BLOGS

No, the RV didn’t crash. No one was injured. And it’s not going to explode.

But the upside-down Winnebago at Wenatchee’s All Seasons RV has gotten comments and queries like those from customers and passers-by for the last 12 months.

Yep, January is the one-year anniversary of the installation of the topsy-turvy 32-foot 1986 Winnebago Elandan at the entrance to the RV dealership — which, by the way, last year celebrated 40 years in business.

Gene Halverson Jr., president and owner of the dealership with his parents, Gene Sr. and Pauline, said the idea for the axles-up motorhome came to him in his sleep one night. He had been trying to figure out an easy way to mark All Seasons’ location — something foolproof, something a person just couldn’t miss.

A few months before, he had gotten the Elandan back from a customer who couldn’t make the payments. So Halverson and crew stripped out and sold the motor, transmission, interior furnishings and other stuff to help pay off the RV’s note. They were left with what amounted to a perfect RV on the outside but an empty shell on the inside.

“I woke up in the middle of the night and thought, ‘Why not do something different?’” said Halverson. You mean like offer a free toaster with every sale? Or introduce a snappy radio jingle?

No, he thought, let’s flip a Winnebago on its back and install it roadside to to make anyone passing by slow down and say wow. So Halverson and employees built a special rig — sort of like giant RV rotisserie — to hold and lift the RV at each end, and then they slowly rolled it over. The entire flip took nine minutes.

Now, the upside-down Winnebago calls to lovers of old RVs and of weird things in general. It gets washed just like one of the normal RVs on the sales lot. And it’s the perfect place to string promotional banners (“You Will FLIP Over Our Deals!”) and Christmas lights.

“And it makes it a lot easier to describe to folks how to find us,” said Halverson. In fact, when employees answer the phone, they say, “All Seasons RV — home of the upside-down Winnebago!”

“That always gets a caller’s attention,” said Halverson.

Details: All Seasons RV, 4182 Chelan Highway 97A, Wenatchee. Phone: 663-6551. Web: allseasonsrvsales.com.

Comments

Want to comment on this story? All Wenatchee World members are invited to comment on stories, by using the form below. Please know that we at wenatcheeworld.com hope our site is useful, entertaining and civil. So we'll delete comments that are obscene, abusive or way off topic. We appreciate it when readers use the "suggest removal" button to flag inappropriate comments. For more about interacting with the site, see our Use Policy.

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.

Sign in to comment