Old fivers
Heading north on California's I-5 the other day, I spotted this early model Prowler at a rest stop. You can identify it as probably 70's vintage by the "crawl in" style bedroom in the front and by the externally mounted landing gear. They don't build 'em like that anymore.Have you noticed how many older fivers still roam the highways? To paraphrase... "Old fivers never die, they just keep on rolling." Actually they don't all keep rolling. Visit any mobile home park and many RV parks and you are likely to see fivers that have grown roots: enclosed perimeters, porches, decks, and walled in patios. Once they get placed on blocks, their rolling days are probably over. Fiver graveyards seem to be farms and ranches where they end up as extra bunk houses or other temporary living quarters. Or maybe we should just say that they have been put out to pasture.
That Prowler seemed to be in good shape and was obviously well maintained. I hope it keeps on rollin' for many miles to come.
posted by jerryriverguy at
9:53 AM
5 Comments:
As one who can't understand why all the current fivers are all so big I must say I would like 24 or 26' with a crawl in bed. Seems that with todays gas prices etc. manufactures would begin to take advantage of that market.
By
Rob Beery, at 1:54 PM
Your "old fiver" looks a lot like two I had. One was a '94 Wilderness and the other a '98 Prowler. Not close to the claimed estimate of it being in the 70's. The bed area had a headroom of over 50 inches. The only thing true about the statement under the pic was the external front jack system.
jstahl
By
Anonymous, at 8:01 AM
There's no where near 50 inches of headroom over the Prowler bed in the photo. But then the 70s estimate was just a guess based on some other 5ers I've seen that I knew for a fact were of that vintage.
By
jerryriverguy, at 5:11 PM
That's an early 2000 model prowler. Note the slide out in the living area. Looks exactly like the Prowler Lite we had. Made to tow with a 1/2 ton truck. Definately not enough room in the bunk area.
By
Anonymous, at 10:49 AM
OK, I stand corrected. I admit to not really knowing the Prowler line. But I will say that even if it's not a 70's vintage, its design is a holdover from those days. It really surprises me that they are apparently still building 5ers with external jacks in place of landing gear.
By
jerryriverguy, at 2:24 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home