Hoping to capitalize on the hot ’70s RV market, Food Machinery Corporation (FMC) parlayed its expertise in building military vehicles into the fabulous FMC 2900R. These high-end coaches attracted owners from Hollywood and the auto racing world including Carol Burnett, Clint Eastwood, Charles Kuralt, Mario Andretti and Parnelli Jones, according to AutoEvolution. This 1975 FMC 2900R in Jasper, Georgia looks mostly original and “drives well,” according to the listing here on Facebook Marketplace. The asking price of $15,000 buys a coveted purpose-built high roller. Thanks to PRA4SNW for spotting this well-kept FMC.
The bold orange theme continues inside with original-looking Formica and wood grain throughout. Only the stainless fridge appears to deviate from stock. Some units came with a built-in blender for whipping up a batch of margaritas after a long day of memorizing your lines and finding your motivation on the movie shoot.
Generous air screens give away the location of the Mopar Industrial 440 cid (7.2L) V8 behind the rear axle. A four-wheel independent suspension and low center of gravity made the 2900R corner and ride “like a Jaguar.” I’d probably own one of these except the 29 foot length exceeds the limit in many RV destinations. Built for confident handling and comfort, these FMC units and the GMC Motorhomes boast engineering that shames contemporaries and even today’s truck-based units.
Here’s where you unwind with your band mates or pit crew after a hard day of playing a stadium show or working your way to the checkered flag from the back of the pack. It wouldn’t be the ’70s without a dose of orange shag carpeting.
The driver’s command center fans out controls and vital information behind a marvelous wood and chrome steering wheel. Unlike most RVs, you won’t see this dash when you rent a clunky box truck. Driving this FMC to its next destination may be your favorite part of the adventure. Would you spend your used Camry money to buy this star-favored driver’s coach?
Hm thinking FMC = Ford Motor company and a 440 Chrysler engine so you would have enough power brilliant
ah, no
FMC motorhomes were designed and built in San Jose, across the street from the airport. The plant is no longer there. FMCs were known to be well engineered and built, but a little on the expensive side. The company never made money on them and closed the division after a few years.
These Motorhomes were actually built in Santa Clara, Ca. across from the airport as Edward stated. I started working there in 1981 when the Bradley Fighting Vehicle began production. From what I was told during the production of these motorhomes, CEO Robert Malott personally thought they were absolute junk and cancelled the production immediately.
Cool. It is under 30 ft, and you can park this puppy in almost every campground.
Beautiful looking RV. If only today’s motorhomes were this nice. It’s a shame they were only produced between 1973 and 1976 before before being discontinued.
This is one nice clean motor home straight from the 1970’s
If my wife sees this listing, I think I know where my next $15k is going! That is a nice one for as old as it is. The only hitch is parts availability.
If I bought an FMC motorhome, I’d have a Diesel engine installed, either a Duramax 6.6 litre Diesel engine or a Cummins 5.9 litre Turbo Diesel engine.
This thing looks very nice. No motor home is cheap to own but I think the price on this one is reasonable, and you will have the only one at the camp ground. I’m an long time lover of those 440 engines, I definitely agree with Car Nut Tacoma’s idea of a diesel conversion. I had a Winnebago that was about the size of this one but more boxy and got only seven MPG. I probably would also consider a Mercedes diesel for a replacement. Gas was cheap when I had my RV so I didn’t care about the mileage then but that would be an important consideration now.
@ Russell Ashley I actually find the FMC way more attractive than the Winnebago of the same vintage. I’d buy an FMC if I had someone willing to share the experience and responsibilities with.
This is a latter coach in white. The very early model was yellow and had the 440 installed in backwards but did not alter the oil pan so under sever braking they would lose oil pressur. They fixed this early on.
I have always liked these. Having spent a lot of time behind the wheel of motorhomes I want to try one of these. We visited the RV museum in Amarillo Texas and Charles Curault’s is there and got to go through it. It’s not as spacious as you would imagine it to be. But not overly cramped either. Having spent a lot of time in one of the front wheel drive GMCs the space inside was a put the same. Unless you spend huge bucks on a motorhome, the quality on most (the same goes for any RV) the quality is severely lacking. This FMC that I looked at was of high quality. I ran into one at a rest stop on I 10 in Arizona a few years ago and talked to the owner. He had just completed a full restoration of his that took a couple of years. He said that the parts were not hard to find, except you had to know where to look. Everything on the coach was still being produced, but you need to have an old experienced parts guy to know who was making what for what application. He had already put 6,000 .miles on his since the rebuild and was estatic on the result.
Is FMC Food or Ford Machine Corp?
Food
@ Robb Roberge: Food Machinery Co.
If 30 feet is too long for an RV park you need to get out of California. The rest of the US has many places that accept much longer units. That being said, a lot of them won’t accept units over 10 years old which presents a whole other issue.
@ Jeff J: I agree. For me, 20′ is the minimum length I’d be willing to go. 30′ would be the maximum length.