1977 Commander

This is the RV we have purchased:

It is a 1977 Commander - very very low miles, was used as a guest bedroom most of its life. was almost always occupied, so everything was maintained well and everything works. roof was recently rubberized after a thorough overhaul, was always covered & stored properly when not in use. meticulous books & records, all previous owners kept & logged just about everything. odometer reads 6900 miles (although i can't be 100% sure). Interior is in phenomenal condition. All plumbing was recently re-done by the previous owner, including newer commode, all new lines, new tanks for water, etc, etc.... has inverter with dual batteries, roof-mount A/C (no generator onboard though).

We're in the process of trying to decide whether it would be better to try and find a used on-board generator or go with a high-power inverter with battery bank. i'm leaning toward on-board genset, but they are pricey and hard to find, apparently. Conversely, a battery bank with high-power inverter will not be able to power the overhead A/C unit (or any A/C unit, for that matter). When all is said and done, the cost for getting an inverter & battery bank setup would cost about the same as a very good used on-board 4 kw generator. So yeah, obviously the generator would be easier.

The interior is all original, using a 70's "throwing star" pattern. As much as i would love to keep it, it has many holes & tears, plus the "smell" of 30+ year-old fabric. We will keep this for awhile, but eventually upgrade to a modern suede-type material. Of course we will continue the 70's theme, using browns, oranges, and yellows with modern fabrics. Unfortunately we do not have that footstool, as the previous owner took these shots and did not include it with the sale. We *do* intend to furnish the rig with period-correct items. Good bonus about this dinette: It can accomodate someone my height (6'2"). They don't make dinette sleepers like that anymore!

The driver's area is very minimalistic in what it contains, but i love it. You won't find climate control, auto-levelling jack controls, or anything like that. Instead, you have the very basics. The "foot" gas pedal was an aftermarket ad-on by a previous owner, but we love it and are keeping it. Hey, it was the style of the time, and i definitely appreciate it. Ondine had the same pedal on her old Squareback, so it does hold a sentimental appeal to it. There is dash air, although very small and weak. both driver & passenger sides have ashtrays & lighters. ASHTRAYS! I don't smoke, but that is cool. We plan on adding a boat or train horn to get others out of our way.

The kitchen was a pleasant surprise. True to its old vintage form, the stove is up top where the microwave would normally sit. It is more like a convection oven. The wood is in very good condition, and all the drapes you see there are new, done in suede, by the wife of the previous owner. The door you see shut in the background (right) is the sliding door that separates the front from the back. Through that door is the master suite a.k.a. "sun room". Fridge & Freezer both work, as does all appliances. The furnace could use replacing, and it is on our list of things to repair. Another bonus of old rigs: Sink has dual sides which are both deep.

So how many does it sleep? At the minimum i would say 5, as you have the huge bed in back, the dinette, and this cool bunk that slides down from over the cab of the RV. This is on four metal hinges and swings down. Doesn't feel *too* robust, but i also don't know what it's weight rating is. I wouldn't put someone over 200 pounds up there though. Of course, being that the RV is about 8 feet wide, i can "fit" up there with no issues. It comes with a little ladder that stores on the bed.

If we move back toward the rear of the RV, we find the sink in the rear master area. It has a full vanity above it with lighted mirror. The counter top is marble, believe it or not. To the immediate left of the sink is the rear bench area/master bed. To the immediate right of the sink is the toilet & shower. The toilet & shower is an all-in-one unit that actually has original wall paper coverings - we plan on keeping those if at all possible. The previous owner replaced the toilet, all lines, water tanks, and plumbing. Great news from that is it saves us from having to do a lot of the work.

The trick thing about the bathroom is it has two doors - one opening into the master suite area, and one opening across from the fridge.... This is great for privacy. We can keep the master sliding door closed and the people staying in the front of the RV can use the restroom without disturbing those in the bed in the rear, and vice versa, we can use the bathroom without waking whomever is sleeping in front. I absolutely LOVE this feature of the floorplan, and you don't see this anymore save for the $500k class A's that are brand new. I definitely haven't seen this in an RV of this size. Now, on to the rear area.... The rear of the RV has a huge wraparound bench that can seat 10+ people. It came from the factory with a table that mounts there, but it had been lost long ago, according to the previous owner. The table obviously folded down to create a super bed, but the previous owner had fabbed a slide-out piece of wood cut to fit that acts as the support. It rests under the rear of the bench, and if you look closely you can see a slight bulge from storage of this piece.

This area of the RV i sometimes affectionately call "the sun room" since it is wrapaound windows, and if it's a sunny day, you'll bake in there. Fortunately (?) we live in Seattle, so the sunny days are few & far between. It does have wraparound curtains that (again) are new and suede. Cusion tear back here is greater than in the front of the RV, but it is mostly on the backside. We'll ultimately replace the cushions & re-wrap them in a different fabric. As you can see from the picture below, when the bed is folded down, it consumes the entire rear area.

I love this! It turns into the equivalent of a california king - I can sleep either longways or sideways on this, and i fit either way. If we ever really needed, we could fit more than two people on it too. Directly to the left (across from the sink on the right) is the main storage closet - this will be where we store the hifi and all the techno gadgets. In there will go the receiver, home sub, and video/audio control systems (described below). So what are we going to do to this thing, technology-wise? Well, the overall strategy was to give it all modern appointments & conveniences of the highest-tech RV you can buy today, while keeping the theme & appearance of vintage 70's.

Will we pull it off? We shall see. We want to modernize without putting too much money into it. Most of the audio & video equipment we already had at home, and are just going to use it in the RV now. So what exactly are we planning on putting in this thing? Here is a quick run-down of the plans:

* Kenwood flip-out head unit with full nav, ipod connection, satellite radio, and backup camera

* Subwoofer setup for the head unit will reside under dinette bench

* Sony home receiver will live in the "hifi" closet in master bedroom.

* Velodyne Micro-vee home subwoofer for the receiver, also in hifi closet

* Bose cube speakers for the surround sound. I went with Bose cubes due to their small size - will be easy to hide and will minimally intrude on interior space.

* Twin LCD TV's. We are waiting to figure out mounting solutions before we decide what size and brand. for size i'd like a 26" and a 22", but we may have to go smaller, depending on what level of support we can develop for the TVs. This will be the most difficult part of the hifi install, i'm predicting. Another option is to go with computer monitors. they are lighter & cheaper, and thus should be easier to mount. Since we're not looking to get TV reception or use speakers on the TV themselves, we could save power, weight, and money by going with computer LCD monitors. The only downside there is we lose the flexibility of being able to run them as a TV later if we so choose. Of course, if i use a computer monitor, i can take the frame off and flush the monitor itself into something....

In Summary...

I am enamored with the fact that no one knows what the hell this thing is... of course that makes part-sourcing a nightmare. thankfully we do have the book with all the part numbers for this thing. It's on the Dodge chassis, running a 440. Our plans are to refresh everything while maintaining the 70's theme. We really only plan to use this for weekend jaunts, 3-day weekends, etc. If we feel adventurous we might make a week-long trip of the PNW region, but chances are we won't venture very far. This is our starter/restore project RV, and we look forward to using it!