My Champion RV … uh … Motorhome
When I first started looking for a place to live in this part of Western Kentucky, I was looking around other communities besides Cave City. One of those communities was Smiths Grove (there is actually no apostrophe in the name).
Smiths Grove, Kentucky is, like many smaller communities in this area (and really, that’s what most of the towns are; small) a quaint little town laid out pretty much in a concentric square with a main street consisting of older buildings that you would expect to see on a TV show from the 60s, like The Andy Griffith Show (Mayberry RFD), except that Smiths Grove is in color.
Love at first site…after the initial shock.
The actual town of Smiths Grove sits less than a mile from the interstate exit for Smiths Grove. Being that the town is located midway between Bowling Green and Cave City, I though its geographic location would be ideal.
When I first pulled into the town proper, I came to a railroad track, and just over that track, on the left, is a Texaco station; that is where it was sitting, with a for sale sign on it.
I spotted this Champion motorhome immediately as it came into view. It was obviously an old model, which turned out to be a 1970 model, the first year in which this model was built.
My first thought was, ” God, that’s ugly!”
Ugly is only skin deep; or is that beauty?
Somehow, despite the initial appearance, and reaction, I just could not get this beast out of my head. After having driven through the town, and having driven back through again, not blinking this time so I would not miss the town, I had to look at the RV again.
Some things…you just can’t get out of your mind.
I had obviously made a mental note about this RV; this old box on wheels, as that is what these older style motorhomes essentially are. The site of that Champion RV stayed with me, and I wanted to go back and get a look at it; just imagining what the interior must look like by the exterior’s appearance.
In my next trip to Western Kentucky, I had decided to stop in and look at the RV. I met the owner of the Texaco station, actually a car repair shop at there are no pumps, and he let me see the inside of the motorhome.
Stepping inside this motorhome was like passing between two worlds. Despite the exterior appearance, the interior was in beautiful condition. As a big bonus, being that I am so stuck in the 70s, the driver’s compartment had shag carpet; yeah…baybay.
I tried to talk myself out of getting the motorhome. A sensible decision, it was not; it was entirely a desire to have it. It did have a big bonus in the price being low and having had mechanical work done to several things as it was in the possession of an experienced mechanic; try finding that on a used car lot. As much as I tried to convince myself that it was not a good decision, I just simply had to have it.
Now I remember what a carburetor is like.
Driving the motorhome to Cave City from Smiths Grove was an experience. It has been years since I have driven a a vehicle with a carbureted engine; fuel injectors just lose a degree of fun with their reliability and stuff like that.
I remember an old cartoon, perhaps several old cartoons as I don’t remember which one it specifically was, in which an old joke was animated of a character being told they need to choke the engine to get the car started, much to the surprise of whomever told them such as they found them literally choking an engine with their hands while the car was gasping for breath with its tongue sticking out the grill.
With such an old vehicle, in order to start it one has to set the choke, pump the gas a few times, then turn the key. Now with this carburetor, you don’t want to hold down on the gas while turning the key or you might flood the engine.
It does require for the engine to warm up a bit, even on a warm day. Larger 8 cylinder engines take longer to warm up than smaller 4 and 6 cylinder engines. The idea is to get the engined warmed up enough to get it going, them to drive the vehicle up to enough speed, and distance, to where you can release the choke.
Perhaps needless to say, the engine died several times on the way to Cave City. It is an art driving a carbureted engine on a vehicle of this size, and I am simply not an artist. It was no problem to get it started again; just set the choke and turn the key.
It runs like a dream…or maybe that was a dream.
For its age, the RV was simply a champion (get it…get it…bwhahahaha).
Quite literally, though, for an almost 40 year old motorhome, it runs very well. Aside from having to start it after coming to a stop and having the engine die, it had no problems.
Now, this is an older model RV. It does lack a few modern amenities…oh…like seatbelts. Getting used to wearing a seatbelt makes one feel uncomfortable not wearing one, especially when the driver’s seat wobbles like this one does.
Air conditioning?
Of course it has air conditioning. It even works…when you have it plugged up to a household outlet. While driving…that’s a different story. Having the engine compartment right next to you does not help on a day that is in the upper 70s; but I must say that it would probably be wonderful in the Winter.
It’s home now.
Yes, the exterior of the motorhome is screaming for a new paint job. The one that is on it looks like house paint, and bad house paint at that. The body is pretty solid; just needs some minor patching.
Probably around Spring I will try to remove the old paint, do some patching, and put on a new paint job. I’m thinking of an aqua blue and cream two-tone, or a multi-color, ala The Partridge Family; might even install a horn which plays the tune to Come On, Get Happy.
Whatever I do to restore it, I have it now and love it. We’ll see where it goes from here. So far…the neighbors have not complained about it.
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Tags: cave city, champion, champion motorhome, champion rv, motorhome, RV, smiths grove, used rv