DO YOU OWN A TAILGATING VEHICLE OR KNOW OF ONE?

Phoenix Contact takes promoting their business pretty seriously. In fact, they have fully restored and customized a 1970 El Camino, which displays a wide range of industrial components and connectors for IP67 applications. And if you don’t know what IP67 means, and we didn’t know either, you can check it out here. But far from being just another industrial product demonstration, the EL Camino also sports 18-inch rims, GPS navigation, twin DVDs, DirecTV, XM satellite radio, a 32-inch HDTV, Wii gaming system, and a 48,000-BTU grill.

They took this tailgater’s dream tailgating to selected Big10, SEC, ACC, Mountain West and NFL games this fall, and you can catch some of the photos on their Facebook page. Check out below how this beauty opens up!

During a Bristol NASCAR race in the fall of 2008, Rich Brown, an Appalachian State Alum and avid fan, were tailgating when they noticed all the modified tailgating school buses around them. They saw the potential of having hundreds of fans tailgating around a properly modified vehicle. Rich and his three buddies, who were psychology professors at Appalachian State, came up with the idea of equipping a short school bus into App State’s most fierce tailgating machine. After finding a bus on eBay, which was originally an ice cream short bus (great find!), Rich and his friends began work to modify the bus.

The debut of the short bus came at last year’s Richmond game that included over 80 guests visits in what they call their “unorganized party.” The Appalachian State Short Bus features, music, TV, service bar, grill, second deck, removable benches, and a mounted keg tap. This year, they are getting ready to modify the bus with a new Tiki Hut that will be installed on the second deck. They are currently scheduled to finish this project by the end of the summer.

This bus currently frequents the Appalachian State football games and some NASCAR races, and is hoping to reach more events in the future.

A couple of things come to mind watching this: A) What was the base vehicle used for this project? B) This guy has to be freezing his "Bengals" off in that outfit in those mid-December games.

If owning and operating a tailgating vehicle is the equivalent of running a company, then The First Class Tailgaters, a tailgating group backing the Tennessee Titans, are the equivalent of a conglomerate. They aren’t just equipped with a simple tailgating van. They operate a tailgating van, trailer, mobile bar, rolling gadgets, and a container kitchen. Yes, they converted an old ocean-shipping container into a complete commercial kitchen.

Tailgate Trailer

Let’s start things off where they started things off. A friend gave Wayne Vandevort, one of the founders of First Class Tailgaters, a grill that was made from a fuel tank of a semi truck. His idea was to get a trailer with tandem axles that were at least 16 feet in length, and mount that monster grill for their tailgates. Once he was able to locate a trailer suitable for such a task, he took it to TenMet Trailer Repair, where they painted the trailer blue. In addition to painting, they installed white aluminum panels on the outside, and a translucent roof.

Once the trailer was back home, they ran all of the electrical wiring and pre-wired the six speakers for the stereo. They then installed stainless steel walls in the front area of the trailer, and white plastic panels on the rest of the walls. To secure the trailer while unattended, they designed the top to collapse and set on top of the walls, leaving no room for entry.
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If you aren’t into putting up around 40 grand, and spending your summer working on your own tailgate machine, you can always rent one. This 2004 39ft CAT diesel RV, which has been appropriately named “Big Mix,” has been reconfigured into a tailgating stronghold. Big Mix has features such as a large rooftop deck, heavy-duty lift gate, and billboard-sized sides for team or corporate logos. The garage has been outfitted with a seating area with two additional flat screen TV’s, which brings its total up to three. Other features include exterior hook-ups, on-board air compressor, and a 7.5KW quiet generator. If you are interested in renting out this bad boy, you can check them out at http://www.bigmixevents.com/. They currently serve Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

If you are currently in the market for a no work, ready to party, tailgate machine, look no further. This WorkHorse Step Van has very low mileage, and is ready for exterior vinyl art. This incredibly customized tailgate vehicle can feature up to three 46” outdoor sunlight viewable HD LCD Samsung screens. Two of the screens are built into the driver side wall of the vehicle, and the third screen slides into the service window on the passenger side if desired. The professionally installed TV’s are optically bonded with tempered glass so they are rugged and waterproof. Includes DVD/tuners and sound system for both sides of the vehicle, and a third set of outdoor, waterproof speakers for the roof.

This tailgating beauty also includes a very quiet 3500KW Onan generator, built onto the rear of the vehicle. Other features include awnings on both sides of the vehicle, and a tow package.
The owner originally designed this tailgate van for a three-month summer tour that has already been completed. It can easily be ready for Bowl games, Play-off games, and the Super Bowl.

Retail price $65,000….asking $38,500.

Did we forget to mention it also features a large refrigerator…that can hold three kegs!

For more info, you can reach Ron at ron@aqproductions.com.

There are weekend projects, and then there are weekend projects that take 6 months and over 1000 man-hours to complete. This one is the latter, and it is appropriately named the “Master Gator.”

Created by Keith Moody, the “Master Gator” began as a 1992 Ford B700 with a 5.9 Cummins and Thomas Body, which was picked up in an auction down in Broward County. Working with some of his friends, Keith began by gutting the inside of the bus including seats, rubber floor, plywood subfloor, heaters, driver's seat, and windows. Then using the help of his friend Martin from Master Blaster in Fort Pierce, they sandblasted the inside before priming and painting the complete interior portion of this tailgate machine. Keith even stripped down the windows to their raw aluminum state, and took them to a machine shop where he was able to anodized the frames black. As he would put it, “Not one part of this bus is half assed, all wiring, plumbing paint etc was done right.”
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Long-time Brooks & Dunn backer and bad-ass truck maker, Toyota, has released a piece of machinery this week that will make any true tailgate enthusiast drool until their lips turn dry. The Midnight Rider Tundra Tailgater by Brooks & Dunn is a tribute to the legendary country music duo’s career that has spanned over 20 years. The Tundra full-size pickup has been a sponsor of Brooks & Dunn for the past three-plus years and the Tundra Tailgater is Toyota’s way of celebrating the music duo’s upcoming 2010 farewell tour.

Built by The B.A.D. Company, the customized Tundra CrewMax Limited full-size 4x2 V8 pickup was a perfect fit for the ultimate tailgating vehicle.

The magic begins when you slide out the tailgate, exposing a Grill N Chill® cooking area from Go! Products. The pull-out Grill N Chill features a cooking space with countertops, infrared barbeque, beverage tap and ice chest. An electronically operated tonneau cover enhances your tailgate party with a bed-installed 42-inch flat screen TV and sound system by Kicker. The sound system features a dual subwoofer system and a separate amp, four two-way speakers with tweeters and separate crossovers, and dual two-channel amps with separate equalizers and speaker control units.
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Originally purchased from a neighbor in 1996 for $1,200, the “Big Ship” was converted into one helluva’ Jimmy Buffett tailgating camper. The camper was initially used for camping with the kids, which started in 1998, but the family outgrew the 21 footer about 8 years later. Realizing there was much more life left in the ol’ girl, Mick Roulet, the owner of this party machine decided to give her a fresh coat of paint every time he gave it a wash…once a year.

However, this isn’t your average paint job. In 2007, he began by painting the camper inside and out for the Buffett Bama Breeze Tour. The camper was painted up to depict a vintage aircraft with buffed aluminum skin complete with nose art. The carpet was replaced with tropical colored vinyl tile and vinyl base.

The main artwork for this tailgate machine is usually taken from one of the tee shirts of that year’s concert tour. The painting usually takes about 3 weekends and some late nights to complete, and is done using spray cans and an airbrush. Mick mentions that, “The tough thing is getting a picture of the current tours tee shirt. Usually the picture I get is so small, when I blow it up it becomes so grainy I can’t make out all the details. I then print out the design on a clear transparency and project it on the camper using a overhead projector and trace it.”
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Charley Bogwill and Jeff Burdick's passion for tailgating was evident way before the idea to build a tailgate van came along. They have been hosting tailgates for many years, which have included items such as gas-powered blenders, tents with construction heaters (for the ladies, of course), custom ISU helmet hitch-mounted grill, and an ISU Scoreboard replica portable bar with TV and running water! These are not your average tailgaters.

After they made up their minds on building a tailgate machine, the search was on. For months, the two looked at buses, box vans, step vans, fire engines, and ambulances to name a few. Just about when the search was ready to be called off, Jeff located a gem on eBay, and made the 5 and a half hour trip with Charley to go see the new center of their tailgating universe, a 1970 Vanette. The interesting part of this story is that the guys went home empty handed not being able to agree on a price, and in fact, they didn't even win the auction. As it so happens, two weeks after the auction, the owner called the guys up, and let them know that many attempts to contact the winner fell unsuccessful. Game on!
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