" >
Who would believe that a futuristic motorhome dubbed “the Zeppelin” came out of a prototype house car which was actually designed in 1937?
This car was built by a mechanic at the Chris-Craft boat dealership in San Francisco with high hopes of making a line of its kind. However, due to the scarcity of materials in the WW2, manufacturing ended. Although this car was one of its kind, several researches show that it was registered as a Plymouth house car in 1942.
Rechristened in 2002 as the 1937 Himsl Zeppelin Roadliner, its current owner, a famed customizer Art Himsl did a series of restoration starting in 1999, more than 30 years after he and his friend Ed Green found the car with its aft sticking out from a barn in California’s Napa Valley in 1968. Prior to the vehicles total renovation Himsl and Green used the car which as sort of an office for several years.
The first order of the remodeling process was to refurbish and modernize the drive components. Air-lift bags were added to all four corners. The old engine was replaced with a 350 Chevy engine and most of the old running gear was also replaced. As part of its total make-over, Himsl ripped off the original skin which was a mixture of steel panels and stretch fabric and replaced it with a modern material called Stitz Poly-Fiber. Originally, the car did not have any font fenders and so as part of its renovation, fenders were replaced and the nose was reconstructed.
The original exterior panels were stripped away. Upholsterer/designer Howdy Ledbetter executed the inside refurbishment of the Zeppelin’s upholstery. The original oak cabinetry were still used. Further, Ledbetter made a dozens of light cream vinyl panels which cover all of the interior, and maroon carpets concealed the floors. Himsl applied a spectacular finish in an art Deco theme which completed the car’s renovation.
