Thor Forums

[Chance]

Originally Posted by blw2

I've seen some euro designs online I really like. Love the look of the german made ones that have a garage under the rear master bed large enough for one of these little spec cars like a SMART. Seems like such a great idea, but based on the photos it looks like it might be a compromise with other areas of the interior not being to my sense of taste or liking.

Still, I wonder if any US citizen has ever bought a euro model and shipped it over.

Re the slide, I agree with you about a full wall slide, but I don't agree for smaller partial length slides. I may sing a different tune if mine ever gets stuck or causes a problem, but they seem like a decent trade off to me.

I read a news report that earlier this year a large delegation of industry insiders were traveling to Germany for their large annual trade show to see what, if anything, they could learn to make smaller motorhomes more efficient. This Thor bike/kayak garage "may" have been inspired by Euro preferences, who knows?

When I was in Europe two years ago, I did not see any motorhome pulling a car, but practically all had large bike-size garages behind rear wheels. I'd guess most carry bikes, but some may use garage for scooters or motorcycles. I'm not suggesting in US that bikes can replace cars/toads. For starters our roads are not as bike friendly.

I believe that in the US the main appeal will be for those who bike like we do as a sport, not as transportation. If garage is large enough for scooter or motorcycle, that may change things more. In Moab, for instance, on last trip we could have ridden our bikes from campground to town for dinner, but had to unhook instead because we had no bikes or car.

When looking for motorhomes with bike-size garages, I found a picture of an old Bigfoot Class C -- probably built in Canada on Ford E-Series. Apparently there must not be much demand for this size garage because others didn't copy it.

What I really like about the Bigfoot garage is that they appear to drop the floor to increase garage headroom. That's a German feature for sure.

By the way, I doubt the Thor garage will be anywhere as large as this.