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Before we start this article we must say that this Coaster is the best we have ever come across. The attention to detail, originality of ideas, execution, innovation and the overall aesthetic appearance and practicality, is absolutely fantastic. It would win any Concours Competition! Kel has taken building your own motorhome up to the next level and has truly turned bus conversion into an art form. There wouldn't be a manufacturer who could come close to what Kel has created, simply because they would never get a return on the hours invested. This would have to be the very best buy one could get if ever it comes on the market - if Kel decides to build another one! For any newbies reading this, Kel and Betty and very special members of the CMCA, as they were the original editors and publishers of the wonderful club magazine The Wanderer. They were at the helm for a very long four years. For their mammoth efforts they were honoured with Life Membership at the National Rally at Berrie,South Australia in 1998 for a job fantastically well done. |
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| Looks like a normal Coaster from the outside, but like Dr Who's Tardis, inside is a different story altogether. Cossack is a 1989 LWB Coaster originally owned by the USSR Embassy - hence the name. Kel and Betty have travelled approx. 126,000 km since fitting it out. Of course Cossack has personalised number plates - what else but KGB. Kel and Betty looked around for about 12 months before coming across Cossack - they were pretty scarce in 1991. A dealer from one of the auctions Kel was frequenting rang to say he had one coming in from Canberra. And the rest as they say is history! Cossack is only their second motorhome - the first was a Mitsubishi L300 4x4 pop-top. Knowing this, it is absolutely amazing that Kel has got so many things right the first time round! |
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| So let's start by looking at the boring yet so important stuff like batteries! Kel has left them in the normal Coaster position to the left of the entry door, BUT made it a slide out just like Swagman/Winnebago etc. Being the perfectionist that he is, they actually clamp into position when stowed so that the load is shared equally between the top and bottom supports of the opening. The mechanism is stronger than say Winnebago, yet about half the weight. Are there lessons to be learned here perhaps? Can ALL manufacturers kindly note how easy it is to access all the cells, plus you can even look into the cells without banging your head! Bottom left shows the carrier tray and the RHS runners. The photo at bottom right shows how the frame is physically locked to reduce the load on the bottom rail. This is engineering at its very best! |
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| Looking at the photo directly below - this is a great safety idea. All the fire fighting and emergency first aid gear is located in a small easy access locker right next to the entry steps. This is text book stuff and all brilliantly executed. The top of the cupboard serves as a wind shield for the stove in gusty weather. Very clever and an idea not found on commercial motorhomes. |
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| Now the cab area is something else! Gone is that awful Coaster brown. Everything has been repainted with a vinyl coating (Big W) and it looks the bees knees! Kel also has another fire extinguisher located in the centre of the cab something that so many of us forget to do. |
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| The photo at top left is the communications bay with both HF and UHF, and it's right above the drivers head within easy reach. It has all been covered with matching carpet. Now the really clever thing with this set up, is instead of attaching in the conventional push in from the front way, everything "drops down"! This gives incredibly easy access to all the wiring. We have photos of this in the open position on another page showing the entertainment package. |
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| Looking at the photos above you begin to understand how Kel ticks! Notice the attention to detail with the frame work so that it follows exactly the inside contour of the walls and floor. This would have taken hours! There surely isn't a solitary square inch of space wasted in this incredible Coaster! So few commercial motorhomes bother to use slide out shelving and when they do they sometimes get it wrong. We were looking at a $160.000.00 commercial motorhome the other day and it had a "sort of" slide out pantry. It worked quite well, but there was wasted space either side. This just doesn't happen with Kel! Notice how Kel's shelves go right out to the frame extremities and he uses absolutely all the vertical space available? The locking mechanism was also quite crude compared with Kel's method! The photos below show you what we are getting at. We are not picking on the commercial manufacturers here - just showing you what can be done when you have more time and really think things through. |
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