Ever seen one of these?

TimKustom

TimKustom

Mark VIII Enthusiast
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/El-D...ryZ50057QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This is one of the finest examples of an 31ft Eldorado Starfire motorhome I've ever seen. I've had a fascination with these for some time now and currently restoring a 27ft model (no tag axle).

Yes, that is a real Mark VII grille and headlights on it!

I'm not affilated with the seller in anyway, just wanted to share this with the group.

Here is a pic of the one we are restoring.

 
TimKustom

TimKustom

Mark VIII Enthusiast
maxmk8 said:
Now this is something you don't see every day lol!
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Yep, they are "unique." As soon as I found a pic of one, I sent it to my wife (who's a major Lincoln nut) and she said "we must have one."

Now it's sorta torn apart in the yard...:)

The story goes there were only 300 made from '86-'88, even though I've found a couple that are called "Starfire II" that were made in '89. There were two lengths 27ft (like ours) and a 31ft (as in the auction). I've seen some called "Utilistars" and those typically had less windows and were either limos, rolling radio stations or Red Cross mobiles. I assume the company had a hard time getting rid of them due to the near $100k price tag (when one could get a "nice" motorhome for about $45k).

It has a one piece fiberglass body and is really built like a tank. Suprisingly it handels quite well (much better than our 21ft van camper).

Here's some more pics of some others, watch out for the "uniquely painted" one...

http://www.beavercreekboise.com/Eldorado Pages/starfire page 1.htm
 
L

Lincoln_Family

New member
i used to call these a cuban missile cause they look retarded. I hope i'm not the only person that doesn't like this. I think that front end looks like an RV with down syndrome :)

i just threw up in my mouth......LOL
 
TimKustom

TimKustom

Mark VIII Enthusiast
jbird97 said:
Those are really nice inside. Whats underneath that long hood?
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They are pretty nice inside. Some of the space is not used as well as it could be though. It's very gimmicky but a cool sort of gimmicky;). It's been described a sort of like a lear jet. Ours is pretty much unmolested and all original and has a 3 way fridge, gas stove, convection oven, and a 12" color TV. It has a pretty neat roll out pantry. The "tambour" cabinets have a formica type finish on them.

Under the hood is a Ford 460 backed by a C6 trans. It's a E350 chassis. Most engine access is under the doghouse inside the vehicle and pretty easy to work on. It's kinda funny to open the hood, step over the bumper, and "walk" to the engine. There is a 4kw generator mounted way up front on the passenger side and a bank of batteries mounted on the drivers side.

I had to rebuild the carb immediatly due to a leaking accelerator pump. Removed three gas soaked mouse nests and about 2 dozen pine cones during that.:eek: It hadn't been on the road since '99. We soon found out that the alternator was dead. I was going to swap it out at a campground, but found out that the radiator needed to be removed, the long pivot bolt needed about another 1/4 inch to come out. :mad: We found a WalMart and bought 6 batteries. Used them all, took them back, once we got home.:cool: I was fairly pleased that it got 11mpg, not too bad for a something that had been sitting in a field for 8 years.


Here is a decent pic with the hood open. Ours is very similar.



Love it or hate it, you gotta admit it's unique. When we drove it home (upper Michigan to Alabama) it got all kinds of attention. Best quote was from stoner looking kid "where does one aquire a Lincoln coach?" "That's radical man!":D
 
jbird97

jbird97

New member
Thats kinda cool, though odd. I agree that the nose looks way too long but I guess theres a need to put the batteries somewhere. Cool find.
 
Kracker

Kracker

New member
Well me and the wife were watching road house last night. Well there is a scene when bigfoot drives through the ford car dealership. well just before that when they pull up and the jeep turns into the dealership there it is in the right hand corner of the screen and a Starfire.
 
Sierra3

Sierra3

New member
haha

Kracker said:
Well me and the wife were watching road house last night. Well there is a scene when bigfoot drives through the ford car dealership. well just before that when they pull up and the jeep turns into the dealership there it is in the right hand corner of the screen and a Starfire.
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Eddie...turn that mess off and get back out in the garage. haha How in the heck did you remember that? I must be getting old. Whens the wifey gettin her stinkin lincoln?
 
Kracker

Kracker

New member
not sure she is leaning toward a LS. she likes the cramped interior say my mark is to open. problem 6 months to a years
 
M

Meister

New member
...three years later, yes I know.

But, I just found one of these in my neighborhood and I had to dig up this thread to see if TimKustom actually lived in my area, or if it was another one.

Apparently it is another one. It is nicely covered and appears to be in general use.

Anyway...carry on.

Doug
 
tixer

tixer

Lincoln Evangelist
ha! I never saw this the first time around, and always wondered what TimKustom's avatar was all about. Now I know. Crazy. (I like it!)
 
TimKustom

TimKustom

Mark VIII Enthusiast
No problem Meister! I'd love to get any info about the rig in your neighborhood. I've been working on a registry of sorts for them.

Still have mine. Work on it as I have time.
 
tixer

tixer

Lincoln Evangelist
A couple recent posts got me thinking about this RV again. How's the restoration / enjoyment process going?
 
TimKustom

TimKustom

Mark VIII Enthusiast
tixer said:
A couple recent posts got me thinking about this RV again. How's the restoration / enjoyment process going?
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LOL, just saw this. Guess I need to head down here more often. :eek:

Well, have had life events that put this one on the back burner for way too long. Basically, I moved from Alabama to SWFL almost 4 years ago. The Starfire had to go into a storage yard while I got everything sorted out (Alabama property took almost 3yrs to sell. UGH). After that, it was finding time to get to AL and drive it here. It needed a little work from sitting (tires, brakes, tuneup) but it made the 700 mile trip without major issue.

So the good news is I have a great place to start working on it, bad news is the '73 Bronco in front of it. That belongs to my father-in-law. He wants to get it running (he's had it since '77 and it's been in storage since '99).



Guess you have to have projects. :cool:
 
tixer

tixer

Lincoln Evangelist
Glad to hear you've still got the RV, and are in a position to dig back into it. My travels have yet to bring me to the great state of Florida, but I have to assume you have no shortage of destinations available to you for weekend travels.

If it's truly broken, that Bronco is begging for a 4.6 swap. I wish my Jeep looked that good. It runs great, but there's not a lot left of the body..
 
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