Quick Oppo - what's the smallest RV you can think of?

"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike) 05/11/2020 at 19:55 • Filed to: Piaggio Ape, RV

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WRONG!

It’s this amazingly well-done Piaggio Ape TM!

Build blog (in German):
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(Google-Translated to English):
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Don’t forget to click continue at the bottom of the blog page to go to the next page as well!

Short Youtube video with details:

The blog is in German, so Google Translate is your friend if you want to get the gist, but there are a lot of really clever and cool details on this on aside from the fact it’s built from a FRICKIN’ PIAGGIO APE.

First off, it’s designed to sleep two people and there is a surprisingly well-designed bed space to be able to fit them.

A really well-engineered ‘foot box’ flips INTO the camper body when the vehicle is driving and flips back out to give comfortable extra space for your feet when sleeping and acts as extra storage space when parked:

https://www.easypellet.net/media/Fusskasten%20Video.mp4

For the ‘kitchen,’ it has a sink with tap and 20L water supply, which is pretty impressive for a ‘camper’ this small. The permanent 30L ‘Kuhlbox’, a.k.a. refrigerator is sortof impressive from a tinkering/making POV to me as it seems to run off a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! rather than actual refrigerant to keep its contents cool (maybe thermoelectric cooling is common in RVs? I’ve never heard of it used commonly in that application). The Peltier element is mounted on what looks to be a computer CPU cooler heatsink with ducting to send the hot air out a vent on the side of of the camper body.

There is a two-burner stove as well with it’s own dedicated space that doubles as a food prep area and the removable half-suspended table can also apparently be mounted outside as well, so it’s neat they designed it for dual use!

Otherwise, there is a portable toilet with it’s own dedicated space (also impressive for an camper space this small), plus a nicely placed little mirror embedded in the cabinet door above the sink. The cabinet below the sink features a bin mounted on the door designed to make the best use of space near the water tank.

There is a huge solar panel on the roof providing 160 watts of power. LED lights abound (including non-TUV-approved headlight bulbs to make up for the Ape’s weak forward lighting...) for a nice amount of light but with little electrical load, and controllers and monitor panels for the electrical system are all handily mounted for access. The LED strip around the roof is RGB, so can be changed to different colors for fun or to be easier on the eyes at night - two LED spotlights allow for reading or the like from the bed area at night, and a few other spotlights give ample visibility to key areas (like the sink). A few scattered outlets and 12v sockets give power for devices like laptops or small appliances. Two small opening windows with screens and two skylights help keep the interior feeling surprisingly open and airy, and the small bump over the top of the Ape’s cab provides yet more storage space.

Some details are really well done - the way the one storage bin was designed around the ‘pop-up’ clothes organizers that can be lifted and hung above for access is also really cool and well-thought-out. The camper body is made of what looks to be weatherproof marine grade plywood and aluminum, so super light, but durable- the whole thing only weighs in at around 500kg (1100lbs) and the rear camper body is apparently designed to be completely separate and removable from the Ape body so that the vehicle doesn’t qualify as an ‘RV’ to save on costs, but instead the camper body just qualifies as a ‘load’ being carried on the back of the Ape....pretty smart use of working around the rules there!

A neat little exterior storage box was mounted in the unused space outside on the right side just in front of the rear wheel and the owners use it for things like the mains cable for plugging it in to outlets at campsites, bottles of 2-stroke oil and measuring cups for mixing fuel, tools, and the like. No empty space was wasted!

The Ape TM703, as their model is, either came with a single-cylinder 218cc petrol 2-stroke engine or single-cylinder 422cc diesel engine. Their camper’s engine is the former...and, to cope with the camper rebuild, was upgraded with an aftermarket Polini cylinder/jug to a MASSIVE 225cc, giving a tiny power bump and bit of a torque bump. An aftermarket exhaust is on there as well! It can now rock out, apparently, to a truly mindblowing 65kph on relatively flat roads...a performance machine, it is not. BUT, I imagine it is good for a lot of smiles per gallon...both from the people driving and using it, and anybody who sees it! :D

I’m not a huge camping or RV person, but builds like this are really cool to look at and make me want to get out there and do something similar! They spent a grand total of 7232 Euros on their build, including the purchase of the Ape (likely not including their own labour costs), but that’s not bad! I’ve spent a good hour pouring over the details of this one! :)

Hope some of you get as much of a kick out of it as I have....probably not, but I really like quirky vehicles and a lot of rational and smart thinking went into designing and building this very irrational and fun vehicle...that’s the kind of thing I can get behind as a petrolhead! :P

ranwhenparked > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 05/11/2020 at 20:07

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What’s smaller? The Ap e, or the Reliant Fox Tandy Campervan?

Nom De Plume > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 05/11/2020 at 20:07

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I was going to say a Barbie RV. Then I thought much smaller yet.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 05/11/2020 at 20:29

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This is an incredible build. Someone get this person on HGTV for a tiny homes show.

I just love the little details there. Is that foot extension actually called a Fox Box or is that just what it is called in translated German?

I can’t believe they crammed a whole kitchen and toilet in there. Incredible space utilization.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > ranwhenparked 05/11/2020 at 20:31

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That is a good question! I remember seeing the Fox camper around the internetz...cool little things! Hubnut has a Reliant Fox van on his channel:

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RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Nom De Plume 05/11/2020 at 20:32

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Well....not quite sure your mentioned RV is as...functional...as the Ape :P

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 05/11/2020 at 20:38

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Google translate called it a ‘foot box’ so I guess it’s just what the builders called it!

Yup, all sorts of cool details! The footbox is even insulated as well to keep it warm.

I actually remember seeing an article or something somewhere where some people turned Piaggio Ape 50s (the Ape model that is even smaller than this TM) into RVs, but I think that they were more ‘show vehicles’, so not sure how much they were actually designed to be truly used:

https://www.motor1.com/news/297763/bufalino-solo-camper-concept/

Some quick searching shows a few people who actually tried to make more functioning ones though:

ranwhenparked > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 05/11/2020 at 20:53

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The van is my 2nd favorite body after the camper. They seem like very useful little things, albeit exceedingly rare. 

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > ranwhenparked 05/11/2020 at 21:00

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Yup, though I imagine they are easy to find in Italy, though probably most often in rougher shape as they are used as workhorses there....wouldn’t mind importing one in working order with a little patina tho ugh! :)

ranwhenparked > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 05/11/2020 at 21:08

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I almost forgot -  Reliant were the authorized UK importers/distributors of the Ape in the UK for a period of time in the late ‘90s/early ‘00s, and manufactured custom commercial bodies for them, so they do all tie together with the Fox, sorta. 

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 05/11/2020 at 21:12

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This crown Vic.

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/ive-got-your-ideal-crown-vic-right-here-1843342442

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 05/11/2020 at 21:12

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I can’t believe multiple people have attempted that, especially using the even smaller variant. I’m also impressed.

The show Ape looks more like an ice cream v an than an RV. Definitely not usable.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > ranwhenparked 05/11/2020 at 21:23

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Oh, that’s very cool! Neat bit of trivia, that! I had no idea! :D

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 05/11/2020 at 21:23

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I had seen that! It’s a bit more questionable than the Ape camper though! :P

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 05/11/2020 at 23:58

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LOLNOPE

HammerheadFistpunch > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 05/12/2020 at 11:52

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TE coolers are common but it’ s a strange choice because they are crazy inefficient. Most RV’s use absorption cycle which uses heat to expand the coolant and run the cycle. They are slightly more efficient but more expensive and requires ventilation. Ideal is compressor technology but it’ s much much more expensive.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > HammerheadFistpunch 05/12/2020 at 12:31

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Ah cool! Had no idea! I imagine they went for it because it was the smallest in terms of packaging....they have a pic or video clip (I forget which it was) showing a thermometer in the cooler at 0C, so it seems to work pretty well!

HammerheadFistpunch > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 05/12/2020 at 12:34

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TE will typically cool to 50 -60 f below ambient so as long as it’ s not hot out. That being said that looks like a custom jobber.  They are stupid power hungry though.  I keep thinking about buying one to use as a food warmer but I can’t bring myself to do it.  

ranwhenparked > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 05/12/2020 at 15:23

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The Reliant Motor Club has the full brochure on their site, but the cover gives you an idea of where their business was going toward the end. The were the UK importer for Ligier at the time, as well. They also sold Vulcan, Bultaco, and Derbi motorbikes, but that didn't last long. 

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > ranwhenparked 05/13/2020 at 13:29

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Wow, quite the portfolio, haha! Are those little ‘VSP’ slow-speed cars common at all in the UK like in France?

ranwhenparked > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 05/13/2020 at 13:40

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I don’t think they’re exactly common, but the versions exported to the UK have more powerful engines/no speed governor, and require either a regular car drivers license or a motorcycle license to operate. The Ligiers Reliant imported were supposedly good for 65-70mph flat out, slow, but blisteringly fast in comparison to their French domestic market versions.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > ranwhenparked 05/13/2020 at 14:23

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That makes me want to import a UK-spec one for funsies :P

I do like me some random crappy small cars! Guessing UK-market ones were RHD?

ranwhenparked > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 05/13/2020 at 14:30

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They would be RHD. I’m pretty sure Aixam and Microcar are still available new , and they might be capable of touching 75!

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > ranwhenparked 05/13/2020 at 14:33

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Damn...it’s a shame...RHD is a lot harder to find insurance for here, which sucks as cars can be had for peanuts over there! I’ve thought of buying a FIAT Panda 4x4 in the UK for cheap and importing it as a DD, but not sure how easy it would be to get insurance...