1986 Highwave Boaterhome Junk Yard Walk Around 

Did anyone notice that at 5:09 this is a prototype the original boaterhome that is amazing and it needs to be preserved this is an awsome piece of 80's history

Yep. Weatherstripping, that's what it needed.

That Motor that You didn't know what it was , it is a Onan 1800 watt RV Generator.

i gurantee it only has 10k miles on it.

The "motor" is an Onan Genset. ie: it is a generator, for running things inside the boat, when the I/O is off. Most of the Boaterhomes were powered by a 400hp Mercruiser

What a brilliant setup. A 60 ft long vehicle running front wheel drive through a transfer case full time. Must have been a dream on the road

I remember seeing this in a car or truck magazine in the 80s

roadkill needs this some one tag them

So it's a van, a boat and a jacuzzi!! Awesome!!

May God Almighty bless all who read this

Great find ... thanks for sharing

Awesome! There are lots of videos of these in action and some sites on details. Thanks for the tour!

nice find man!!! I never knew such things existed lol

Some 3" shag, an airbrushed space wizard, and a rear lift will get you some for sure!

Never seen those before! Lol! My late husband would have loved them! He loved boats and was into custom cars. What a combo!

wow that's awsome. I've seen the videos of them taking the boat off and that was cool. shir wish I could find one to fix back up or just fix up and take camping. great video. god bless.

There was a lot of cocaine in the eighties.......a LOT

Tell the Roadkill crew about this, it would be awesome to see it on the show!

Great find! No idea this existed. I'd love to have found one in my neighbourhood.. I still drive my 86 E350 Motorhome. And it needs a good steering box! :-)

Definitely a unique find! Good job getting some footage of it.

those rims are awesome

mike utoober that engine in the back of the boat is a generator more specifically an ONAN Genset 1800 RPM RV generator

Would not have believed it was front wheel drive. Very interesting. Thanks for the vid.

those ar39s are great 90s wheels, and 2 extras on the inside. I need those in my life, they look nice and shiny too

That's a generator in that boat. The push engine is gone.

very cool restored!!/sad to see like it is 😔

Thanks for showing!

I found one of these in Lodi, CA about a dozen years ago. Was in really good shape.

Dude take the foam off a older headphone cover and glue it on your camera as a wind screen it works... any foam...

The green motor is actually a Genset.

that's very cool, would love to have one

Just watched a video where this is restored awesome job

Leakiest Econoline ever... unless it was supposed to have an indoor pool too. :D

Would you know how much and if it's still available?

That tape deck/radio used to be top of the line! And the tie off things are cleats. Cool find!

this is pretty cool

that's a generator onan gas twin it has a bad ass transfer case and that was standered mirrors for 1 ton vans in 86 chevy and dodge had them on their 1 tons

The engine you were looking at is an Onan generator, the boat engine would be in the center where you can see the empty transom mount holes & it is missing.

Just found out about this thing 5 minutes ago from a gif and I instantly wanted one.

There was a custom Boater Home in a Little Caesars "Half Breadstick & Half Pizza" commercial

thats rare i wonder what one is worth in good condition i think it would fetch a good buck

wow... i wounder just why would a big ass boater-home that could be really nice with a good dose of love ....why in a damn junk yard .....it's hard for me to believe .....it is a rare item .....OK

That was a prototype one! WHAT!!! IN LOVE xD

so I just saw a video of one on here that is in full working order and the boat sounds like it has a big block in it two it's the coolest thing ever thanks again

7:34.......What did you call me?

If you look at 5:08 in the video you can see that this one is a prototype. So this one would be nice to get a hold of and restore. Any info on where it is and if possibly for sale would be greatly appreciated since I do live in Florida that would be sweet down here.

That's a great find wish I could find a deal like that whole lot of elbow grease a lot of love and care you have you something special at the end good luck with it

-- " . . . of it"

onan gen set engine

I wanna tell you about this now that I know more I don't know what year it is. lol

Cool video, that would be a huge project

That's definitely awesome, something that I've never seen.

Those are very valuable buy it

generator...

10,000 HARD miles. If you had a boaterhome in the 80's, you were the coolest guy at the boat launch.

Cool video man.... Never even heard about these vehicles. Thanks for sharing it!

5:09 "This prototype is not for sale." So maybe it even did not have an interior done at all...

Pump that water out and get busy.

That thing is neat.

Mad Man Muntz had one in Stanton California in front of his Muntz Stereo shop !

Boaty McVan Face.....

fascinating - im in uk...never seen anything like this..... so.. what is it, van with detachable boat?? its weird seeing as this would of been for the richer people...now it sits like a ghost....

Cool resto mod. If you have some scratch you feel like never seeing again :) But it would be good fun to pull up in one at the dock. Life of the party.

I love my boaterhome lol there not cheap but there worth it in the long run

Why not call it the motorboater?

It might be awsone to rebuit it !

LOL, that thing looks hilarious!

I just saw a video on these boater homes… said that only 21 of these were made that’s pretty cool

"is it a deisel?" no..... the 460 was the mainstream e350 motor forever untill the powerstroke was released. the boat engine is a volvo marine engine, clearly. and they were typically awd because running fwd with a load is far from effective especially when trying to get that entire chasis out of the water on a boat ramp. further. that e350 chasis is a 86, that entire rig was a 89' boaterhomes were produced in limited numbers made to order. some 400 units were ever sold and fewer then 100 still exist in its entirity. some 40 or less (numbers are unknown as there were so few made) still function. most of them were sunk because the awd system was far too large and most people would get tired of replacing u joints constantly and put a dead axle set in the rear. pretty self expanitory that the boaterhomes with only fwd (disabled rear wheels and dead axles) sunk like stone attempting to pul theyre own weight as well as the 4800 pounds the bot itself weighed in its most basic form. some boaterhomes could be had as a basic option that were significantly shorter then the one seen in this video making the fwd power train more practical but still a horrible idea for towing, since dragging weight is in efficient and situating the weight over the drive axles was the best choice. some even were retro fitted with torsion bars to spread the load out for getting off the loading ramps but ideally a loading ramp of over 12 degrees and youd need help getting out of the water. there are a few survivors that are functional and being restored here on the oregon coast by a gentleman that fully restores classic airstream trailers and is know for combinig the 2 together to get the best of both worlds

looks like a generator. not the drive motor.

look at that thing.. You really got to love the lake...

that would be so cool.

sad to,see this just rotation away

Hi. where is this boaterhome located ? and do you know how much they want for it. I'm sure not alot or I would hope so anyways. I want it. it would take many thousands to fix up. it's a very cool. Please let me know. Take care. Hawk out!!

Cool find

It's such a good idea to combine a boat with a motor home, it's like the best of both worlds (at point of purchase, not when you actually try to holiday in it obviously).... it reminds me of the Guitar/hammer they used on American Chopper which turned out to be less than perfect as a dual tool.

look up coolest guy at boat ramp on RU-vid

its front wheel drive because it has to pull itself out of a boat launch.

It's a shame that it's been let go. Probably was really nice when it was newer! First I've seen one. Thanks for the video!👍😎

i think i have a pic of my daughter standing beside this particular boat at a dealership in Hamilton Ontario. it had a mercruser outdrive. i saw it from the highway and had to stop in and have a look at it.

I hope someone rebuilds that thing. Too unique.

Mike is it for sale? anyway to get intouch with the owner? thanks

that was cool

There wee 23 made in total. 21 were of them were the production line vehicles, 1was the prototype; which is still driveable but not for sale and 1 for adv purposes but had electrical issues up the wazoo which I believe this is that one. You would think it would be easy to restore but except for the motor and drivers cab it's ALL custom. That would cost the same to restore as a '57 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible. not to mention the electrical system is a nightmare. The only way you'd be able to recoup some of the cost is by leasing it out for advertising purposes for a few years. Even Barrett-Jackson has said the resto cost is around 3X what you could expect back from the auction.

hey man why you no start?

This is the whip, I can't understand why someone would have not kept ed it in pristine condition over the years it could have been stored in a poll barn. What a shame did you by chance get a price of what they want for it as it sits?

This is a cool project for the right person. Got a very unique few of a kind here. You have all the important pieces still with it. A good boat hull. A complete van chassis. From the looks, it sat uncared for and protected for a long time. Lots of money to recondition this, but it would be worth it. Ford never made a 4x4 E-series van from the factory. They were all converted after market. A lot of work went into creating this van and boat. The glass and panel finish work on both van and boat looks to be very high quality. Or was. The van engine is a Ford FE big block carbureted with a 3 speed automatic. The engine and out drive for the boat look to have been Mercruiser or OMC Cobra due to cut out shape in transom. Wonder how and why this wound up in the salvage yard. It looks like most of the damage is from rain water getting in and not being removed. It would be interesting to see the docking configuration on this package. This thing is so over the top.

vary cool bud thanks for sharing I have never seen one before and I think that is a generator in the boat

That was an onan generator in the boat twin cylinder apposed

I love it, it got potential .

the AR39s are the cherry on top!

There use to be one of the on a little lake in Texas, Alvarado Lake. Just the boat part was docked at someones place for years,fished by it quite a bit

i seen the coolest guy at the ramp. and that machine rocks. he hauls ass out of the park to boulder city. and is a nice person! waved and dusted us up the hill! ha.

The boat engine is an Onan light plant air cooled opposed twin. These engines are still being made today.

Really neat.

Saw one drving around in Henderson, Nevada 4 yrs ago.

That is an Onan generator you were looking at. The engine goes in the center of the back of the boat. You can see the motor mounts where is sat.

Oh my god i want one!

Nice wheels just laying there.

Who’s here looking for a Boaterhome after the pizza ad?