If there’s one thing we love here at Jalopnik, it’s weird cars. So imagine my delight when YouTube recommended a video with the title, “The Fastest RV Nobody Wanted: Rectrans Discoverer.” I mean, covering things nobody asked for is basically my bread and butter. Plus, as you can see in the screenshot above, showing a promotional image of the Rectrans Discoverer, this thing looks weird as hell. And it’s fast? I don’t remember the last time I clicked on a video suggestion so quickly. I’m so glad I did, because every single factoid presented here is more interesting than the last.
Let’s start with the founders, Larry Shinoda and Bunkie Knudsen. Shinoda was a car designer who penned several famous concept cars for GM, such as the Mako Shark and CERV I, as well as the C2 and C3 Corvettes, before moving on to Ford where he worked on the Boss 302 Mustang. That’s a pretty serious resume for an RV designer, but Knudsen was no random guy off the street, either. In addition to being the son of GM president William Knudsen, he also hired the infamous John DeLorean and had a hand in the development of quite a few notable cars, including the original Pontiac Bonneville and Grand Prix, Chevrolet Corvair, and the oft-maligned 1971 Ford Mustang.
Bring two guys with resumes like theirs together, and you know you’re going to get something interesting. You might not expect them to design an RV, but if there’s one thing you can definitely say about the Rectrans Discoverer, it’s that it’s interesting.
I wanna go fast
Considering the founders’ backgrounds, the fact that it was quick is probably the least surprising thing you’ll learn about the Rectrans Discoverer. Or, at least it was quick by the standards of the day. They used a Chrysler 413 Big Block that made 260 horsepower and 445 pound-feet of torque, giving the Discoverer a 0-to-60 time of about 11 seconds. Meanwhile, its competitors reportedly needed between 18 and 30 seconds to do the same thing, while the Ford Maverick 302’s 0-to-60 time was in the 12s. For an RV built in the early ’70s, this thing could move.
Anyone can throw a big engine in a big vehicle, but Knudsen and Shinoda took things a step further and used a scale model in a wind tunnel to help develop the shape. Allegedly, that was the first time anyone had ever used a wind tunnel to design an RV. So while the styling was definitely weird, it also allowed the Discoverer to get double-digit fuel economy at a time when its competitors were getting between five and seven miles per gallon. You only got one door, and it wasn’t up front where the driver sat, but dang it, this thing was efficient.
It also came with a front spoiler, rode low to the ground to be even more aerodynamic and included hood pins. Because what self-respecting customer would want an RV that didn’t have hood pins?
Burning both rubber and poop
Even if the Rectrans Discoverer was the ultimate driver’s RV, it still had to be an RV, and the designers didn’t skimp on those features, either. For example, while a lot of RVs store your poop in a tank for you to empty later, this one had a Thermasan waste disposal system that used the heat from the exhaust to incinerate your waste before it escaped out the back. Sadly, as much as I wish I could tell you shooting poop into the exhaust was a Rectrans original invention or that the Discoverer was the first RV to use it, it was actually invented by the Thetford Corporation and was offered on several other RVs at the time.
In fact, while it doesn’t mention the Rectrans Discoverer, our old RV-loving pal Mercedes Streeter wrote all about the Thermasan waste incinerator over on The Autopian. You know, if you absolutely must learn more about how old RVs got rid of your poop via the exhaust pipe — and I’m assuming you do. As it turns out, she also wrote an entire deep dive on the Rectrans Discoverer that you should also go read, because we like Mercedes, and also, you’ll learn even more about this unnecessarily fast, poop-burning RV built by the guy who hired John DeLorean and the guy who designed the C2 Corvette.
Arguably, the best thing about the Discoverer is that it was actually pretty good? It reportedly drove well and offered great visibility. You also got room to sleep six people and all the amenities you’d expect in an RV, such as a kitchen, shower and even double vanities. Sadly, that wasn’t enough to keep it around for long, and after going on sale in 1971, production ended in 1974. Still, they managed to sell about 3,300 examples, which really isn’t bad, especially since the $17,000 MSRP would be about $130,000 today after adjusting for inflation.
It’s also incredibly weird, and at least around here, weird will always be cool.
