This Gigantic 48-Foot Camper Comes With Its Own Volvo Semi Truck And A Smart Car Escape Pod

Earlier this month, I declared the 47-foot-long, 27,000-pound, and 12-bed Axiom Vendetta as the most ridiculous new camper for sale in America. I just found a camper that, while not new and not as crazy on its own, is part of a whole package that cranks the absurdity up to 11. This is a custom 2015 Forks RV Continental Coach fifth wheel that measures 48 feet long, and it comes with a 2009 Volvo VNL and a 2013 Smart Fortwo. This thing could be your mobile command center and more!

There is a certain niche of RVers who decide that, instead of buying a top-of-the-line Class A motorhome, they’ll have a fifth wheel trailer custom-built, and then they’ll tow that fifth wheel with a big rig that’s been converted into a private coach. These people aren’t really showing up to state parks or the KOA for the weekend, but they live in their RV full-time, and they want it to be as luxurious as owning a high-dollar condo. The owners of these sorts of setups may also have a career that has them moving from place to place, such as oil workers, rodeo cowboys, racecar drivers, and actors. In other words, these are trailers for folks who have greater demands than can be fulfilled by even the nicest Airstream or probably most of the fifth wheels built in Indiana.

As such, these RVs often blur the line between “recreational vehicle” and “mobile home.” They often are as well-equipped as a luxury house, but still have holding tanks, generators, solar, and all of the bits to use them as a camper if their owners desired. There would be nothing stopping you from parking this at Burning Man, except, well, maybe if the event gets flooded out and your pretty camper is stranded. Let’s take a look at this incredible trio of vehicles built for the kind of “camping” that most people never get to experience.

Custom Trailers

The fifth wheel part of this equation might not be a brand you’ve heard of before. There is a niche of companies that specialize in custom RVs. One of them is Spacecraft, which turns semi-trailers into RVs. Another was Forks RV, which used to build custom fifth wheels.

Forks RV was founded in 1991 by Howard Stutzman in Shipshewana, Indiana. At first, the business manufactured commercial buildings and police mobile command centers. However, growing interest in totally custom RVs saw the company pivot to creating Continental Coach. Forks RV was not like the typical Indiana RV maker. While it did have standard layouts if you had no idea what you wanted, every customer ultimately put their own touches into the coach. This means that no two Continental Coach trailers are the same.

Forks RV would branch back out into custom work trailers with the Specialty Trailer Company and then appeal to ranchers with Lonestar Horse Trailers. Later, Forks RV would gain national attention after being featured on the Travel Channel’s ‘Extreme RVs‘ show in the 2010s (Season 2 Episode 1). Forks RV would become so popular that even Hot Rod magazine tested a Continental Coach out.

Sadly, Forks RV ceased operations at the beginning of 2017. An archived report from RVBusiness painted an interesting picture. According to Forks RV president Eric Stutzman, the company didn’t fold due to poor RV sales, but an upending in the market for mobile office trailers for oil fields, which was Forks RV’s real bread and butter.

So, this 2015 Continental Coach was among the last RV trailers built by the company. Apparently, this one is special, too, as it was featured on Extreme RVs early in its life.

The Continental Coach

That trailer is only one part of the three-piece rig that will be rolling across the Mecum Auctions block on November 1.

While Continental Coach trailers weren’t more or less pimped out semi trailers like Spacecraft trailers are, Forks RV did work to make a stronger fifth wheel than typical. Hot Rod magazine details how these were built:

Quality begins with the chassis. Continental Coach uses a dual stacked frame rail, designed with dual I-beams or an I-beam stacked on top of structural tube steel that totals 18 to 22 inches in height. The chassis rails are bridged with lateral 2- by 8-inch structural steel tubing to provide a rock-solid platform. Two- by 6-inch, full-width steel channel flooring in the main floor, and 2- by 4-inch steel tubing in the upper-deck floor provide plenty of strength and room for insulation, which totals R-42 in the main floor underbelly. The basement storage is a drop-frame design to maximize storage space. The slideout mechanisms are all above the frame rails and imbedded into the steel flooring to avoid compromising the frame’s structural integrity.

The entire chassis rides on three axles equipped with Mor-Ryde fully independent suspension equipped with 17.5-inch alloy wheels, and Goodyear load-range H tires. An electric actuator controls hydraulic disk brakes, which can be ABS equipped with the proper controller. Aluminum superstructure mounts to the top of this solid platform with 1.5-inch aluminum tubing on 16-inch centers for the sidewalls and roof. Insulation batts fill the walls, followed by .5-inch thermal foam, an exterior reflective foil wrap, and a composite interior finish panel—total insulation, R-10. The hung sidewall design calls for fiberglass sheets on the sidewalls after the insulation has been added, maximizing insulation values.

The R-21 roof consists of a single fiberglass sheet laid over 3/8-inch plywood decking, all resting on aluminum roof joists filled with foam insulation. The seamless composite fiberglass roof material laps over the sidewalls with no trim or screws along the roof’s edge. A radius roof gutter system covers the seam and allows water to drain at either end, eliminating sidewall streaking. Seamless one-piece fiberglass front and rear caps provide a clean look. Frameless tinted Thermopane windows enhance the sleek design of the Continental Coach and provide lots of natural airflow when opened. The slideouts are flush when retracted and have fiberglass fenders that move with the slideouts as they extend. Clearance and taillights are classy flush-mounted LED fixtures. The dual-acting hydraulic leveling jacks by Equalizer Systems are fully enclosed in square steel tubing to offer maximum protection. You control the automatic leveling operation using a remote-control panel in a lower compartment.

From here, everything else in the camper was pretty much entirely up to the buyer.

The auction listing isn’t terribly descriptive, so I’ll be using my eyes to tell you what’s inside. The front of the trailer features a large primary bedroom that has a king bed, a washer and dryer, a small TV, and lots of storage for clothes. Aside from the size of the room, which comes thanks to two slides, there’s nothing in here that is bombastic.

Moving back from there brings us to the main bathroom, which features a toilet in its own little room and a walk-in shower of considerable size. This is also about on par with what you’ll see in a flagship luxury motorhome. I do dig the cool sink!

Things start getting weird in the kitchen. I liked the appearance of a residential-style refrigerator here, but then I spotted only a single-basin sink and a pretty basic three-burner Princess marine stove. Honestly, I would have expected something a bit more snazzy in a rig like this. But at least there’s a real backsplash, which too many RV companies still forget to put in their trailers.

The highlight of the kitchen appears to be the island, which has two built-in dog bowls.

Immediately aft of the kitchen is a living room with a big TV, a pair of recliners, and a sofa. This is the end of the trailer. There does not appear to be a second bedroom, a second bathroom, or storage for toys, which you often find in many super large fifth wheels. So, this trailer may be 48 feet long, but all of that space is being used for what’s more or less just three main rooms, which is interesting. This configuration would make for a sweet pad for a retired couple.

In terms of materials, you’re looking at leather seating, wood flooring, and solid surface counters. The trailer also has a generator and a 20-gpm water pump, though we are not told anything about weight or tank sizes.

Big Rig Coach

Hauling the trailer is a 2009 Volvo VNL. Yes, the listing says it’s a 2019, but that’s unlikely. The 2019 Volvo VNL has a different face, and NHTSA’s VIN decoder claims that this is a 2009, anyway. Anyway, there are companies out there that convert Class 8 semis like the VNL into private coaches, and that’s what happened here.

The rear of the truck was turned into a flatbed-type service body to carry the Smart. Inside, the truck features two beds, a TV, a refrigerator, and air-ride seats. Annoyingly, not a single one of the 90 photos in the auction shows what the interior of the truck looks like.

Anyway, under the hood is a Volvo D13 12.8-liter straight-six diesel good for 500 HP and 1,800 lb-ft of torque. This engine, which is backed by a 12-speed automatic transmission, was given an in-frame overhaul at 597,007 miles. The listing doesn’t give a total mileage figure, which seems like it would be at least somewhat important.

The Opposite Of Luxury

That takes us to the last part of the trio, the 2013 Smart Fortwo. Smarts are popular vehicles among full-time RVers because they’re super easy to tow, can fit into the back of a toy hauler, or can be hauled four wheels down. But they’re beloved among RVers because Smarts are so compact that they can fit into whatever tiny space is left at the campsite, and are just perfect for the RV couple who just want to drive to town and back.

Smarts are also the easiest choice of road-legal escape pod for people with these semi-truck-based rigs due to their 8.8-foot length. Drive the car onto a ramp, raise the ramp onto the truck, and off you go. Basically, think of these Smarts as being like the golf carts that RVers like driving around campgrounds, but can be driven on a highway.

Now, it took me precisely one second to figure out that this car is a base model, the Pure. This is such an odd choice to me. This coach and truck are both worth a fortune; why cheap out on the runabout?

The original owner of this car picked a bizarre assortment of options. They selected a radio (yes, that was an option) and factory cruise control, but kept the crank windows and manual mirrors. This car doesn’t even have automatic wipers or automatic headlights, which is impressive because some Pure buyers got power windows or auto wipers with their cars by default, because some dealers at least wanted to stock cars with something resembling a feature.

Mecum also fails to quote the mileage for the car, but I can at least tell you that there’s a 999cc Mitsubishi 3B21 inline three good for 70 HP and 68 lb-ft of torque. It’s backed by a five-speed Getrag automated-manual transmission.

Life On Wheels

Add it all up, and this trio means that your home is wherever you make it. Park the trailer and truck anywhere in America, and then hop in the little Smart to explore. Take this rig to the track, to the movie production lot, or anywhere else you might want to park your home.

All three of them will be sold together in the Mecum Dallas/Fort Worth auction going down this Saturday. The Continental Coach could bring six figures all by itself, so the whole package will probably go for some big money.

One day, I’d love to experience an “RV” that’s on this scale. Everything about this is cranked up to 11, from the tow vehicle to the fact that the trailer is pretty much just a condo with wheels bolted to it. Sure, this trailer isn’t full of silly gimmicks like an Axiom, but it’s a different level of travel that most people would never experience. I’d love to drive one of these one day and really feel like the queen of the road.

Top graphic image: Mecum Auctions