#HTE

Van Life for the 1%: This Bad-Ass German Luxury Motorhome

Apparently #vanlife appeals to rich folks too. A German firm called Stone Offroad Design caters to this market by producing bonkers motorhomes based on the Mercedes-Benz Atego, a cargo hauler that starts out looking like this:

After SOD transforms it into their RISE 4x2-950 model, it looks like this:

It’s got all the things you’d expect: Climate controlled seats, a satellite TV system with LED Smart TVs in both the bedroom and lounge, an LTE WiFi receiver, a solar charging system and a built-in 2,600-watt gas generator, a 400-liter water tank. Built-in hydraulic jacks with an automatic leveling system. An extra outside shower for when you want to rinse off without dirtying the inside bathroom. A rooftop lounge with an unseen heating element in case it gets chilly up there.

Oh, and it tows 3,000kg (6,613 lbs), in case you want to drag the optional trailer and your secondary ride.

The RISE 4x2-950 rings in at €688,000 (USD $776,270). I think I’m becoming inured to luxury price tags–it all seems so unreal anyway–because I’m looking at the amount and thinking “That actually sounds kind of low to me.” I would’ve thought at least a mil.

As you can see in the photos above, there’s only one bedroom, no room for live-in staff. So what I can’t picture is, what kind of one-percenter actually wants to drive themselves around and live out of a van? Are they cooking their own meals, or do they force a personal chef to follow them on a scooter and pitch a tent outside the vehicle? Who hauls that glass coffee table up to the roof deck? Do they park this thing in a regular mobile home lot with all the plebes and take care of the sewage hookup themselves? And where do they even go?