# New egg camper



## Hamilton Reef

New egg camper changes look of RV world

http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/grpress/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/117224074264700.xml&coll=6

02/23/07 By Howard Meyerson Press Outdoors Editor [email protected]

Jim Palmer doesn't hesitate to pound on his 17-foot camper with his fist. The Grandville entrepreneur smiles when he does it. And, just as suddenly, he comes to the point. 

"Do that to another trailer at an RV show and see what happens. This is a strong shape. And shape is everything."

The shape is smooth and rounded, much like an egg, which is why Palmer calls his new line of travel trailers Egg Campers. 

His is not a large, rolling box with the streamlining of a brick on wheels. It's a smooth, aerodynamic shape that has been around since the 1960s. The 56-year-old tinkerer, airplane builder and owner of Team Automotive Collision Center in Grandville, where the campers are assembled, just figured he could improve on it. 

Palmer's trailer debuted at last month's Grand Rapids Camper, Travel and RV Show, where it drew a large crowd. It is on display again at the DeltaPlex RV Expo that opened Thursday. 

"It should do very well," said Ken Kruh, owner of Al's Trailer Mart and the organizer for the show. "Small trailers are making a comeback." 

The trend, Kruh said, is driven by economics. Smaller trailers are less expensive. They can be towed by smaller vehicles which, in turn, use less fuel. 

"Twenty-five years ago, we sold a lot of small trailers," Kruh said. "But then people started buying big. Now they park the big ones and want smaller ones for traveling. 

"Their's (Palmer's) is unique because it's all molded fiberglass and not conventional trailer construction."

The Egg Camper's interior is simple and clean. Some might call it Spartan. 

But it is modern looking and has amenities often found in a larger trailer, like a stove top and oven, hot and cold running water and a shower and bathroom. It has ceiling fans and even air conditioning. 

Its sealed construction prevents leakage when stored outdoors, a problem that plagues other types of RV construction, according to Palmer, who has owned and rebuilt several over the years.

"It's an egg within an egg," he said. "The fiberglass is only 1/8-inch thick. Eggs are strong in their own right. It's a well-known shape in the aeronautics and auto industry." 

Palmer's Egg Camper is one of 100 recreational vehicles on display at the RV Expo. Seven area dealers are showing their lines, including a wide assortment of small tent campers, pickup campers, travel trailers and big rigs. There are full-size toy-haulers, travel trailers, fifth-wheels and Class A motorhomes valued at $250,000. 

"This is a buyer's show," said Kruh. "It's a place where people can deal." 

Palmer, who built his first Egg Camper in 2005, got the idea to do so after spending time in one that was owned by a friend. 

He is undaunted by engineering and building projects. Palmer maintains two single-engine airplanes that he built from the ground up. His next aviation building project will be a float plane. 

As for the Egg Camper, he says simply: "I wanted one. But one that met my criteria. 

"I'm 6-foot-3. His camper was really neat, but I couldn't stand up in it. The interior ceiling in ours is 6-foot-7." 

Palmer, a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association, a national group for recreational pilots, builders, and aircraft owners, said he drew on aviation-construction techniques in designing and building the trailer. 

His first door was a work of art, he said, a smooth rounded door that looked beautiful and fit flush on the rounded camper body. Then someone reminded him that campers needed to have screen doors too. 

"My ego took a hit when we had to change doors after that," he said, laughing. 

Palmer's campers are constructed in a bay at his automotive business. The parts are molded in Elkhart, Ind., the heart of the Midwest RV industry. 

His Egg Campers sell for $17,000 nicely equipped. Two different interior configurations are available. One has a full-size bed with storage underneath. The other offers a U-shaped seating area that can be made into a bed at night. 

Palmer also is showing a new Retro-teardrop trailer he designed and built. It is a stripped-down utility model good for hauling things, but eventually will be outfitted with a place to sleep and cook. Teardrop trailers were the rage in the 1930s and 1940s. They, too, have been making a comeback in recent years.


----------

