Sportsmobile Cut-a-Way Body @ Overland Expo

[mk216v]

Examining Sportsmobiles and showing my Tiger to Sportsmobile owners, I was struck by how much smaller the Sportsmobile is on the inside, the penalty of keeping the van's curved sides.

Going to their own body would give them the opportunity to fix this and make a much larger living space, while retaining the advantages of the short van snout, a swiveling passenger seat, and the MUCH easier walk back as opposed to the "crawl back" of the Tiger and the Earthroamer. I would love to see what they could do this this direction, especially as a bit of good design would allow them to get rid of all the exterior boxes that tend to garbage up Sportsmobiles.

Assuming that their 4x4 conversion is as reliable as a factory 4x4, this would allow them to create a fixed and/pop top camper with as much room as a Tiger/Earthroamer in a vehicle which was about a meter shorter.

Factory 4x4 meaning Quigley???

 

[DiploStrat]

Factory 4x4 meaning Quigley???

No, only that they (Sportsmobile) have been doing 4x4 conversions long enough that I would not be worried that the 4x4 conversion was going to fail any more than readily than the 4x4 system on my pickup truck.

 

[derjack]

There's no frame to attach anything to and these unibody rigs weren't engineered to be 4x4 by the factory so there will be some compromise. There are unibody 4x4's available that work great and hold up but they were designed that way.



Exactly. They already have a 4x4 system, the frames are basically the same, its a no brainer.

If anyone has ever looked into, or under ;-), a 4x4 sprinter this becomes so true: http://www.derjackistweg.de/#PhotoSwipe1404244775196
This is the lower end of an Mercedes 310D "Igelhaut". Igelhaut is the manufacturer and of course this a very old device. However the new sprinter, also from "Achtleitner" are not much different regarding 4x4/offroad strength. Achtleitner, if I remember correctly, has am additional custom frame mounted to the front with an ifs.

This solution gives more traction for sure and they fit the need for an allweather caravan, but not really offroad!

But from an automotive POV: You have less than 1 percent who will need a rig like a ujoint, smb etc. So Ford concentrades on these 90%+ to make a better van: lighter/faster/less fuel consumption/lower gravity center! Cheaper (at least Ford).

PS: that 1% of customers is probably all here to find 😀

 

[mk216v]

If anyone has ever looked into, or under ;-), a 4x4 sprinter this becomes so true: http://www.derjackistweg.de/#PhotoSwipe1404244775196
This is the lower end of an Mercedes 310D "Igelhaut". Igelhaut is the manufacturer and of course this a very old device. However the new sprinter, also from "Achtleitner" are not much different regarding 4x4/offroad strength. Achtleitner, if I remember correctly, has am additional custom frame mounted to the front with an ifs.

This solution gives more traction for sure and they fit the need for an allweather caravan, but not really offroad!

But from an automotive POV: You have less than 1 percent who will need a rig like a ujoint, smb etc. So Ford concentrades on these 90%+ to make a better van: lighter/faster/less fuel consumption/lower gravity center! Cheaper (at least Ford).

PS: that 1% of customers is probably all here to find ��

Bit OT(off topic), but it seems the Iglhaut and Oberainger Sprinter 4WD's are pretty serious, good clearance, low range, 3 diff lockers....no???

 

[chungcuviet]

Sort of nice that it looks like a van for the stealth campers and those that need their campers to be pretty. However, if you've got to build a complete body, straight side walls like an ambulance or box truck give a lot more inside space and open up the option of a bed sideways that can fit a 6' tall person.

Yes. It's true. I think too.

 

[poptopper]

Funny to see this old thread bumped up. I was just at the Fresno SMB factory, and they still have the finished prototype on the showroom floor and one more shell on a cutaway chassis in the back that looked dusty. The interior was just an EB50 design with a tad more width...nothing new like a sideways bed. I asked the employee if they still planned to put it into production. He said "if the demand is there we will". Right now they have more Sprinter orders than they can handle...there must have been 20 new Sprinters parked outside awaiting conversion. I only saw a handful of used Ford vans awaiting repair or upgrade, and none on the new assembly line...all Sprinters.

I'd be very surprised if they did anything else with the cutaway body.

 

[Herbie]

Besides the technical merits of the Mercedes/Sprinter 4x4 vs. a SMB conversion, there's just economics. The price to convert a Ford has never been cheap, even before UJoint came on the scene and democratized the process somewhat. As long as the Mercedes 4x4 "upcharge" for 4x4 is like $7500 and it costs $10k+ to convert the Ford, it's a simple choice for a lot of people.

 

[ujoint]

Yea I see the ~150k price for that cutaway E series to be a huge negative, especially since they can't keep up with Sprinters. Its cheaper and I assume much easier for them to build. As great of an idea it is I just don't see it making sense for them.