Motorhomes Used To Suck So Much To Drive That A Man Thought Making An RV Out Of A Milk Truck Was An Improvement

The modern motorhome is an incredible creation. Today’s coaches can drive for days on end, and their occupants can be comfortable as if they are sitting at home. But this wasn’t always the case. Several decades ago, motorhomes were known for being slow, loud, and hard to work on. In the late 1960s, Flxible, America’s second-largest bus manufacturer at the time, thought it had the solution. This is the Flxible Cruiser, and it was meant to fix the pain points of motorhomes by being built out of a durable bread delivery truck.

The 1960s and 1070s were a watershed moment in RV history. Americans with cash to spend and time to burn discovered the vast outdoors and the many activities they could do in it. People began engaging in activities like hunting, fishing, and hiking, while capable vehicles like off-road motorcycles, SUVs, and snowmobiles added some high-octane thrills to the wilderness.

These people also discovered a fun way to stay close to the wilderness. Instead of staying in hotels and other fixed lodging, they could just park up to their destinations in an RV and be only steps away from the action. This period was so explosive for the RV industry that some iconic names like Winnebago and Scamp cut their teeth in it. There were new campers that slid into truck beds, campers that bolted to the roofs of wagons, and tents that turned everyday family cars into campers. There was an RV solution for Americans of nearly every budget and with almost any tow vehicle.

The RV boom was so tantalizing that companies operating outside of the market tried their hand at it, including the likes of Grumman and the Clark Forklift Company. Flxible, which was once America’s second-largest producer of buses, also dipped its tires into the RV market. However, there was a twist. Instead of making its motorhome out of a bus, it was built out of a delivery truck. But there was a practical reason for the Flxible Cruiser, and later, the Mobilux Cruiser, to be a prettied-up milk truck.

From Buses To Motorhomes

The mastermind of the Flxible Cruiser was Dr. Emmett Dale, and he’s left his mark all over the weird RVs of the 1960s.

Flxible, pronounced “flexible,” was known for its innovation. The company got its start making a flexible motorcycle sidecar coupler in the 1910s. When more affordable cars made sidecars obsolete as primary transportation, Flxible got into the business of making buses, ambulances, and hearses. The company would go on to make some of America’s most beautiful highway buses with the Clipper, as well as buses that found themselves shuttling people to airports and around national parks. While General Motors would dominate the bus industry with more than 80 percent of the market, Flxible would land in second place, scooping up around seven percent of the market, depending on the year. Other major players included Mack, Twin Coach, and White.

Flxible would expand by absorbing smaller companies. Twin Coach would join the Flxible fray in 1953, and in 1964, Flxible also picked up regional bus maker Southern Coach Manufacturing. The Evergreen, Alabama-based company started in 1941 by refurbishing old prewar trucks and buses, but then got into the business of making its own buses after World War II. Southern Coach never grew to be a large national player, but it was established in the South with loyal customers.

Flxible utilized South Coach’s technical knowledge to build small transit buses as well as some commercial delivery trucks on Chevrolet, Dodge, GMC, and Ford chassis.

Meanwhile, Dr. Emmett Dale was snaking his way through the RV industry. He spent 1959 through 1965 with Airstream, rising through the ranks as an engineer and then a plant manager. Then, in 1965, Dale would find himself at the Clark Forklift Company as an engineer of the beastly Clark Cortez all-metal motorhome (above). In 1967, Dale switched up his resume again and joined the engineering ranks of the Southern Coach Division of Flxible. He would also become the manager of the Recreational Vehicle Division of Flxible.

Dale is credited with the creation of the Flxible Cruiser. Now, you’d think that, given Flxible’s history as a bus maker, the company’s entry into the motorhome market would be based on a bus. However, when the Flxible Cruiser made its debut in 1967, it was really a bread truck riding on a domestic truck chassis and with an RV stuffed inside.

The Cruiser

As I could find based on period advertising, the choice to make a motorhome out of a Flxible bread truck was intentional. The motorhomes of the late 1960s weren’t always comfortable rides. It was common for a Class A motorhome to have a large engine located right up front and between the seats. Mass-production rear-engine motorhomes were still years out at this point. The front-engine motorhome filled the driving cabin with noise, and they also weren’t the easiest vehicles to service, as access was largely hindered by the coach body.

That wasn’t all, as some motorhomes were considered flimsy back then, thanks to their heavy use of wood and the array of body seals that would eventually permit destructive water leaks. Apparently, there was also a bit of a safety concern, too, as a typical Class A motorhome placed the front seats either on top of or ahead of the front axle, and directly behind the front bumper.

The Flxible Cruiser was to fix all of these issues and more. Being based on a bread truck, this meant the Cruiser was made out of steel from top to bottom with metal walls, a metal roof, and a metal floor. The position of the engine and front axle ahead of the cab was marketed as offering reduced interior noise, increased crash safety, and easier access to the engine. Another proposed benefit is that, since the engine is ahead of the cab, there’s no need for a doghouse engine cover in the cab.

The Flxible Cruiser also rode on common Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, and Dodge delivery truck platforms, making them easy to get parts for and easier to service. Having the delivery truck roots gave the Cruiser one more upper hand against the typical motorhome, and it was that the Cruiser had both an RV-style entry door and a commercial truck-style driver’s door.

Flxible offered its motorhomes in a few different flavors. If you got a small motorhome, your Flxible was based on the Chevrolet P20 delivery truck (above). Larger than that was the 21-foot Chevrolet PE 31042-based Flxible Cutter motorhome (below), which came equipped with a Chevrolet 350 cubic inch V8. At the longer end of the spectrum was the 25-foot Flxible Cruiser, and these were usually found powered by a 454 cubic inch Chevrolet big block V8.

All of these motorhomes were rather substantial lumps of steel where the idea of reducing weight took a backseat to longevity. Since these were based on delivery trucks, they were built for the kind of abuse no typical motorhome would go through. This actually made sense when you consider that Dr. Emmett Dale was also involved in the all-steel Clark Cortez. Dale clearly believed that steel, not wood or aluminum, was the way to go.

I could not find much more data about the Flxible Cruiser. But what I did find was that, in 1969, Flxible discontinued motorhome production. Instead, the motorhomes would be built by the newly-formed Mobilux Corporation of Evergreen, Alabama. In January 1970, Alabama newspaper the Elba Clipper reported that the entire Flxible Cruiser line had been sold to Mobilux, and that Dr. Emmett Dale was at the helm of the new company. Mobilux took over Flxible’s Evergreen plant and dealer network while hoping to expand.

As for the Cruiser, aside from getting a name change to the Mobilux Cruiser, it remained pretty much the same motorhome. Mobilux did advertise its prices, and $10,494 got you the Mobilux Cutter, while the Cruiser was priced between $16,555 and $18,555, depending on options.

In 1973, Mobilux made a huge marketing push, getting its motorhomes advertised in magazines like Popular Science. Mobilux also partnered up with House Beautiful magazine, and that summer, editors of the publication decorated the interior of a Mobilux Cruiser to create a “mansion on wheels.”

Sadly, data on these rigs is hard to come by. Allegedly, the Mobilux Cruiser weighs 12,000 pounds, and the 454 V8 under the hood gets about 9 mpg on the highway. I was not able to find much information about features, equipment, or tank sizes. That said, I was able to find out that these motorhomes had optional air-conditioners and a Thetford Thermasan, the bizarre system that disposed of a black tank’s contents by burning it in the RV’s exhaust stream.

It’s estimated that Flxible and Mobilux built 250 to 300 motorhomes until 1974, and the majority of examples were built by Flxible. It’s not known what caused the Mobilux venture to fail. However, the multiple oil crises and economic strain of the mid-1970s took several smaller RV firms out of existence as people stopped buying large and thirsty motorhomes.

There’s One For Sale!

Amazingly, there is one of these for sale right now. Betsy Dale Adams, the daughter of Dr. Emmett Dale, is selling what used to be her father’s personal Mobilux Cruiser coach.

The motorhome appears to be in remarkable shape for a rig from 1972. The exterior looks just as presentable as any motorhome from today. I can’t get over how it looks like someone slapped some RV windows on a bread truck, but it actually came from the factory this way.

The interior is very ’70s with wood paneling from bow to stern. My eyes spot a dual-basin kitchen sink, a newer refrigerator, a sizable wet bathroom, and a pair of beds in the rear like an Airstream. It’s a dated design, sure, but one that I think is still plenty classy.

I love how we get a view of the driver’s seat, and it’s clearly the instrument panel from a delivery truck, but with a splash of fake wood thrown in. It’s a shame that we cannot see the floor. I’d love to see if it’s flat from front to back.

Betsy has been trying to sell the coach since at least June 2025, and currently wants $14,000 for it. The motorhome is located near Pensacola, Florida. This steel motorhome has been surrounded by salt water for at least a portion of its life, yet it still looks so good!

Sadly, due to the lack of period testing, it’s hard to say if the marketing promise of a motorhome that was easier to work on and quieter on the road actually rang true. But I suppose it was a sort of stopgap measure in the end, regardless. Today, we have rear-engine motorhomes and front-engine motorhomes that don’t drown you out with noise. Of course, some designs are more wrenching-friendly than others, too.

I’d love to be able to find out more about Mobilux and Dr. Emmett Dale. Clearly, he was an eccentric engineer, and it showed in his work. Nobody builds motorhomes like the projects he thought up or was otherwise involved in. The fact that quite a few of his motorhome designs have survived more than 50 years into the modern day is at least a decent suggestion that metal lasts. It’s also just amazing that, at some point, two companies thought that the solution to old-timey motorhome problems was to make an RV out of a bread truck.

Top graphic image: Betsy Dale Adams