From roughly 1984-1991, Winnebago made a small RV that was designed to be easy to drive and fuel efficient. The source for the engine, transmission and suspension came from an unlikely source – a Europe only Renault Trafic, which was a small van used extensively for commercial deliveries and the like in France.
The first versions were diesel, but the diesel was too slow and unreliable. The later versions had 2 liter four cylinder fuel injected engines and a three speed automatic transmission, though a 4 speed manual was also available.
Because of its age and the fact that it had French underpinnings from a car company that hadn’t been in the US since the nineties, the customer for this particular LeSharo was having a tough time finding someone who could work on her newly acquired RV. We took on this vehicle, which had been off the road for some time. We ended up rebuilting the brakes and hubs, fixing throttle linkage, correcting some improperly wired pieces, a cat-back exhaust, resealed the fuel tank and rebuilt the no longer available sender, and a bunch of other small projects. It took some effort, but we were also able to find correct tires to go on the original Gotti wheels that could handle the 6000lb weight of this vehicle.
The Winnebago is back in the hands of its owner, who hopefully will be able to get several years of enjoyment from it.
