These unusual motorhomes come up for sale every once in a while, and we’ve seen one or two here on Barn Finds over the years. Senior writer Jeff Lavery showed us one just last March. As with vintage snowmobiles in the 1960s and 70s, there were so many oddball motorhomes that it’s hard to keep track of them. This 1986 EMC (Eldorado Motor Corporation) Starfire is listed here on eBay in Pullman, Washington. There is no reserve, and there is a single bid of $5,000 with six days left on the auction. Thanks to Doug for the tip!
Yas, sir/ma’am (Jack Webb voice), this one has a Lincoln Mark VII kisser on it, that’s hard to mistake for anything else. Combining Lincoln and Eldorado seems like an unusual combination, but the company name is Eldorado Motor Corporation, and they started out in 1960 as Honorbuilt Manufacturing in Kansas. As a huge fan of vintage campers and motorhomes, and having basically grown up in a 1969 Winnebago truck camper, I remember the El Dorado name well. It was Honorbuilt’s flagship camper line, and they were very, very nice campers. This EMC Starfire is one long motorhome, not the least of which is the unusual front end.
The seller nails the photos; they’re all great, and there are a lot of them. Well done, seller! This RV looks just about perfect from this angle, but there are a few issues, such as the front air dam, which appears to be cracked and missing in spots. Finding parts for the Lincoln front end shouldn’t be too hard, in case it ever gets crunched from being 8-10 feet in front of the driver. I like the faux spare tire/Continental Kit on the back. Is that also paying homage to Lincoln? The seller says there is no rust (they included a few underside photos) and that it has had no bodywork or paintwork. The EMC Starfire had a fiberglass floor bonded to the fiberglass body, and a tag axle and air suspension, for the added weight in back.
The EMC Starfire was only made for four years, 1986 through 1989, and it had to be quite an eye-catcher in 1986. With the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster that same year, a motorhome that looked like a Space Shuttle may not have helped its sales. Speaking of the Space Shuttle, check out that cockpit! The open square hole on the bottom of the center dash looks like it may have housed a tiny TV, as seen in this other example. There wasn’t really any high-design and integration here, at least inside, with styled, smooth-flowing lines. It’s all hard-edged, screwed-together pieces and parts. The steering wheel is right out of the Ford parts bin, and some other parts may be recognizable as well.
Crockett and Tubbs (Miami Vice) would have felt right at home in this 1980s pink and gray interior setting. This rig is 31 feet long, as were all of the EMC Starfire motorhomes, but there were three different floor plans. This one has a rear bedroom, and you can see that this interior needs some work. The seller says they bought it in 1998 and have only put around 1,000 miles on it since then, and it has been garaged. The bathroom looks like new, but the kitchen area could use some help, with a missing door and drawer, and other things to do. Combining Cadillac (Eldorado Motor Corp), Lincoln (the ’84 Mark VII front end), and Oldsmobile (Starfire name) seems as unusual as the overall concept and design is. With around a $90,000 price in 1986, that certainly didn’t help sales, of which only between 100 and 300 were said to have been sold.
Wow! Two engines! The Onan generator on the left side in the photo above shows just how much room is under that hood. This is easily the most unique underhood photo I’ve ever seen. You can see the grass in the opening ahead of the Ford 460-cu.in. OHV V8. A diesel engine was reportedly an option, but this 460 had around 225 horsepower and 360 lb-ft of torque when new. It’s backed by an automatic transmission, and the seller doesn’t say how it runs, which is unusual. I have to guess that it does run, but we don’t know for sure. Said to get around 11 mpg, this would be a fun project for someone with a big shop building and a lot of skill to get everything in shape, maybe do a few upgrades for safety, and then blow minds at any campgrounds that still allow anything this old to pass through the entrance gates. Have any of you heard of the EMC Starfire?
This is a new one on me. That front end reminds me of an alligator or crocodile with that snout. I guess the generator is covered up pretty well like one alongside your house for wet issues.
You’d sure have to practice parking this thing so as not to run anything over in front or have a couple of concave mirrors to help you out.
Incredibly unattractive.
Took me awhile to figure out where the engine was.
And y’all thought the 58 Packard Hawk was ugly and the Robin pushed the weirdness boundaries
I dub it “ Peptobismobile”.
Nice layout. An arm and a leg to redecorate it out of pink.
Make a nice hunting camp. Up on blocks.
Very 1980s with the rose accents against neutral interior. I can’t say that I’ve ever seen another.
I wouldn’t sh#t in that thing even if it meant clogging the toilet.
Y’all have to check out Dave Sparks’ Youtube “journey” on purchasing one of these! It’s a multi-episode fiasco, but definitely a must watch, if solely for the entertainment value… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkuTMREoVVw
Certainly a unique design. I’m puzzled about the little grass-growing section in front of the engine; perhaps one could grow some veggies.
I was always intrigued by the FMC moho’s and the build quality, a feature that is not as visible in these photos. When we were looking to get into some rv’ing about 15 years ago were momentarily taken with the Vixen design and there was a local dentist in the Santa Cruz hills that refurbished some and also did consignment sales. Fortunately that did not work out so a Class A Airstream with an 8.1 V8 and Banks was a real find.
That grass growing in the underhood shot is on the ground. But hey, at least you can climb in and stand there to work on the engine, which may be the only useful purpose I can think of for that arrangement.
It’s not as if you could use that space as “frunk” storage or fill it with much of anything else, as that would block airflow to the radiator. Maybe at most carry a spare tire mounted high up horizontally?
You can tell that they really wanted to make that dashboard look on-trend for the ’80s but the Ford steering wheel and Econoline van gauges straight out of 1975 didn’t help much.
I reckon that pod for a tiny TV would have been the display for a rearview camera — pretty fancy for the time, and no minor convenience for a rig this long!
For those who want their front tag to arrive a day before they do . You would absolutely have to have a excellent A/C unit to cool the front cockpit. With all that glass windshield it would be a real green house roaster !
I was enchanted by this thing,until I read “airbag suspension”.
Very interesting piece of machinery. Excellent write-up SG.
All the styling here both interior and exterior is true to that “gotta be noticed!” generation of transportation. Garish at times but all about the rebellious attitude towards the previous.
Personally, would prefer this to say a 1986 Toyota Sunrader!
Interesting find, Doug and good background info again S.G.Makes for interesting reading.
So nobody raised their hand at the meeting to finalize the design choice?
To quote Princess Leia upon seeing the Millenium Falcon, “you came in that? You’re braver than I thought”,,,I can only imagine, an electrical nightmare with that spaghetti bowl of wires, and rather than turn you away at a campground, they’ll let you in for curiosities sake. I’d have to think they wanted to cash in on the GMC motorhome, of similar design, it probably is a nice riding cruiser, oops, headlights out, now the a/c quit, oh, oh, no charging, and running hot,,, you get my drift,,I should have just stayed home,,
Yikes, why the long face??!!
@rustylink-Ha! So….a motorhome walks into a bar….
Lincoln motorhome?
The instrument cluster looks like the same one that was in my 79 Ford pick up truck.
As far as it possible, small TV in the front, it is angled towards the driver seat and it’s not legal for the driver to be able to see TV while he’s driving so I’m not sure what was in that
A nose only a mother could love.
I have my doubts on that. Lol!
SOLD for $5300.
3 bids.