I don't remember the exact conversation when Jo-Marie came into my office but it must have gone something like this
Jo-Marie: Dennis, I have a lady downstairs that has brought a scale model of her motorhome with her, and we need your advice please.
Dennis: What, she brought a model of her own motorhome? Why?
Jo-Marie: No, its a model of the Discoverer Xtreme 4x4 motorhome she wants us to build for her, and it has a veranda.
Dennis: Ohh. I see... wait... what? It has a veranda?
Jo-Marie: Yes, and she brought photos of the fullscale model she build on her stoep at her house.
Dennis : Youre kidding me, right?
Jo-Marie: No. Dead serious. Come downstairsand see for yourself.
Of course I could not resist.
We at Motorhome-World love a challenge and I will be the first person in the door when such an opportunity presents itself.
So started the relationship to design and build a wonderful motorhome for an even more wonderful lady. Those last words are very important. I cannot begin to explain what an excited and cooperative client does to the levels of perseverance and determination to our team members.
Patricia Glyn had “oedels” of excitement. Her infections, inspirational personality really made this motorhome come alive in the entire team's heads before it was even on our drawing board.
She left us no choice but to take on the project.
When we took on this challenge it was at the end stages of the very technically advanced “Halsema” build, which really stretched Motorhome-World team members patience with each other.
When we had our first internal build meeting on this motorhome (to be named “Alexandra” by Patricia) I had a room full of normally very talkative people around the table with blank stares.
I could read it on their faces: What trouble has Dennis brought into our lives this time!
Well, it was worth the trouble..
It takes months of planning for a project like this. Motorhome-World’s normal production-line motorhomes, and the more conventional Discoverer Xtreme 4x4 motorhomes had to continue to be designed and manufactured. With these types of projects, much of the planning and designing will take longer than anticipated and need to happen around the normal day-to-day operations.
This story is from the November 2018 edition of Caravan & Outdoor Life.
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This story is from the November 2018 edition of Caravan & Outdoor Life.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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