2012 Born Free 33' RQ on Ford F550 Chassis

[Roger H]

I didn't know that Born Free built any medium-duty truck chassis 33' motorhomes after the end of production of the Kodiak-based motorhomes in '09. As a fan of the medium-duty truck motorhomes (and a fan of the rear-island queen bed) I've sort of kept an eye out for them as the production numbers were low, and they're a pretty interesting niche.

They don't come up for sale often, but I just found a 2012 33' rear queen on the F550 chassis for sale in VA. It's a variation on the '06-'09 32RQ President floorplan that added a couple of feet of closet space to the bedroom at the expense of splitting the kitchen and losing the couch. I didn't know that Born Free built any other motorhomes on a medium-duty chassis after '09 until the introduction of the Imperial last year on the F550. I don't know if this one was a one-off custom order, or the factory was experimenting with the F550 as a motorhome platform and this was a prototype or just what the story is on it, but it's a pretty interesting coach.

Here's the coach:

http://www.rvtrader.com/listing/2012-Bo ... -117843129

[stevek]

Good find. Would be a good buy for someone.
Seems to be fairly priced. Would you say about 1/2 original price new?
What kind of gas mileage would you think it would get?
According to the "tag", was manufactured 6/2011.

[Roger H]

Yes, Steve, I'd guess it to be maybe even closer to 1/3 of the original sticker price. I know that the new Imperials retail for $234k, and George Sutton had one discounted to $199k. Ancira in Texas has one advertised right now at $236k. I'd guess this one's MSRP was probably around $175k +/- in 2012. My Kodiak 32RQ had an MSRP in the neighborhood of $150k in 2006.

Just for fun, I emailed the owner to see if I can get the straight scoop on the coach.

I'd expect it to get around 9-10 mpg average. I get about 9.5 out of the 8.1L in my Kodiak unladen and about 8.5 with a towed on my last big trip. I'd expect the F550 to be not too far off that.

[Roger H]

I heard back from the fellow who posted this one for sale...

"This Born Free is (posted for) a friend of mine. I think it is a prototype. Her and her husband bought it from a dealer in Florida in 2013. They used it one summer 2014 travel across country. Like they did every year with their old camper. Then he was diagnosed with cancer and past away last year. The rv sat all of last year now she looking to get rid of it. That the history of it that I know."

So there's as much of a story on this coach as we're likely to get.

[stevek]

Sad story.
Good you posted here.
Maybe someone here will buy it from her.

[Roger H]

For what it's worth, I chatted with the factory yesterday and found that it was one of the first F550 medium-duty truck chassis builds. The coach has had two owners, was sold by Lazy Days in Florida, and that it likely had an MSRP in the neighborhood of $180k when it was sold new in 2012. The original owners traded it back in on a 31' Majestic with slides in 2013.

HWH can most likely do a leveling jack install on the coach as a nearly identical coach with a diesel had jacks installed just a couple of months later.

This one will be a great buy for someone. If I didn't have my dream coach already, I'd be scheming a way to grab this one.

Roger

[grross]

Contacted seller about availability and I received an email stating the coach had a buyer who was addressing financing.

[Roger H]

Contacted seller about availability and I received an email stating the coach had a buyer who was addressing financing.

I'm not surprised. This has got to be one of the bust buys out there right now on a Super-C. Thanks for sharing that. I hope it goes to someone who'll become a regular here.