A Vixen 21 TD motorhome conceptualized and built 36 years ago by Ben Collins, the creator of the famous DeLorean Time Machine, has just found a new owner for a token sum of U.S. $23,000.
Only 376 such campers were made back in the late 1980s. The number 21 in the model name refers to its length (21 feet or roughly 6.5 meters). The interior houses a modest-sized kitchen with a dining area, nice full-size beds, storage cabinets and wardrobes, and a WC.
Amenities on board include a fridge, a microwave oven, ambient lighting suitable for reading books, air conditioning and a Sony audio system. Fresh and used water tanks are not absent, either, and a special battery chargeable from solar panels helps the appliances keep running while away from civilization.
Despite its size, the Vixen 21 TD was famous for its light passenger car agility. Among other things, it benefited a great deal from lightweight glass-fiber bodywork, which sank its center of gravity and made it very maneuverable. That said, the seller pointed out in the listing that the stock air-ride suspension components had to be replaced with more basic springs and shocks later on. Not only that, but the interior apparently needs thorough cleaning, the AC and the heating fan are out of order, and the chassis has partially corroded. Multiple scratches all around the body round off the list of reasons why the Vixen failed to fetch a good price despite its iconic status.
All Vixen 21 TD models (like the one in the video here) shipped with a 2.4-liter six-cylinder diesel engine from BMW under the hood. It sent 115 horsepower (86 kilowatts) to the wheels through a five-speed manual transmission. The sold example was past its prime in this department, too, having roughly 141,600 km (88,000) on the clock.
