The Twenty-Second UltraVan

In late 1965, UltraVan #211 was the last Corvair UltraVan to drive away from the wooden warehouse at 366 8th Avenue in Oakland. It was also the last UltraVan with the Ford Econoline headlights, the small (corner) dashboard, and the leading-arm rear suspension. It had wedding cake taillights in the upper location, a small window in the entry door, stove on the right, ethafoam bumpers, double-stripe paint scheme, and a 140 hp Corvair engine. It was the first coach equipped with ULTRAVAN - HUTCHINSON, KANS emblems and 14" wheels, though these were probably added in 1966.

August 1967 - Mr & Mrs Arthur Ludtke

#211 was built up to a drivable stage (no interior installed), then it was loaded with jigs, patterns, and molds, and driven to Kansas by Roger C. Fletcher (Ultra, Inc. Production Manager and employee #002) to support the setup of the new Ultra, Inc. factory in Hutchinson. The Hutchinson News reported in January 1966 that "Peterson and Fletcher practically are living at the plant, cooking meals and sleeping in their Ultra Vans until they can get permanently established." The paper also reported that this coach was almost complete by March 3 1966, and a later article reported a completion/delivery on May 26 1966 that was likely this coach.

July 1966 FMCA convention (left), unknown 1966 (right)

Retired publishing magnate John E. Tillotson senior (known around the Ultra, Inc. factory as Mr. T) was reported to be the original owner of #211, but it seems that the coach was actually operated as a factory demonstrator until the end of 1966. Mr. T displayed the new coach at the third annual Family Motor Coaching Association (FMCA) convention in Glenwood MN, (July 8-10 1966) and the sixth annual National Campers and Hikers Association (NCHA, now known as FCRV) campvention at Lake Kanopolis KS (July 11-15 1966). Mr. T passed away in 1999, his wife Clara in 1991.

The first private owners of #211 were Mr & Mrs H.O. Dickert of Wausau WI, who took delivery around January 10 1967 - but by August of 1967 they had sold the coach to Mr & Mrs Arthur A. Ludtke of Rhinelander WI. The next recorded owners are Chance & Margaret Fitzgerald of Mendota IL and Talladega AL, who acquired the coach after it sat in a Wisconsin cornfield for 11 years.

Chance & Margaret joined the UVMCC in 1972 and remained members until they passed away - Margaret in 1993 and Chance in 2005. They never registered #211 with the Club however - they were registered with #456 from 1972-1979 (when it was destroyed in a fire), #368 from 1981-1984 (although that coach was reported as destroyed in a fire in 1968), and #286 from 1985-1997. Chance was an extraordinarily adept sheet metal fabricator, though he doesn't seem to have made any of his signature modifications to #211.

Walt and Marilyn Davison of Coral Gables FL and Sylacauga AL (better known as owners of #371, #452, & #366) bought #211 from Chance and resold it to William J. "Bill" & Patty Welle of Nokomis FL. Bill & Patty were the first owners to register the coach with the Club (1991-1995), and Bill wrote several articles for the newsletter on his experiences with the coach (notably "How I painted my Ultra Van for $100" and "Love and Hate"). Bill (partially) converted the 140 hp Corvair engine to 110 hp by the simple expedient of replacing the heads and discarding the secondary carburetors.

The next owners were Kay Armstrong and Tony Foresta of Orlando FL, who joined the Club for only 1998. Russ Rinta and Roberta Elftman of Hernando FL had the coach from 2002-2009 (joining the Club for 2003-2004). They successfully drove the coach to their new home in Fayetteville TN, but weren't able to keep it running beyond that, and eventually listed it on eBay. Fred & Sue Marsh of Painted Post NY registered with the Club for 2010-2011, and the coach spent most of 2009-2020 parked beside "Friendly Fred's" auto repair shop on Addison road.

Current owners Tom & Erin Koprevich of Grand Island NY bought the coach from Fred on August 12 2020, and immediately dove into the process of a long overdue complete mechanical restoration. Starting with pulling the engine and gutting the interior, they have already completely refurbished the engine, suspension, brakes, carburetors, and LPG tank; reinforced the front end and added towbar brackets; upgraded the brake master cylinder, alternator, and front engine mount; and converted the 140 distributor to 110 specs. The new engine features a replacement block, an FC cam, and 110 heads which Tom himself heavily upgraded.

Tom & Erin are planning to install a high end interior with all-new wiring, and replace the rear window with an Airstream unit.