European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 9, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday october 9, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 13 american creates motor Homes on Mercedes Chassis californian Don Trueblood once raced porsche care in sports car club of America Competition holds a , in physics from Purdue and now operates his own company in Frankfurt. With that background one might speculate that he s involved in designing sports cars and racing cars. That guess would be close but the vehicles involved arc not sports cars. They arc High Quality recreation vehicles. Stilt our Marc cacs Benz 409d molar Home handles like a sports car Trueblood says smiling. You can loss it Donald Trueblood into a curve because it has Light steering and progressive Power and is Well bal  we were discussing Trueblood s Cus Tom built vehicles at Nis shop in Frank Furt Only a few Days before the mercedes409d motor Home would be shipped to its owner in America. The owner had bought it from Trueblood Frankfurt had poured Europe for a year with it and now was awaiting its arrival after a Thor Ough after use inspection. Along with the Trueblood recreational vehicle try Mercedes Benz 409d motor Home 19w feet Long and the trv-209d the pm footer the firm has recently added a Volkswagen Van conversion vehicle. The Mercedes Benz motor Homes Are the stars of the lineup the trv-409d and 209d using Mercedes Chassis engines diesel Turbo diesel or gasoline and Power trains with . And califor Nia safety and emission equipment Stan Dard. The construction of these custom made vehicles lakes from 600 to 700 hours. Before checking out the vans Lei s Lake a Quick look at Trueblood s background. How did an american physicist end up manufacturing recreational vehicles in Germany after gelling my . Al Purdue 1went to do Post doctorate work at Karls Ruhe Trueblood said. While studying in Germany i bought a porsche and did some rallies and racing and 1 continue racing when i resumed 10 work in Cali fornia. Colleagues were interested in buying a porsche like mint so i flew to Ger Many to buy some for ii m. Mercedes cars too. I  making a lot of trips 10 Germany to buy cars and i soon found myself in the import Export Busi Ness. I thought it would just be Tempo Rary and that i d a churn to my scientific work in physics. But by 1969 1 had set up my own firm in Frankfurt and this temporary situation remained permanent. I became interested in motor Homes when one of my porsche customers in California showed inc his. Thought motor Home would be a Good Way to diversify the business and i eventually went full Tim with Van conversions "1 wanted to stress Quality so i chose Mercedes Chassis and Power trains and Mercedes cooperates fully with me. To the Best of my knowledge we re the Only firm in the world to use inc 409d Mer cedes truck Chassis for motor Home con version  while the motor Homes arc expensive the 409 d custom made Van awaiting . Shipment from Trueblood s shop Cost $52.000, for instance they would be in lot More expensive it Trueblood did not use up to 75 percent american components. Most of our units arc sold to Ameri cans Trueblood has dealer networks on the West coast and is working on East and Central . Dealer system so the american components Are also used for service ability As Well Aslo keep the costs Down he says. An example of major .-made components in our motor Homes would include the healer windows lamps water pump toilet air conditioner refrigerator and stove among others. This Van we re Aboul los hip to the slates even has a Micro wave oven powered by a special  the vehicles arc designed to the Cus Tomer s wishes with three floor plans available on the 9vz-foot 409d version. Trueblood says his american custom ers arc primarily Well heeled professional people such As doctors and lawyers who can afford such motor Homes. We also have occasional customers from the american military Community he said and it s a Market that i m trying to expand. We be recently devel oped a highline conversion of the vow Tanagon go with the aerodynamic fixed High lop. It s priced in the 120,000 Range and in has cabinetry in the style of our Mercedes Mol Rhomes with solid teak Comers and door frames. So we have something of interest there to the Young the 19 a foot tin blood re mercy pcs Benz 409d motor Home. The 209d motor Home version is 17 if to Long. Pie rear Dinette Section of the 409d table a fur right. Military  Trueblood also makes a Van for the handicapped a special conversion with a wheelchair lift. We did our interview in the 409d motor Home one that exuded Quality and Good last All around with the hand made cabinets in Teakwood and the doors with solid teak frames. For added strength All cabinets arc bolted to the vehicle s floor As Well As attached to the Walls and ceiling to provide a solid Inte grated and vibration free str Clu re Trueblood s design philosophy is summed up quite accurately in a few words in the National Industry Publica Tion re business practicality of function and aesthetics of form along with his try motor Home creations Trueblood s firm does partial conversions on used vehicles As Well As special conversion work on american vans. Specialities include adding High roofs and installing cabinets stoves another Basic items. For further information one May write Trueblood re a Mph Justinian Strasse 22. 6000 Frankfurt am main i or phone 069-302554 or 590061. Randy Harriett Auto shows planned in Berlin Britain West Berlin will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the automobile with its aaa 86 Berlin show around the Auto the activities beginning saturday and ending on oct. 19, tops on the schedule i the International nine Day automobile show which will feature a major exhibition of new cars and off Road vehicles at the Berlin Fairgrounds from opening Day through oct. 19. A total of 93 automotive firms from Germany and other nations will be represented. Several activities Are planned in con Junction with the show including an exhibition of old timer cars on saturday afternoon with the old can running Down the Kurfus Erslie and item to the Fairground Halls. On sunday the grand prix of Berlin will be held for historic sports cars racing cars and motorcycles. The event will Lake place from 10a.m. To 2 . On the Charlottenburg or . In Britain meanwhile your future on wheels is the theme for the 1986 British International motor show which will open to the Public on oct. 18and run through oct. 26 at the National exhibition Center in Birmingham. The show promises to be one of the most interesting and exiting Ever held in Britain says the society of motor manufacturers and traders smut with All of the world s new models on display including a number of British  All aspects of the motor Industry will be covered. Smut says and the entire National exhibition Center Complex Wili be used by exhibitors. There Wil be nearly 400 stands and displays featuring cars Light and heavy commercial vehicles accessories components and serv ice equipment. Hours Are 9 30 . To 7 . On oct. 8 to 25, and 9 30 . To 5 30 . On the final Day oct. 26, an attendance of More than 700,000 is cd peeled the smut says