Inside the van known as Marcel

Marcel is a 1995 Ford E350 van, built and converted to four wheel drive by Sportsmobile & Quigley. The Marcel name comes from the stop-action movie Marcel the shell with shoes on, since it has a large shell and big “shoes”.

During our final sail of 2024 Kerri and I started discussing the idea of getting another van for summer travels in the northern hemisphere, while it is winter in the southern. Within minutes of that conversation, I found Marcel on Craigslist, only an hour from where we would be flying into in a month’s time. Contact was made, and a month later we purchased Marcel from the previous owners who had taken it to South America and back. We are now the third owners of this big van.

Chassis

  • Ford E350 1-ton chassis (9400lb GVW)
  • Ford 7.5l (460ci) V8 engine
  • 3 speed transmission w/ overdrive
  • Quigley 4×4 suspension and drivetrain
  • 33 inch all terrain tires
  • 2ft+ ground clearance
  • 9+ feet tall
  • 9000lb recovery winch
  • 5000lb tow package

Living Space Specs

  • Interior originally converted by Sportsmobile, it has since been rebuilt from scratch
  • ??? square feet of living space on first floor; two captain’s chairs, couch, desk, closet, slide-out pantry, and kitchen all with 6+ foot interior height. Plus a full sized bed on the second floor
  • Kitchen equipped with a two-burner propane stove, foot operated faucet and sink, and a 4 cubic foot fridge
  • Small composting toilet (though we do not compost)
  • 15+ gallons of fresh water plus a gravity based water filter when we are near a water source
  • 10 gallon gray tank
  • 5 gallon propane tank
  • Temperature controlled propane furnace
  • 12 foot retractable box-style awning

Electronics

  • Victron 20a charger when plugged into shore power
  • Victron 1200w Inverter powers all outlets in the van
  • Two Victron 30-amp solar charge controllers to manage the 800 watts of solar panels (400w of which can be deployed up to 30ft from the van)
  • Victron DC to DC converter to charge up to 50amps from the engine
  • 200ah Lithium battery
  • Onan Microlite 2800 genset (currently removed)

History

Purchased in January 2025, Marcel was immediately stored while we finished off our sailing season in New Zealand. In May of ’25 we returned to the USA and spent 29 days rebuilding the interior of Marcel. We started our 2025 van-based travels in June, driving up the West Coast through California, Oregon, all over Washington’s Olympic Peninsula and Mt Rainer forests, into Canada’s Columbia and Rocky Mountains, and south through Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico.

     Repairs

  • 2025
    • May :
      • Got genset working and immediately removed all wiring as it will be removed and sold.
      • New windshield
      • Replaced headlights, rear lights, and all lenses
      • Resealed front bedroom window
      • Tons of rewiring to fix old mistakes
    • June:
      • Entire engine cooling system replaced (Radiator, hoses, water pump, & thermostat)
      • Had dash A/C system condenser removed (it wasn’t working anyway)
      • All spark plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor replaced
    • July:
      • Replaced winch motor
      • Replaced winch steel cable with synthetic line
    • October:
      • Five new Bridgestone KO3 33″ tires
      • Replaced front and rear brake pads, rotors, and drums
      • Installed GMRS radio
      • Rear spare tire mount fabricated
      • Front bumper bracket fabricated and welded to fix
      • Temperature sensor replaced (gauge went soggy)
      • Replaced alternator-to-battery wire
      • Built out closet shelves
    • November:
      • Rewired overhead dashboard (GMRS, dash-cam, & Baja light switches), car stereo, and dash 12v outlet, to connect to house battery
      • Replaced rear leaf springs with upgraded heavy duty springs