So the idea of my RV has matured over the years and I have left the idea of American made A class RVs, double decker busses and vans as well as ready made/used DIY recreational vehicles. I want clean canvas to design my own blueprint. I know that there are RVs with saunas, which are usually with electric stoves. And I know that there are RVs with garages to transport sports car. But RV with garage and wooded stove sauna would be the one and only in the world. And there is even space for a gym!
The car would be Smart Fortwo from 2000 - 2007 which is 2,5 m long, 1,52 m wide and 1,55 high. Cabin aka traveling area with original seats with seat belts separeted from living area, kitchen, bathroom, closet and sauna around it. Should fit to 12-13 meters long bus that has mid engine like Volvo 9700 H B12M and preferable same age as the Smart is.
Nettikone.com is good place to find these about 20 years old busses which have about 2 million kilometers. Volvo B12M is the only brand and model that has a middle engine which makes it possible to build a garage at the back of the bus. Then there are several companies that make the body for the busses and the best for this purpose is Carrus here in Finland. The body of the Carrus bus is made of steel which does not rust over the years. So 20 years old bus looks the same as new one what comes to the body of used Carrus bus. The technology (engine, transmission, etc) wears but can always be repaired or changed to used part or refurbished one and there are plenty of these at the market. And the price is same as it would be for van
At this point Finnish trafic laws and authority becomes familiar. Changing registration from bus to M1 recreational vehicle is not simple and there are a lot of things to take in count before it can be done. First is the size of the RV. Busses are in many times bigger than RVs are. And if you change certaing things inside the bus it might not be accepted anymore as RV in the inspection. But there are exceptions that you can apply with the over size RV if you have a valid cause like need to transport a vehicle inside of it. Or you can register the bus as a truck instead of RV and then the restrictions of RV don't apply anymore but it's still RV.
I found my bus from Fibus.fi, which is located 600 km from my home town. As they sell busses and I have a truck drivers license I can not test drive the bus by myself. So I decided to trust the seller like a used car sales man or even more and go with the information and pictures given :) All money in and hope for the best. I paid extra for the job they had to do to remove the benches, assemple Ikea bed/sofa, install Ikea inductions stove, apply for special permit for the size and do the inspection and registration change to RV. I was waiting whole summer the maiden voyage to drive the RV from the seller to home but instead they drove the RV to me. Then I had to find the parking place for a over sizes RV which kept me awake couple nights before I got the idea where to drive it.
Now the project can really start.
World's first RV with garage, sauna and gym