Photos courtesy of Auto Evolution.The following is a report from Auto Evolution.
RV renovators who are not afraid to think outside of the box are like innovative artists. With some skill and a bit of creativity, the interior of a vintage motorhome can be turned into a space that meets the unique requirements of your business or non-profit.
“Woof Way,” a fittingly-named C-Class rebuild that North Carolina-based Rain2shine Ventures did for a couple that started a nonprofit mobile dog rescue, shows that you can do just about anything you want in an RV renovation. Now, we’ve seen plenty of pet-friendly motorhomes that give dogs and other animals a dedicated space of their own, but Woof Way is an authentic dog transporter that has been custom-designed to make travel time for canines large and small more comfortable, safe, and enjoyable.
Alice Zealy, the founder and owner of Rain2shine Ventures, is not only a full-time RVer with plenty of interior design experience but also a dog lover who worked with various dog rescue groups in the past, so she knew firsthand what the interior of an animal transport vehicle looked like. She also had the opportunity to see how it could have been improved, so she put all that knowledge to good use in this rebuild.
The project is based on a Thor Chateau Class C motorhome with a Ford chassis, but the interior of the RV looks nothing like it did back in its camping days. There is no living room, kitchen, bathroom or bedroom inside Woof Way. Instead, when you step inside, you’ll discover a comfortable transporter for four-pawed passengers. The sofa, dinette, kitchen cabinetry, shower, bed and other human-dedicated creature comforts have been replaced by a dog bath station, a pantry for dog food, plenty of dog beds, a small desk for working on the road, and more.
The only thing you won’t see in the pictures are the dog kennels, as the owners decided to install them themselves. That’s because the motorhome was in very poor condition when it arrived at the shop due to extensive water damage. Large portions of the side walls were rotten and delaminated, the loft was completely saturated and rotten, and many other components were damaged, so the vehicle needed a complete rebuild to bring it up to code, which has eaten away at the couple’s budget.
Apart from repairing or completely rebuilding the walls, the renovators also replaced the ceiling, rebuilt the window frames, enclosed the front window in the loft to prevent leakage in the future, and installed a new electric doorstep and a new electric awning. According to the team at Rain2shine Ventures, the only things that remain original in the Thor Chateau camper are the cab, engine, suspension, brakes, and most of the siding and windows.
Read the full story from Ancuta Iosub at Auto Evolution here.
