GMC Motorhome Background
From 1973 to 1978, GMC made the only “in-house” motorhome built by a US car manufacturer. During that time, there were almost 13,000 made. There is a GMC Registry that’s regularly updated that has identified a few over 9,000 units (June, 2024).
GMC made two sizes of the motorhome, a 26′ and a 23′. The 26′ was by far the most popular size, accounting for 11,200 of the units. Production number for the 23′ are approximately 1,700. GMC completely finished some of the motorhomes and sold other partially-completed units to other companies to be finished out for sale. There were also a significant number of the 23′ units that were fitted out as ambulances and other emergency vehicles.
Few other models of RV have as robust a following of enthusiasts as these, and there are active regional groups that have regular meetups. The median age of these folks is creeping ever older, of course. The younger folks don’t have the nostalgic memories of family trips that the older folks have, and just like everything else, it’s slowly fading away.
The story of the GMC is a fascinating look into the history of the US auto industry during the ’70’s. Many believe that if it weren’t for the spike in gas prices, GM would have kept producing these motorhomes for many more years.
A Filthy Little Unicorn in SW Arkansas
I’d been haunting the Facebook pages for about 3 years, examining every ad that came along and even going to look at a few that were in driving distance.
This little beast popped up on one of the less-frequented pages that I stumbled across, and I kept an eye on it for a few weeks. I’d gotten in touch with the owner, who owns a “hobby salvage” near DeQueen, AR. His yard was about 500 miles from where I’m living in Hendersonville, TN, and the route was 95% I-40…taking me through Memphis and Little Rock. Those are on my top 10 cities to avoid at all costs list. But something kept bothering me about this example.
In 1978 they made 175 of these 23-footers. This one has a “side bath” floor plan, freeing up the rearmost area for a permanent bedroom area. Oddly enough, most of them I’ve seen had the bathrooms in the very back, with a toilet, sink, and tiny bathtub that would do good to hold a medium-size dog.
It’s a “Birchaven” and has a lot of wood and fake wood finishes, unlike many of these coaches that are loaded with Formica, and just look “cheap” to me.
I made the trip and gave it a good looking-over…it was actually a little better than I had imagined it would be. Russ had found a fellow that would tow it home for me for $1,000 – but when he got in touch with him, he’d sold his trailer and gotten out of the business. Luckily, he knew another young fellow that would do the job, but for $1,500. The round trip was over 1,000 miles – so I figured $1.50/mile was cheap.
And there it was. Parked in my Sis’s driveway in all it’s moss-covered glory!
I’ve pressure-washed it, replaced the side molding, and given it a pretty thorough cleaning-up. I wish the paint was nicer – and really thought it was, but that 12 years of setting out did a great camouflage job.
The engine has 95,000 miles on it and seems pretty solid. Unfortunately, the previous owner has died so I won’t be able to get any more information on it. I did get a small stack of manuals and paperwork that may have some information about maintenance and parts. But it’s pretty much a “what you see is what you get” type of project.
