The town of Elkhart, Indiana is where an amazing 80% of the world’s RV production occurs. What Hollywood is to movies, and Wall Street is to finance, Elkhart is to campers.
As a result the RV Hall of Fame is located here.
While I was questioned why I would want to see the RV Hall of Fame, as soon as we entered it was obvious. The first one we saw was one of the earliest ever, built in 1913.
The inside has a simplistic beauty.
Next door is a Model T with a structure on the back that contained storage, but when expanded had a bed. Built on a 1915 Model T, it was a one off build known as the Telescope Apartment.
Many of the campers were from the 1930s through the 1950s. The one below is a ‘Yellowstone’ 18 foot travel trailer from 1954.
The vintage ones had a lot of woodwork.
The 1937 Hunt Housecar was built by a Hollywood cinematographer named Roy Hunt.
The Hunt Housecar has a great interior.
Another example of the detailed woodwork.
This weird looking camper is on a 1976 Cadillac Eldorado base. Many refer to it as the Star Trek Camper.
The 1931 Chevrolet Housecar was built by Paramount Studios for Mae West.
It was at this point I came to realization that there many of the numerous manufacturing facilities in the area offered tours. A bit of internet surfing revealed that the Heartland RV company was located a few miles down the road, and had tours starting in 30 minutes.
Before you knew it we were touring their facility. The outdoor inventory included these axles used for the ‘bump outs’.
With the number of campers built daily, they go through a lot of toilets.
We toured the factory that builds ‘Fifth Wheels’, huge campers that are towed by a ‘wheel’ in the bed of pickup trucks.
Interestingly they build the interior components, then add the shell of the camper.
Once the sides are on, the roof is added and secured by workers using this yellow catwalk.
A bump out ready to be installed.
The massive backs of these campers are one large component.
Indiana – home of mobile homes and campers.
RDZ Photography 