[CarlisleBill]

I have never even slept in an RV much less owned one. I have been racing cars for over 20 years and I have been known to sleep in the back of a truck once or twice, but I have usually been the hotel type of guy. A good friend of mine (and race partner) has been talking about a motor home for the last few years. He even borrowed one last year when we went to the Vintage race at Watkins Glen. I however had really never given it much thought. With the type of quality I appreciate, I just figured I would not find an RV suitable for the funds I would invest. So I never really considered ownership.

So about a month ago, I am walking around one of my favorite automotive swap meet/auctions in FL and I come face to face with an 87' Newell. At first, I had no idea what I was looking at, except for a pretty good looking old bus that needed a little TLC. Even though I knew less than nothing about RV's, I have been around all types of cars from "over restored" classics, to race cars all of my life. I could tell from the beginning that this was not the average RV. I found out that the Newell would be up for auction around 12 noon the following day. I spent the rest of the afternoon at the event, going back to visit my new obsession several times. When I got back to my parents, I spent the rest of the night on the laptop doing as much research as I could. I really want to thank the people responsible for this site. I spent hours looking through the forums.

The next morning came and even though I was a little tired from not much sleep, the adrenaline of not knowing the actual price of the Coach (see I learned that it is called a coach from my late night studies lol) kept me going. Even though I had some business to accomplish at the event, I was pretty much worthless until it was time for the Newell to run. I had kind of set a limit as to what I wanted to pay, but I have been in the situation before and I will be the first one to admit that limits are sometimes a very arbitrary thing in the heat of battle. I jumped in as the bidding slowed, it continued to rise a little from that point and when it was over I was the owner of #136.

As the excitement of the sale subsided, I realized I didn't even know how to start this thing, let alone use it. I found the seller, who I spoken to briefly the day before and he was very happy to give me the walk around both inside and out. I think I understood maybe half (being optimistic) of what he said, but I did feel that I at least understood how to start it. This would play an important part, since I would be driving 1100 miles, in a few days.

My father and I noticed that a few of the tires had pretty good cracks in them, so I made some calls to locate replacements. Once we arrived at the shop we were told that the newest tire on the coach was 12 years old. $3100 wasn't really in the plan (thanks Dad), but with the madden voyage ahead, it seemed better than risking a failure.

I hit I70 N and headed toward Carlisle, PA. What a pleasure to drive. After getting use to the size, I was very impressed with the build quality and ride quality. I drive primarily European (Audi) cars and I am very particular about rattles, wind noise, etc. As I stated, I have absolutely no RV experience, but I find it hard to believe that many would have the quality of a Newell at 22 years (180,000 miles) of age. Everything works including the old Escort radar detector, cruise control, every dash light and so on, truly amazing. I made it home without incident and even feeling pretty relaxed after a 16 hour drive.

I have been working on cosmetics and just very simple little repairs, nothing mechanical at all. I have been replacing all of the lenses (very sun damaged), headlights, repaired a leak in the shower, fixed an arm rest, updating some of the electronics, etc. It has been a pleasure and everyone that I have met from a few Newell owners, to the people at the factory, everyone seems incredibly friendly and helpful.

I consider myself very fortunate to have blindly stumbled into the Newell family. I hope to meet many of you in the future. If any of you are road race fans please introduce yourselves and maybe we can meet at the track sometime. I am planning on taking the Newell back to FL, for the Amelia Island Concours and then over to Sebring, FL for the 12 hour at Sebring this March. I will be running in the Vintage support race.

Have fun,

Bill III