me if I'm mistaken -- with none of them actually delivered to customers yet?) --- it makes you wonder if internally at SMB there are any second thoughts about committing to this project. Certainly in the last 4-5 years they could have produced a **lot of profitable Sprinters/Transits** with the man-hours/resources that have been committed to the Classic development? All conjecture of course. It just seems (at this moment, anyway) like the prospect of turning real profits with the Classic are a risky endeavor. Lost opportunity cost?

But maybe large-scale profits aren't the point, however? A "halo" vehicle like the Classic definitely sits at the top of the "adventure van heap"....generates awe and aspirational buzz....and ensures SMB brand-name supremacy/cache amongst its peers.

Don't get me wrong. I want one!!!
That's probably the point. Build the van that few will ever be able to have, but that everyone wants. The "supercar" of camper vans.

[TomH]

Another point to consider is that, given this extremely long seam (it actually goes all the way around), once you have figured out how to keep it watertight for a short period of time, how do you know it's going to remain watertight for a period of years.......other than just waiting a few years to find out?

The first prototype was prone to leaks. They rebonded it more than once. When it finally seemed not to be leaking any more, they could have gone into mass production. But how could they be sure the bond would last more than a year or two? If they had built a hundred or so, and then after three years had gone by they all started leaking, well that would have been not only a lot of repair cost to them, but also an immense hit to their reputation. So maybe they decided to keep taking that prototype up into the Sierra and Mojave for three or so years and see whether the seam remained dry after many miles of rough trails.

Just waiting to be sure it wouldn't leak any more was likely a safer bet than just jumping into production at the moment the leak problems first seemed to be solved.

[larrie]

Expedition Portal has a front page article on the SMB Classic.

[SteelheadJones]

It's a good thing they aren't offering baseline models without interiors yet. I'd probably be down a kidney.

[BeastGTRV]

Are they actually starting to deliver these to customers now?

[Anthony]

I love that the classic falls just within the limits of my city's "oversized vehicle" street parking ordinance.

"Sorry Honey, the city won't let us street park the Sprinter you want, but this Classic from SMB...it's the perfect compromise."

[Otter]

I love this van! Mostly because it continues a legacy, albeit at a huge price. I'd buy it in a NY minute if money were no object. Those of us who have gone the delayed-gratification route, however, can feel a lot of happiness about producing the near-equivalent for $100K less.

[JWA]

Originally Posted by Anthony

I love that the classic falls just within the limits of my city's "oversized vehicle" street parking ordinance.

"Sorry Honey, the city won't let us street park the Sprinter you want, but this Classic from SMB...it's the perfect compromise."

Well that's thinking outside the HOA huh?

I do wonder what prompted SMB to invest in this design and all that goes with bringing it to market---unless I've missed that here on in the links already shared.

Mostly I'd be curious if there's anything in the Transit/Sprinter/Promaster vehicles they found lacking where this updated E-Series full body addresses?

[carringb]

Originally Posted by JWA

Mostly I'd be curious if there's anything in the Transit/Sprinter/Promaster vehicles they found lacking where this updated E-Series full body addresses?

For starters, they all lack a frame. And none of them can have a solid front axle stuffed underneath without making them non-FMVSS compliant because the stability control systems won't play with solid front axle geometries. And the Promaster can't be converted to 4WD at all. So with that frame, you also get 10,000 pounds of towing capacity, vs half that with the unibody vans.