It's Not Fiberglass, But
 

I just saw my first Bowlus "Endless Highways" trailer, a $185,000.00 aluminum single axle trailer with a front facing entrance door:

https://www.lakeshoreimages.com/19tri...2/_JRV1247.jpg

https://www.lakeshoreimages.com/19tri...2/_JRV1249.jpg

Did they explain that hitch wheel set up?

Nope! I'm still in shock from the price...

I have long admired this one. The galley and living quarters are reminiscent of an old-fashioned railway car, and the sleeping quarters yacht-like. More practical than either, though not by much.

It has some unusual and high-end mechanicals, as I recall, so it’s not all show.

Way cool! Where did you run into it, Jon?

For all that, it has a hand-cranked jack.

Looks like an old time jersey diner

Hand crank jack and $10 plastic step. Hmmm. Nice concept but seems to be missing a beat. Probably to maintain “purity of design.” Or something....
But neat trailer.

He posted this on his blog, and it's at Henry Horton State Park, Chapel Hill TN, 5 minutes from my house. I think I'll go see it this weekend

Interesting trailer, though I would have guessed about half of the actual price.

Outside it looks like an upside down boat. Inside like the officer's quarters of a small submarine. Their "aircraft style riveting" is NOT. the heads are fat and stick out instead of being flush. It could be about 6" wider for a roomier center aisle…
Where are the batteries and LP tanks? Outside cargo door?

Saw one of those recently at Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. Only there for a night. Highly polished aluminum.

Did they get told what the real insulation was?
 

Reading the Bowlus web site, they say that there is a layer of insulation between two sheets of thicker aircraft aluminum as opposed to the thinner aluminum used in Airstreams. They do not say what the insulation is or what its R-Value is. Given that the inner and outer sheets are aluminum and that is a wonderfully CONDUCTIVE metal, I would love to know what it is and whether it actually works. In the meantime, what we thought were overpriced Oliver and Bigfoot trailers are beginning to look like BUDGET trailers by comparison. Thank you for sharing the information and the price.

: - )

Walk in His Peace,
David

That is a truly aerodynamic shape.

Designed and built for those for whom the best "might" be good enough...

I'm glad our taste doesn't run to it, though the "shotgun" layout is nice--in its way.

Different strokes for different folks. I learned along time ago to appreciate what others have/want. After all, it's their budget not mine. So while I may never want to own this particular trailer, I can be happy for the couple that owns it.

There's a saying: It's really NOT what you tow, it's that you go.

So whatever you have... go make good memories! :thumb

Very neat looking but outrageous price.....there must be a market or they wouldn't make them. I would just buy a dozen Casita's and leave them in all the campgrounds I enjoy if I had that kind of money....LOL! Seriously....to each their own. Safe travels.

Some aircraft have dome-head rivets. Boeing's YC-14 prototype, for example, uses dome head rivets on the aft fuselage; back there the airflow has already separated so surface smoothness is no longer such a big concern. On the forward fuselage, where smoothness is a concern, it uses flush-head rivets.

Also, nice trailer!

Bowlus Road Chief #3
 

I attended the annual Midwest Airforums.com forum ralley at Moraine View State Park in LeRoy IL a couple of years ago, and Bowlus Road Chief #3 was in the next campsite over from ours.

https://flic.kr/s/aHskeaqDVo

Its a "hand crafted" work of art :) There are vastly more labor hours in that product versus producing a molded fiberglass shell. Also the cost of the metal is significantly higher than the materials used to make molded fiberglass trailers. When you take those factors into account it is not a "rip off" priced product. You really could not sell it for less than that cost and still have a profit or pay the workers a living wage. It is what it is, a well made example of a visually interesting, finely crafted, small scaled manufacturing production of a unique RV.


The world has a place for such things and I hope even though not everyone can afford them that there will always be someone who wants to make them and customers who want to buy them.

For the stingier among us there's the Bowlus Road Chief – On The Road: $137,000 (can be financed as low $693/month).

https://bowlusroadchief.com/on-the-road/

Sleeps 4 but dines 2? I guess you have to eat in shifts.

To each their own, but for that kind of money I would expect it to come with a tow vehicle and a companion.

Harold