Just last month on YesAuto.com we detailed the near million-pound motorhome that couldn't decide if it was best-suited to land or water, but this month we've gone one better and found this, the Boaterhome that seems happy almost everywhere.

 

Created back in the US back in the early 1980s, the Boaterhome blends a humble van and boat and wraps them all up in one vehicle, but the best bit? If you're lucky to find one of the 21 that were built, you can snap one up that needs a little work (read a lot!) from as little as $11,000 (£8k).

 

Looking like it's straight out of an episode of Thunderbirds, the new Boaterhome began life as a US-made Ford Econoline van that features an ultra-long extended wheelbase.

 

That meant the bare bones, for the van part, were dirt-cheap to buy. But that's not the best part. Because it's an American van instead of a wheezy old diesel you could buy one with a dirty great 7.5-litre V8 petrol. Fully loaded with boat, six people and enough luggage and food for a week at the lake you'd barely notice the extra weight behind the wheel.

 

Even with the smallest, least powerful 4.9-litre V8 the makers, Highwave, claimed that the Boaterhome could cruise comfortably at an indicated 100mph.

 

It's not clear if the 28-foot boat was bought off the peg and then adapted to the van, but the beauty of the Boaterhome and its cleverness is the ease of launching and docking, which is claimed to be a one-man job.

autos, cars, car news, classic car, we need to bring back the boaterhome now
 

That explains why the engineers who conceived the Boaterhome also thought it could have had a military or coastguard application, such was the ease and speed of the launch.

 

Sadly, that never happened, but perhaps the best thing about the Highwave Boaterhome is when the boat part hits the surf. Since it's a proper boat, it can do proper boat stuff at serious speeds of up to 40mph.

 

That means it is the perfect vehicle to explore a local lake, or ocean, allowing owners to fish, water ski, snorkel or scuba dive with the optional rear platform fitted.

 

Said to sleep up to six in comfort, the spacious cabin could have been configurated to the buyer's individual tastes and that included fitting a proper bathroom with shower, kitchen or on-board bar.

 

autos, cars, car news, classic car, we need to bring back the boaterhome now

Of course, the Boaterhome wasn't exactly perfect.

 

It certainly didn't handle like the brochure's 'high-performance limousine' claims but it was safer than both a larger wayward motorhome and a pick-up truck towing a heavy trailer.

 

The biggest flaw of the Boaterhome though was the slightly unconventional engineering approach when it came to its driven wheels.  

 

The Econoline used for all 21 models actually started life as an all-wheel drive van. When engineers realised there wasn't enough room to accommodate both the propshaft to the rear axle and a big boat it did something silly, and deleted the rear-drive.

 

That means the powerful van is front-wheel drive, which can be a real problem when backing the big rig down a slippery wet ramp to launch the boat.

autos, cars, car news, classic car, we need to bring back the boaterhome now
 

Just when you really wanted and needed four-wheel drive traction you ran the risk of getting stuck and, indeed, many did.

 

Fatal engineering flaw aside, we think it's time to bring back the concept of the Boaterhome from the dead and reengineer it more to our tastes.

 

We're thinking something smaller and Ford Transit or VW Transporter-based would do, with a lighter, ever faster boat.

 

Question is, would you buy one?

Keyword: We need to bring back the Boaterhome now

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