Newbie - habitation unit/vehicle costs?

[Rufus240]

Hi all,

Been looking at the site for a while and eventually taken the plunge as everyone is so helpful, so here goes.

this may be the first step on what may be a long project.

It all started with us buying a new motorhome (no not rich so please don't get the wrong impression as there's a reason why I mention this), it was and is our pride and joy and we have had so much fun.

But and here it comes, I have an engineering background and every time I look at the build quality I sit and cry, it is just so shoddy but I put up with it because of the good times we have had. The other down side is that it is so rear end heavy and front wheel drive that when accelerating up steep hills on dry roads you can feel the traction beginning to slip, and as for wet grass, forget it unless its down hill.

This started me thinking that there has to be a better way and obviously there is which is a 4x4 truck. Now in my mind I would like a 8x8 man kat built by unicat or even a ural 4320 with a big habitation unit to keep my better half happy- but that will always be just a dream.

But it may be possible to get something like a second hand eurocargo 4x4 and put a habitation unit on the back. Unfortunately, I would have to get someone to do this as I just do not have the time or space to do it. So my question is this does anyone have any idea how much a habitation unit would cost to put on such a vehicle. I was thinking along the lines of ormocar or British coach builder to build a bare bones shell and then get it fitted out as time allows. I know ormocar have prices on their web site but its not really clear. So if anyone could give me a general idea of what it costs to build a mid range habitation unit I would be grateful. Its just that I'm trying to budget what such a project may cost with regard to how much spend on the base vehicle/habitation unit. Apologies if this is "how long is a bit of string question".

PS I still would like a ural if I could afford the diesel.

Thanks in advance.

R