My wife and I are originally from Long Island, New York so I think that's why stuff like this Cleveland Browns dressed up 1987 Winnebago "Elandin" makes us so slack jawed.
With the exception of my once seeing an old Rolls Royce painted up in Yankees pinstripes, and allegedly signed by then current and old time Yankees players, I never saw anything like this back there. Up here, this is hardly the only RV that's gussied up like this. Shoot, I've seen sedans and crossovers in Browns colors too. Old school buses as well. "Woof-woof", as the natives say here.
"Many a fun football Sunday had in this tailgating machine!" the poster of the Facebook Marketplace ad claims. Ad goes onto say that the current owner is moving out of state, and they can't take this with them. Asking price is $6,500. Such a deal, no? Especially considering it's got six new tires, new brakes, new batteries, a new solar charger, has new flooring, walls, new-ish furniture and a new ceiling.
The roof leaks a little but that aside, and whether or not you're a Browns die hard, this seems pretty solid. Only 78,000 miles on its fuel-injected Chevrolet 454 cubic inch V-8 too. Heck, I'd buy this and swap engines with my '77 Corvette. And keep in mind how much a new one of these'll set you back.
Here in "Believeland", an expression coined in 2014 just after the return of LeBron James, Cleveland's prodigal son who's actually from Akron, tailgating is somewhat different than most NFL cities. The Browns play in a gusty concrete tomb known as "First Energy Stadium" which is literally on the shore of Lake Erie and there's little parking around it. General parking for events at the stadium is upwards of two-miles away in what is referred to as "The Muni-Lots" (named after Cleveland Municipal Stadium that once stood where First Energy Stadium now sits). I don't know about you but getting tanked or at least half tanked and then walking two miles isn't my cup of Mountain Dew. Your opinion may vary. See dealer for details.
Many tailgaters don't even go to the game staying back in the Muni's in one of these and watching the game on TV. Can be fun once a season before the cold weather hits which can be before Halloween some years. Especially since somewhat affordable seats for any NFL game are so far away from the action you might as well stay in the camper. Or watch the game from home.
The Winnebago company was founded in 1960 in Forrest City, Iowa, deep in the heart of Winnebago County. An entrepreneurial funeral home director named John Hanson, who was an avid camper, started out selling travel-trailers later convincing an established RV manufacturer to relocate to Iowa. He and other business leaders bought out that company changing the name to "Winnebago", a Native American term for, "people of the dirty water". The first "Winnebago" as we now know it rolled off the assembly line in 1966. The rest, as we say, is history. Over the last fifty-six or so years, the term "Winnebago" has become as synonymous with RV'ing as Xerox is to copiers and Band-Aids is to small adhesive medical bandages.
It is one of the more charming aspects of this area that folks up here love their "Brownies" as much as they do. Although, candidly, their recent acquisition of DeShaun Watson has not gone over well and there's no way to gloss over it. I almost feel bad for these people since, at least on the field, the Browns now have one of the better teams in the NFL. To that degree I'm (Jets) green with envy. Talk about selling your soul to the devil. Fans here deserve better. Film at eleven.
I've never camped let alone spent a night in an RV although, I must admit, the prospect is somewhat intriguing to me. The wife has absolutely no interest in it so if I was to purchase this it would be strictly for tailgating. My New York Jets are in town in September for the Browns' home-opener. Anybody interested in helping me paint this thing?
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