the interiors to require a total renovation. Still, all but the worst basket cases are candidates for restoration.

Well-maintained examples typically start at $15,000 or so, with high-end restorations easily topping $30,000. Bethune Sales is one of the online sites offering a great cross section of GMC MotorHomes for sale.

And yes, for you Bill Murray fans, it was a converted GMC MotorHome that became the EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle immortalized in the 1981 blockbuster and comedy classic Stripes.

With their big V8 engines, aerodynamic bodies, advanced suspension, and high-tech construction, it should come as no surprise that the GMC MotorHomes set benchmarks for performance and efficiency. In spite of weighing more than 12,000 pounds, they are capable of reaching 100 miles per hour while delivering eight to 10 miles per gallon.

Their drivetrain components were incorporated into countless GM vehicles built in the Sixties, Seventies, and early to mid Eighties, so maintaining a GMC MotorHome is surprisingly easy. Prospective buyers will find strong club support and an established supplier base.

For those of you interested in even more details about the design and engineering innovations in these road-going Holiday Inns, take a look at Bill Bryant's three-part series in the February, March, and April 2004 issues of Family Motor Coaching.

The equally excellent GM Motorhome Enthusiast website (where I located many of the brochures and images seen here) offers compelling reading if you are as intrigued as I am by these technological marvels.

Over its 103-year history, General Motors has been responsible for many landmark vehicles: the V16-powered Cadillacs of the Thirties, the Tri-Five Chevys of the Fifties, the Pontiac GTO, and, of course, the Corvette, America's sports car. GM trucks and tanks helped win the Second World War. The Suburban, marketed by both Chevrolet and GMC, is considered by many to be the grandfather of today's SUV.

And as much as any company in the United States, GM laid the foundation for the middle class. From its assembly line workers to management, the company gave a generation of Americans the ability to buy homes, raise families, and enjoy the fruits of their labor. During the affluent Sixties,

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