SOLD
1978 GMC Motorhome
26' Royale
Rear Lounge
$39,000
Click on any thumbnail photo below for a larger view
 
Rear lounge model with all natural leather interior and most everything one can do to modernize and make bullet proof a GMC. We laughingly call the coach "the Ralph Lauren Edition" since everything you see or touch on the inside is either natural leather or real walnut. The ceiling, wall panels and the full room darkening roman shades covering all the windows are beautiful caramel color natural leather as are all the seating surfaces. The custom flat dash features VDO instruments and burgundy color rolled pleather to match the burgundy color leather driver and passenger power seats and the pull around drapes that both cover the front windows and close off the cockpit area if you wish. This is a 1978 only floor plan featuring a large rear "U" shaped lounge that quickly and easily makes into a larger than king size bed for superb sleeping comfort by night and a great hang out or socialization space by day. The coach has always been garage kept and it shows that pampering. A properly remanufactured S & J engine was professionally installed in June of 2013 including replacing everything that touched water or oil and everything that moved associated with the engine along with a new aluminum radiator. At that same time Manny Traveo installed a new transmission with 3:50 power chain and 3:27 planetary gear final drive (3:67 overall gearing), along with six wheel reaction arm disk brakes and a new master cylinder. A sensitized brake booster and automatic auxiliary vacuum pump were also added. A one ton front end was installed in July 2011. New house (two deep cycle 6v) and starting batteries were installed in July of 2016. The coach has seven Alcoa 16" wheels with recent date load range E BFG Commercial TA tires on the rear and spare, plus new Michelin LTX-MS2 load range E front tires installed in March of 2016. The list goes on and on. We took many long and enjoyable trips in this coach so we made sure everything was/is done for trouble free, relaxed travel. This is one of the strongest GMCs I have ever driven. The only time I ever shift it into second gear is crossing the highest and steepest mountain passes. Most of the time it will climb all over the west in third gear without going to WOT. I like to keep above 4" of vacuum so as to never stress the engine or driveline. It is a very relaxed, one hand on the steering wheel ride. All house systems have been also been updated or replaced within the last few years. Whether the new owner wants to head for Alaska, the Maratime Provences in eastern Canada or the beaches in Mexico (all of which and more we have done recently) all you need do is load clothes and food and go. We are the second owners and have owned it for fifteen wonderful years. Now it is time for it to go to a new owner, hopefully one who will use and enjoy,it as much as we have. It was appraised by Jim Bounds at $70,315 in August of 2014. We are offering it to the GMC community at $39,000. We will include in that price our whole stash of GMC related parts, manuals and equipment. Fly into Medford, OR, and drive it home anywhere in NA without angst, or I may be able to help you arrange for a driver familiar with GMCs to deliver the coach to you. If you want a GMC motorhome that you can use to go anywhere, anytime in comfort and without the worries over driving long distances in a 40 year old machine, this could be just the coach for you. We have taken this on many fun adventures all over North America - from the west coast to the far reaches of the Maritime Provences in eastern Canada and from Alaska to the beaches in Mexico. It is about as close to mechanically bullet proof as any GMC can get. It has lived on a steady diet of synthetic lubricants, religious maintenance schedules and immediate replacement of anything that failed to function properly. And, in addition, the all natural leather and real walnut interior never ceases to impress. It is a fun, relaxing place to be whether on the road or parked in your favorite spot. The photos show the coach as it is today and in a few of the great places we have been over the past few years. We purchased the coach from the original owner in 2002 with 44,000 miles on the clock. We replaced all the drive train components starting in 2011 with a one ton front end. A new engine, transmission, final drive and reaction arm six wheel disk brakes were added in 2013. Tires, batteries, combiners, converter/battery chargers, and inverters have been replaced as needed. All the house systems have been replaced over time as well. The single stage paint and all leather interior was done by the previous owner. As a professional furniture designer and builder I have always kept the natural leather and real walnut interior looking just as they did when new. I try to stay on top of fixing the small rock chips and rub marks that are inevitable for 15 to 20 year old paint on a coach that is used frequently. The paint is very nice with good gloss, but is not show room perfect. The leather is regularly treated with quality leather conditioners so it looks as good in person as it does in the photos. Sun fade and the inevitable light cracking common for natural leather has been treated with professional leather repair materials in a few places. All of the lighting has been changed to warm, pleasing LEDs so it is equally a nice place to live whether in the daylight or at night. All of the heating and air conditioning equipment works properly. The 2012 Suburban propane furnace with a White Rogers digital thermostat and additional ducting easily and quietly keeps the interior warm on the coldest of nights. The low profile Carrier Air V roof air conditioner keeps the coach comfortably cool in hot summer weather, as well. The roof AC also features a heat strip for quickly taking the chill off in cooler morning temperatures. The stainless steel propane/electric/engine heat hot water heater was replaced a couple of years ago so you always have hot water. We turn it on when we leave and off when we return and never think about it in between. The kitchen in this floor plan Royale is I believe the largest in any of the GMC floor plans. We left the original Magic Chef four burner stove with its stainless steel cover as it still works and looks like new and we left the large stainless steel double sink. We did add a Samsung ceramic interior microwave that works flawlessly off of the inverter or shore power (not all modern microwaves do). We also replaced the refrigerator with a large, fully automatic propane/electric Dometic RM 2820 unit which we really enjoy since it holds a lot more than many of the GMC refrigerators and will keep frozen foods frozen even in the hottest temperatures throughout the southwest and Mexico where we tend to go every winter. All of the large drawers throughout the coach I converted to full extension with ball bearing drawer slides including adding a new full extension silverware drawer between the stove top and the microwave. All the drawers are solid hard wood construction with properly dovetailed corner joints so they will last many a lifetime. Storage space is in abundance in this floor plan. There is a walnut cabinet just aft of the entry door that we use to store wine, tools, small replacement parts, lubricants, polishes, CDs, DVDs, manuals and some clothing items. Just beyond that is a large two door closet for hanging clothes with a two door storage area below that is perfect for things like the vacuum, outdoor propane fire pit, larger spare parts and the like. There are overhead cabinets all around as well so storage is not an issue. We have been out for as much as three months at a time and never felt pressed for storage space. All the A/V equipment is up to date. We replaced the 1990s Nakamichi stereo system shown in the photo of the rear lounge area with a modern stereo sound bar with a built in iPad interface as well as inputs for the TV when placed in that location. The TV is a current generation 26" Visio flat screen that can be used as a computer monitor as well as TV. It can be placed forward for viewing from the kitchen and dinette or hung from a custom hook in the rear lounge area. Coax and HDMI cable run from front to the rear so you can pipe any source to either location. A VCR/DVD player is mounted in the rear and another DVD player forward. A modern Sony head unit is mounted in the dash powering updated coach speakers front and rear. The front stereo speakers are high quality Sony bookshelf units mounted to the forward side of the overhead cabinets. A modern Jack roof mounted antenna supplies over-the-air tv signals. An outside jack brings RV park cable into the coach and you can easily add your own subscription satellite antenna and receiver if you wish. It is so nice to be able to go to the dedicated garage where this GMC lives and have it start up quickly and easily no matter how long it has been sitting between uses. Flip on the electric booster fuel pump for 10 to 20 seconds, gently depress the accelerator to set the choke, turn the key and it starts right up. Same with the 6kw Onan generator since installing the Gary Bovee Pertronics ignition. It also starts right up, runs smoothly and can power everything in the coach with ease. Upgrades: - One ton front end
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