Claim: Photographs show a garbage truck converted into a camper.



Status: Real photographs; inaccurate description.



Examples: [Collected via e-mail, December 2006]







WHO IN THE WORLD WOULD WANT TO LOOK LIKE THEY WERE CAMPING IN A GARBAGE TRUCK???!! Until you look inside! WHO IN THE WORLD WOULD WANT TO LOOK LIKE THEY WERE CAMPING IN A GARBAGE TRUCK???!! Until you look inside! Got a spare garbage truck, you can turn it into a motor home. Guess this proves that with plenty of money, a good imagination and some engineering, you can turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse…



















































































































Origins: We’ve

seen many examples of various forms of automobiles put to unusual uses or converted into different objects entirely, but … a garbage truck turned into a mobile living space?

The vehicle pictured above may resemble a garbage truck from the outside, but it is in fact designed as a sort of a cross between a mobile home and an off-road vehicle. It’s a TerraCross “Home on Wheels”

manufactured by UNICAT complete with an office, beds, bathroom, kitchen, and storage space. The particular model displayed here is the EX63-HD/MAN TGA 6×6, which is described thusly in promotional material:





The ideal vehicle to make your dream of a world trip become true! The ideal vehicle to make your dream of a world trip become true! This machine combines the rugged “go anywhere” off-road capabilities of the MAN 6×6 with the comforts of living at home. Safe 2 years of design, construction and testing. Built to the exacting standards of the world-class UNICAT engineering team, this “Home on Wheels” is ready for your immediate occupancy. You do not need to be a experienced expedition traveller.





(Most of the pictures shown above were taken from the company’s web page of promotional photographs for this model.)

The answer to one of the most frequently-asked questions about these pictures — “How come windows are visible on the inside but not the outside?” — is that the vehicle is equipped with a “lifting roof” that rises to provide occupants with additional interior space and a view of the outside world (as seen in photographs of a similar model).

Last updated: 15 January 2008



