mhiscox
Expedition Leader
Very Newest News: CamperMog now has a post-expo life as the Motofish CoffeeMog, selling gourmet coffee and other treats as a mobile food truck in the Seattle area. A very unusual ending for a near forty-year-old truck first deployed out of Eindhoven fixing signal towers for the Netherlands Train Authority.
Newest News: Sold by Chris Brandt to a group that rebuilt the engine and is having the truck converted to a different use. See the posts from 9/13 and forward for information.
Newer News: As of 12/18/12, Chris Brandt has put Camper Mog back on the market, along with the turbocharged motor he got hold of. It's still a very cool vehicle. Check for new information at the bottom of the thread.
News: Sold 8/19/10 to my Portland buddy Chris Brandt (Squeezer on the Portal), so it's not traveling far and is staying in the Expo family. An excellent new home and, all in all, a very happy ending. Color me pleased.
Remember this one?
Those of you who were on the Portal last summer might recall that, after seven years of ownership, I sold my unique/odd (a thin line there, eh?) ex-Dutch Railway custom expedition camper to a gentleman in Seattle. For those of you who want to jog their memories, or make her acquaintance, the previous thread is at:
http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7239
and if you want to cut straight to the pictures, there's comprehensive photo coverage at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhiscox01/CamperMogAssortment
OK, so here's The Rest of the Story. The new owner toasted the engine not too many weeks into his ownership. Lacking many choices at 4:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning, he had it towed to Valley Freightliner near Tacoma. Then, a few weeks later, the guy gets transferred to Philadelphia, not one of your more Mog friendly places. And so the Mog sits at VFL . . . and sits, and sits . . . for eleven months.
So about three weeks ago, I get a call from the owner saying that Valley Freightliner, tired of looking at it for a year, is about to declare the vehicle abandoned and have towed for scrap, and could I do something? So I paid the storage fees and paid for a wrecker to tow it down to a friend's property west of Portland, and there it sits.
In a burst of enthusiam, the owner had it repainted, put in new opening windows, new air seats and so on, and it looks very handsome (for what it is). Outside of the single fact that the engine is totally Tango Uniform, it's better off than when I sold it.
Seems like I'll need to find a rebuilt engine or rebuild one, install it, and then go through selling it again. In truth, though, I prefer to turn the project over to someone else who has sufficent competence to ensure a happy ending. To that end, I'd like to hear from you if . . .
-- You're contemplating a serious expedition in the near future and appreciate the merits of Camper Mog for such a trip. I can make you one heck of a deal on a highly-capable expedition truck that's ready to go . . . except for that pesky engine problem, which you--instead of me--can figure out how to get replaced.
-- You have sufficient talent--or administrative skills, since you can certainly hire the work done--to get the engine replaced, and want to buy the truck to resell it for a considerable profit. (FWIW, I got $40K last summer prior to the paint job, new seats, etc.),
-- You have the talent and equipment and would like me to pay you substantial amounts to rebuild an OM352 and/or swap it into Camper Mog,
-- You have a new or rebuilt OM352 to sell me, or
-- You have property that needs an inexpensive, small, self-contained cottage.
As-is, where-is, $10K will cover what I've got in it. I'd want about $13K if I leave the new owner my generator, inverter, expensive 12/24 V battery charger, all my tools, etc., and about $15K to bring it up to speed with new batteries, clean tanks, fluid change, etc., everything good except the engine.
If I get stuck doing the engine rebuild and install and other small commissioning tasks, I assume it will go back on the market at something over $40K, given the new paint, seats, etc. and up-to-spec engine.
Of note to a small segment of people, the cabin by itself is valuable (heck, Unicat sells one the same size for 160,0000 Euros )--so if you want the truck and not the cabin, we should talk, and if you want the cabin and not the truck, we should talk. By far, though, highest and best use is as an intact long-distance expedition motorhome.
Finally, I know where to purchase a good condition rebuildable engine if a prospective buyer does not.
This is a capable, unusual and modestly historic Mog. I'd surely welcome any help I can get to place her back in productive use.
Post questions or send me a PM. If you have a lot of questions, send your phone number and I'll call you.
Thanks,
Mike
Newest News: Sold by Chris Brandt to a group that rebuilt the engine and is having the truck converted to a different use. See the posts from 9/13 and forward for information.
Newer News: As of 12/18/12, Chris Brandt has put Camper Mog back on the market, along with the turbocharged motor he got hold of. It's still a very cool vehicle. Check for new information at the bottom of the thread.
News: Sold 8/19/10 to my Portland buddy Chris Brandt (Squeezer on the Portal), so it's not traveling far and is staying in the Expo family. An excellent new home and, all in all, a very happy ending. Color me pleased.
Remember this one?
Those of you who were on the Portal last summer might recall that, after seven years of ownership, I sold my unique/odd (a thin line there, eh?) ex-Dutch Railway custom expedition camper to a gentleman in Seattle. For those of you who want to jog their memories, or make her acquaintance, the previous thread is at:
http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7239
and if you want to cut straight to the pictures, there's comprehensive photo coverage at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhiscox01/CamperMogAssortment
OK, so here's The Rest of the Story. The new owner toasted the engine not too many weeks into his ownership. Lacking many choices at 4:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning, he had it towed to Valley Freightliner near Tacoma. Then, a few weeks later, the guy gets transferred to Philadelphia, not one of your more Mog friendly places. And so the Mog sits at VFL . . . and sits, and sits . . . for eleven months.
So about three weeks ago, I get a call from the owner saying that Valley Freightliner, tired of looking at it for a year, is about to declare the vehicle abandoned and have towed for scrap, and could I do something? So I paid the storage fees and paid for a wrecker to tow it down to a friend's property west of Portland, and there it sits.
In a burst of enthusiam, the owner had it repainted, put in new opening windows, new air seats and so on, and it looks very handsome (for what it is). Outside of the single fact that the engine is totally Tango Uniform, it's better off than when I sold it.
Seems like I'll need to find a rebuilt engine or rebuild one, install it, and then go through selling it again. In truth, though, I prefer to turn the project over to someone else who has sufficent competence to ensure a happy ending. To that end, I'd like to hear from you if . . .
-- You're contemplating a serious expedition in the near future and appreciate the merits of Camper Mog for such a trip. I can make you one heck of a deal on a highly-capable expedition truck that's ready to go . . . except for that pesky engine problem, which you--instead of me--can figure out how to get replaced.
-- You have sufficient talent--or administrative skills, since you can certainly hire the work done--to get the engine replaced, and want to buy the truck to resell it for a considerable profit. (FWIW, I got $40K last summer prior to the paint job, new seats, etc.),
-- You have the talent and equipment and would like me to pay you substantial amounts to rebuild an OM352 and/or swap it into Camper Mog,
-- You have a new or rebuilt OM352 to sell me, or
-- You have property that needs an inexpensive, small, self-contained cottage.
As-is, where-is, $10K will cover what I've got in it. I'd want about $13K if I leave the new owner my generator, inverter, expensive 12/24 V battery charger, all my tools, etc., and about $15K to bring it up to speed with new batteries, clean tanks, fluid change, etc., everything good except the engine.
If I get stuck doing the engine rebuild and install and other small commissioning tasks, I assume it will go back on the market at something over $40K, given the new paint, seats, etc. and up-to-spec engine.
Of note to a small segment of people, the cabin by itself is valuable (heck, Unicat sells one the same size for 160,0000 Euros
)--so if you want the truck and not the cabin, we should talk, and if you want the cabin and not the truck, we should talk. By far, though, highest and best use is as an intact long-distance expedition motorhome.Finally, I know where to purchase a good condition rebuildable engine if a prospective buyer does not.
This is a capable, unusual and modestly historic Mog. I'd surely welcome any help I can get to place her back in productive use.
Post questions or send me a PM. If you have a lot of questions, send your phone number and I'll call you.
Thanks,
Mike
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