The Nineteenth UltraVan

The nineteenth UltraVan was the longest UltraVan ever, at 27 feet. It was specially built in 1965, purportedly for a man that had a wife and a girlfriend that all wanted to travel together. Their plan doesn't seem to have worked out very well though, because the coach was offered for resale the following summer, with an asking price of $9,950.

Other than the stretch, #208 appears to have all the hallmarks of a typical 2nd generation coach - vertical front corner panels, narrow front windows, squared off rear windows, ethafoam bumpers, wedding cake taillights (in the raised position), and double stripe paint scheme. The entry door is equipped with a small square window, which became standard equipment from here until sometime in 1967. It also had 13 inch wheels and turbine wheelcovers - just like all other 1961-65 coaches (although swing-arm suspensions used 4 bolt wheels and leading arm suspensions used 5 bolt wheels).

The extra five feet of length appears to be added entirely between the wheels, with the entry door, galley window, and picture window moved about a foot to the rear of the usual location. The exterior venting and access panels show that the stove is on the right, the on-demand water heater is in the usual location immediately ahead of the bedroom window, and the furnace is in an intermediate position. No photos survive to help us visualize the undoubtedly unique interior layout.

The original owner was Eleanor Younger of Oakland CA, followed by Vernon & Ilabelle Sandel of Glendale CA. The Sandels were a family of five that wanted a coach to use for traveling in Mexico. They were founding members of the UVMCC in 1967, identifying their coach as #108 until 1970, and as #208 thereafter. They dropped out of the Club in 1973 when Vernon passed away. No later owners are known to the Club.

In 1967-68, Sandel's van had a motorscooter on a rack below the windshield, a TV antenna dome on the roof, and a spare tire mounted on the roof above the rear window. By 1971 an extra pair of turn signals had been added to the front, and the motor scooter rack removed, but the spare tire was still on the rear roof. Later the spare was moved to the front of the coach.

Surviving photos show the stretch coach outside the factory in Oakland CA (1965), at the Knotts Berry Farm rally in Buena Park CA (1967), at the Santa Cruz county fairgrounds rally in Watsonville CA (1968), at a service visit to the factory in Hutchinson KS (1968), at the Lion Country Safari rally in Irvine CA (1971), and at an RV park near the Salton Sea in CA (2007).