The Vixen 21 TD (top) was hailed as a bold and radical motorhome when it arrived in 1986. It was sleek and beautiful, aerodynamic, fuel efficient with its rear mounted BMW turbo-diesel and 5-speed manual transmission, and most of all, exceptionally low, only 6’3″ tall. It was (and still is) hailed as “the sports car of motorhomes”. And it failed, leaving the State of Michigan and the City of Detroit with over $28 million in losses.
The main reason is rather self-evident: Bill Collins, its creator and designer, had just left DeLorean Motor Company after playing a key role there in the development of the DMC sports car. Prior to that he spent twenty years at Pontiac with DeLorean, playing a key role in the creation of the GTO and the Banshee. In 1973 Collins used a GMC motorhome and decided he just had to have a motorhome of his own, but one that would fit in his garage, which had an old swing-up door that cleared only 6’4″. So instead of getting a new garage door, he decided to build a motorhome that would clear it.
The result was a motorhome lower than an Econoline van, with extremely limited headroom inside unless the flip-up top was raised. That turned out to be a major liability, and eventually a raised roof gas-engine version, the 21 SE (lower photo above) was created as a last ditch effort to save the failing company.
Obviously Collins was heavily inspired by the advanced and aerodynamic FWD GMC motorhome (left) that he had used. He envisioned something more fuel efficient, given that he started the project in his garage in 1980 at the height of the second energy crisis. There’s a lesson in that alone, one that GM learned at its peril: Don’t make major downsizing decisions based on assumptions of future fuel costs. It cost them dearly with their “shrunken head” 1986 E-Body Eldorado, Seville, Toronado and Riviera.
This is Collins’ hand drawn sketch from 1980 with the basic configuration of what he had in mind, quite close to the final one, and has some key design targets: 3,000 lbs curb weight, “consider rear E-W (transverse) powertrain, X car, diesel” (I assume one or the other), aluminum and FRP construction, and getting ahead of himself a bit, some highly optimistic sales and profit projections: “2000 units x $10,000 variable profit = $20,000,000 (profits)”. Sure, Bill. It’s going to be that easy; after all, he had just been DeLorean’s #2 man at the even more ambition DMC project. DeLorean’s wishful thinking and blue sky sales pitches to investors was apparently infectious.
This shot of the original Vixen 21 TD makes it clear just how low it was. It’s often been called “the sports car of motorhomes”, although with all of 114 hp from the BMW 2.4 L turbo-diesel six motivating the Vixen’s none-too-light 5,100 pounds of (dry) curb weight (2,000 more than the target), genuine sportiness was also going to have to be more in the realm of optimism or wishful thinking. Obviously it handled curves better than the typical tall motorhome. But is that why people buy motorhomes, to carve canyons? Or is it for the interior room and comfort? One reviewer damned the Vixen with this faint praise: “the perfect motorhome to drive between hotels”.
Although at the time I appreciated its looks and potential fuel efficiency (up to 30 mpg at a steady 55 mph), I failed to be fully impressed because it struck me as nothing more than a new take on the Corvair-based Ultra Van, but with some crucial compromises and limitations due to its low height.
“Everything a motorhome has never been before”.
Except back in 1964.
Unlike the chunky steel-framed Vixen, the ultra-light Ultra Van was built just like an airplane, with a monocoque structure of aluminum stringers and stressed skin. The fuel, water and waste tanks were integral structural elements of its floor. This resulted in a (dry) curb weight between 3,000 and 3,400 lbs. Even with a 110 hp Corvair engine and Powerglide, it managed to move along quite adequately for the times.
And unlike the claustrophobic Vixen, the UV had a full size interior, with 6’3″ of headroom. Given that I’m tall, maybe that’s why I feel claustrophobic in the Vixen.
Here’s the dinette in the Vixen. Honey, would you please crawl over to the fridge and get me a beer? Headroom: 66″.
Yes, the pop top helped considerably when opened, But one still had to duck down to get in the main entrance door, and one doesn’t really want to have to bother with raising the top for a quick lunch or bathroom stop, or such. There is a very good reason why just about every van conversion is based on the tall-roof body style. Low roof vans are a serious compromise, pop top and all.
Which, along with the weak turbo-diesel and Renault 5-speed manual explains largely why the Vixen TD sold poorly. The energy crisis was long over by 1986 when it finally arrived, and the compromises that had to be made to possibly get that fuel efficiency were no longer saleable. If you could afford the $40-53k at the time ($113-150k adjusted) for a new Vixen, worrying about the fuel bill just wasn’t likely to be a priority. And Vixens weren’t available in California, a potential key market, because the BMW diesel was not emission certified there.
There were other issues, such as the competition: Winnebago was developing its own high-efficiency diesel-powered low-roof motorhome, the LeSharo, which arrived in 1983, two years before the Vixen. Winnebago simply mated the FWD cab and drive train of a Renault Traffic van to a new low-floor rear body section. Collins was aware of the LeSharo but by that time he had lined up initial investors and it didn’t stop him from developing the Vixen. Anyway, the LeSharo was a few inches taller, so it wouldn’t have fit in his garage.
Winnebago’s approach turned out to be very practical and long-lived, eventually they swapped out the Renault for a VW T4 van front end in 1995 and built it all the way through 2005.
In order to try to salvage the company and get additional financing from the State of Michigan and the City of Detroit, Collins agreed to step down as CEO and the high roof version 21 SE seen here was brought out in 1988, powered by a GM 3.8 L gas V6 with a 4-speed automatic (as used in the FWD Buick LeSabre and others) Although it did offer stand-up height in the center section, it was too little, too late. Vixen was finished in 1989. It did manage to outsell the Ultra Van, 587 units to some 370.
The fact that both the Vixen 21 SE and the Ultra Van were powered by rear-mounted GM 6 cylinder engines and automatics is one of those curious twists of fate. I found this one at a transmission shop, so maybe things are not well with the THM-440T4? It’ll be easier to fix than the Renault 5-speed manual in the TD.
Although the Vixen is endlessly praised for its brilliant design and sports car-like nature, I see it at best as another example of the hubris that was so rampant at GM back in the day, although even they didn’t design vehicles based on someone’s obsolete garage door. But I can’t shake the idea that this was all-too similar to the deception (and worse) that infected the DeLorean project from beginning to end. Here’s a picture of Collins with a 1/12 scale model of what might be assumed to be the DMC but was actually a Schuco model of the BMW Turbo, which was he and DeLorean blatantly cribbed in their initial investor presentations for the DeLorean car. All of this was documented in great detail by Don Andreina’s superb post here on that subject.
the Vixen mock up being moved out of its birthplace
In the final analysis, how much would it have cost for Collins to just have a larger garage door installed? Or even a taller garage built? Certainly many of orders of magnitude less than the State of Michigan and the City of Detroit lost in building him a new factory. Which they wisely built with a taller roof than necessary so it could be used as a warehouse just in case Vixen went bust.
Related reading:
Curbside Classic: Ultra Van – Cross An Airplane With A Corvair For The Most Radical RV Ever
Automotive History: John Z. DeLorean, The BMW Turbo And The Birth Of The DeLorean
Perhaps next time Bill Collins will just get a bigger garage door.
Great timing, Paul. I just saw one of these yesterday at the Pontiac Museum in Pontiac, MI, but I didn’t spend too much time with it because I was more interested in the old Pontiacs. 🙂 But I did snap a couple pictures.
Here’s the interior.
Finally, thanks for the education!
In fairness, the phenomenally successful 1984 Chrysler T-115 minivan had just been released a few years prior, and its primary selling point was that it was a better people mover than a station wagon and also fit through a standard-height garage door. I have no doubt it was a major influence on Collins and his Vixen proposal.
To me, that’s essentially what the Vixen was: a stretched T-115. Instead of needing a taller door, the Vixen required a longer garage so the short height aspect was moot; it still had to be parked outside.
It was a novel idea in theory but, sadly, simply wasn’t saleable to those wanting a ‘real’ motorhome, which is quite ironic considering how long the Chrysler minivan stayed atop the minivan hierarchy.
To that end, were there stretch limo versions of the Chrysler minivan? Seems like it would have been a whole lot easier to simply retrofit one of those with an RV style interior and amenities instead of an expensive, ground-up endeavor like the Vixen. Relative to stuff like the old, 1967 Imperial with its ‘Mobile Director’ option, the idea of a stretched minivan RV wasn’t really that bad. Collins just didn’t execute it very well.
(I actually found an image of a second generation Dodge Caravan stretch limo, but it was on a French language discussion forum)
Collins penned the specs of the Vixen in 1980, and it was soon locked in as the development process was long done by 1984, even if it took a while longer to get into production due to raising the money for the factory. It’s hardly “a stretched T-115”; it’s much wider, has a rear engine, etc..
I know it’s a stretch, but I wonder of the possibility that the reverse was true, i.e., Iacocca became aware of the Vixen’s early development as a garageable, low-roof RV, and it influenced the eventual production of the T-115.
Zero percent. The Vixen was a total outlier and had (would have) zero impact on the mass market. And its future was in serious doubt until the factory was built in like 1984, by which point the T-115 was a full reality.
Neat little machines. They seem to enjoy a low attrition rate and cult-like following from what I’ve seen. This one was parked around the corner a few years ago in my medium-sized Iowa town. I saw another on a used car lot in San Diego last year.
Eye opening facts about the Vixen. I always thought it really looked good, but at 6’4″, I’d NEVER be comfortable inside of it!!
I think for a vehicle this rare, the CC Effect has a loose timeline, so I’ll cite it: I saw a Vixen about 3 weeks ago. Not driving, but near the road and it didn’t look abandoned. Before that, I’ve seen a few and at least own actually in a campground.
Was it the original low roof TD or a raised roof SE? Seems like most of the ones being actively used are the SE. Collins hated the raised roof, saying it destroyed his original concept. But given the choice , that’s what I’d take too, along with the gas engine.
I think it was a low roof but only had time for a quick glance.
I wonder if lack of rooftop ac also hurt? There have been very few pop Top motor homes I know Tiger made a couple but having trouble thinking of many others. The design doesn’t seem to off I think if the poptop had been a bit bigger it might have helped. Or alternatively a high-roof version from the start.
Undoubtedly so. Collins lived in Michigan and his trip in the GMC motorhome was to the (cool) Tetons and Yellowstone, so typical for his thinking, he couldn’t see past his own needs (and low garage door).
Paul, it is great to see you posting again. This morning I learned something new about a vehicle of which I had no previous knowledge. I would imagine this motorhome never made it into Canada as I have never seen one here.
Thanks for the wonderful Friday morning read!
I’m covering for Rich, who is on sick leave this week.
I know it would never fit his low garage requirements, but I’m kinda partial to a certain Custom ProMaster Van out of Eugene Oregon. 😉
For some reason, my Mom, who’s never cared too much about cars as long as they work, always had an obsession with campers and such. Ten years ago, give or take, she bought a LeSharo just like the first one pictured, but it was a gasser (Renault V-6, I think). My Dad liked mountain backpacking, but was never interested in anything like RV life, so the LeSharo mostly sat, then was sold (still in operable condition, at least) about five years ago.
I’ve pretty well come to this conclusion about RVs: if it’s small enough you don’t mind driving it, it’s too small to live comfortably in; if it’s big enough that you wouldn’t mind spending a few days living in it, it’s too big to be something you’d ever want to drive. Putting a requirement on the Vixen that it fit under a non-standard garage door sounds like pure hubris. How many people, even back then, had a two-car garage and only one car? Probably only retirees would fit that. Then, the people who are big into RVs usually build a carport, a bigger garage, or a pole barn (out here in the country anyway), or pay for covered storage for the months it’s not used. The Vixen seems like a cool experiment, but any thought that you’re going to revolutionize such a small market and make big profits is pretty far off to begin with. But it’s got curb appeal, and everyone loves a “mouse that roared” story, so I guess I can see how it got as far as it did.
Being a BMW enthusiast I’m somewhat familiar with it. My understanding is they are considered desirable and have a significant following, regardless of the obvious reasons for it’s overall failure. I’ve long felt if one just happened to fall into my lap… It would first get a ~200 HP gas engine based off the same block and go from there. One thing I was not aware of is that it had a Renault transmission. I would have expected a typical BMW Getrag or ZF supplied tranny.
The Renault unit is a transaxle, which is necessary for the rear engine.
This one is completely new to me. Just wow – one wonders just how this might have been considered a good idea, even at the height of the “energy crisis” (as it was breathlessly called back then).
Even back then, I don’t think success coming up through General Motors was very good training for the real world of smaller businesses.
I read previous that the first engine design was not the BMW. To retrofit one today best choice would be the late 90’s 3800 supercharged engine.
Currently there is someone transplanting Tesla Model S drivetrain into a Vixen.
With today’s materials, manufacturing, CAD, linear actuators, and EV maturity, a new Vixen is easier than ever to develop.
Lighthouse RV and Aptera partners?
I seem to remember one of the car magazines running a vixen at the Bonneville salt flats back in the day. Topped out somewhere in the 90’s speed wise.