All-Terrain Luxury: House on Wheels
June 1, 2005
EarthRoamer Xpedition
You want to commune with nature atop a mountain or
in the desert, but you do not want to hike to your camping destination, or sleep
in a tent on the hard ground. No crowded campsite available? No electricity? No
water? No problem! The EarthRoamer Xpedition camper will save the day—and the
night.
Designed as a stand-alone, four-season, high-end unit by founders
Michele Connolly, president and CEO, and Bill Swails, chief designer and COO,
the EarthRoamer uses rooftop solar panels intead of electric connections or
generators. Plus it can tote up to 100 gallons, using an optional 50-gallon
tank.
The venture came about in 1998, when Connolly and Swails tried to
satisfy their extreme adventure vehicle needs with a pickup and a pop-up camper.
Today they transform Ford F-450 and F-550 turbo-diesel-powered pickups into the
best expedition campers money can buy. And they test their energy-efficient
solar-powered homes on wheels in extreme conditions.
The luxuriously
appointed Ford pickups seat four and sport four-wheel drive. Their quiet and
efficient 6.0-liter turbocharged diesel V-8—which runs well on diesel or
nontoxic, renewable, biodegradable biodiesel fuel—pushes 325 hp and a pumped-up
570 ft lbs of torque through a 5-speed TorqShift automatic. You even can haul a
trailer full of toys with the vehicle’s 10,000-pound towing capacity.
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