Words & Photos: John Gunnell
Here is the official description of a vintage motor home that was Lot No. 81 at the 2014 Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona:
Lot #81
1972 WINNEBAGO CUSTOM RV
Details:
VIN |
M39CG2S530969 |
Exterior Color |
CHALKY |
Interior Color |
CEDAR WOOD |
Cylinders |
8 |
Engine Size |
318 |
Transmission |
3-SPEED AUTOMATIC |
Description:
Lot No 81. — If there is such a thing as a Hot Rod RV, this is it. Mother Nature has provided "just the right patina" on this unit's original exterior, with the builder's unique imagination performing the rest. Powered by Mopar's 318 V-8 with Sanderson custom headers, Flowmasters and dual exhaust with an automatic transmission. The custom fabricated suspension places the unit lower than Winnebago engineers ever dreamed possible, making it handle like no other. All new, handcrafted cedar wood interior is decorated appropriately, including re-upholstered old theater seating, new futon bed, plaid driver and passenger seats and no shortage of wall art.
Here is the auction result for Lot No. 91. As you can see, it sold for $12,100, including a buyer commission.
Auction |
Scottsdale 2014 |
Reserve |
NO RESERVE |
Status |
Sold |
Price |
$12,100.00 |
Lot |
81 |
Year |
1972 |
Make |
WINNEBAGO |
Model |
|
Style |
CUSTOM RV |
*Includes Buyer Commission
What the above doesn’t tell you is who bought the Hot Rod motor home and what happened to it since 2014. It was actually purchased by Bob Johnson, a friend of famed car builders Mike and Jim Ring. Johnson thought the Ring Brothers should own this RV. They gave him the OK, but they didn’t know that they were paying slightly over $12,000 to buy what Mike called, “A $400 Winnebago Brave.” And little did they know they’d be spending something like $27,000 to put a Wegner Motor Sports motor in the modified motor home.
Mike and Jim Ring are known for building resto-mod style cars for individual owners or for companies that want a SEMA show car. Someone had already modified the old Winnebago, but it was full of junk. The brakes were shot and so the Winnebago wound up being shipped to the Ring Brothers shop.
Mike and Jim proceeded to completely redo the inside and underside of the motor home and turn it into a traveling party bus they called the “Happy Camper.” The outside, however, was left pretty much the way it was.
Casey Wegner of Wegner Motorsports built a torquey 6.0L-based Chevy LS motor for the Winnebago. The MSD Atomic EFI system with ignition coils and wires was installed and the engine bolted in. Ring Brothers added a BeCool aluminum radiator with integrated overflow tank to keep the new engine running nice and cool, even when driving a motor home with the aerodynamics of a brick.
After it was completed, the Winnebago was taken on the Hot Rod Power Tour, where it crossed major sections of the country at highway speeds. That’s also when the boxy hot rod became a party on wheels. In one video, a commentator pointed out that there was a bigger crowd around the motorhome than around normal hot rods. In fact, the Happy Camper was such a hit that Ring Brothers wound up displaying it in the Prestone booth at SEMA.