Last year, Holiday Rambler did some major repositioning in terms of new nameplates and new highend value when they supplanted the Imperial marque and reintroduced the Presidential brand name for its new line of high-luxury, mid-priced fifth wheels. This left the company with a "towables" line consisting of Presidential fivers, Aluma-Lite travel trailers and Alumascape fifth wheels and travel trailers.

For 2002, the company has reordered things a bit more, with the final piece falling into place for a line-up that’s easier for customers to understand.To wit, the Aluma-Lite name has gone away, but the product line hasn’t. Instead, Holiday Rambler’s high-end travel trailer line is now offered under the Presidential brand, with some significant upgrades in value and luxury. Here follows a review of the highlights of what’s new and exciting in travel trailers and fifth wheels from Holiday Rambler for 2002.

Presidential Fifth Wheels
Over the last year, the newly positioned Presidential fifth wheel line has earned great consumer acceptance, according to national sales manager John Cunningham, due to its combination of luxury appeal and highly competitive pricing.
This year, Holiday Rambler has upped the ante by adding at least 29 new standard features to this line. Here are some of the more notable ones:

New features:
To reduce maintenance headaches, Nev-R-Lube axles arennow standard in 5,200- and 6,000-pound ratings. Chrome wheels are standard, as are stabilizer jacks, a rear ladder and exterior security lights.

Inside the forward storage area there’s a new hinged deck area with storage below to help you make better use of this storage space.

Gravity/bucket water fill, no-fuss flush holding-tank rinsing system and water-heater bypass are and a 10-gallon gas-electric water heater all now standard. And a new water-management system puts all the water controls in systems except holding tank dumps inside a single, lighted, above-floor hatch, which will make life a great deal easier. The new water-management system—reviewed in the May/June issue of Holidays— also includes a hand-held shower with hot and cold water.

Holiday has made several improvements in the Presidential fifth wheel’s kitchen. New standards include a 30-inch space-saver microwave and a ceiling fan. Counters have been raised to 36 inches – a more favorable working height that provides a bit more under-the-counter storage space. Toe kicks are deeper, too. There’s a new roll-out pantry next to the fridge—which now has a standard raised-panel door—a built-in trash can and, in many models, a drawer under the range.

Elsewhere you’ll find standard fluorescent ceiling lights and a standard swivel base for your TV. The new one-piece shower has a glass door and a skylight. And there is now a bank of cabinets over the living room slideout.

New options:
Available on larger models are a 7,000-pound Nev-R-Lube axles with five chrome wheels, and quick-draw electric rear leveling jacks. You can also order an exterior radio with CD player. A motorhome-style slideout storage tray under the bath deck is sure to be in high demand.
Another popular new option is the camping convenience group that includes four two-way radios with a recharger built into the interior, plus a rechargeable flashlight and a cord reel.
New décor choices include a beautiful optional Martha Stewart fabric package that’s been a huge hit with customers at early shows, according to Cunningham. And Martha fans will also be interested in the convection microwave option.

New floorplans:
Holiday Rambler has dropped four less-popular floorplans while adding three new ones.
The 30RLT is a triple slideout with oodles of living space in a modest-sized towing package. It features a curbside kitchen and entertainment center and a rear sofa with a chair, free-standing dinette table, refrigerator and pantry in the roadside slide. All the standard bedrooms have a transverse bed with a big sliding-door wardrobe along the front wall and a chest of drawers curbside.

The 32RLT is another triple-slide with the galley roadside, dinette and easy chair opposite and entry door amidships. The bath is roomier than in the 30-footer, with a cabinet for the optional washer/dryer and the whole bath suite open to the bedroom.

The most spectacular new entry is the 36SIT with its island kitchen design. The curbside slideout holds the range, fridge, pantry and some counter space, while the sink is in a counter-breakfast-bar unit that sits smack in the middle of the room, with a pair of barstools. The roadside slide holds the free-standing dinette and sofa; a pair of barrel chairs sit against the rear wall. The unit has a large entertainment center, a china hutch and the bed and bath are en suite.

Presidential Travel Trailers
Holiday Rambler’s top-of-the-line travel trailers are now a pretty even match for luxury with the fifth wheels. Solid-surface counters and a soft-touch vinyl ceiling are among the standard features. The standard exterior sidewall is heavy gauge (.040) aluminum and you can opt for smooth fiberglass.

Standard features:
The new Presidential travel trailers roll on maintenance-free 5,200-pound Nev-R-Lube axles. The convenient new water-management system described above is standard here, too, including the no-fuss flush system and gravity water fill. One roof air conditioner is also included.

Inside you’ll find a Memorex AM/FM/CD/cassette system, a Magic Chef touch-control microwave, and a large double-door refrigerator with raised-panel doors.

The roll-out pantry and built-in trash can are standard here as well. So are the fluorescent ceiling lights and the one-piece shower and skylight. Every floorplan has one or two standard barrel chairs and a wood booth dinette.

Options:
You may want to add an exterior radio/CD player and the camping convenience group with four two-way radios, built-in recharger, rechargeable flashlight and cord reel.

Inside you’ll want to consider the day-night pleated shades (mini-blinds are standard). You can choose fabric or leather for your sofa, and the Martha Stewart fabric package is available here, too. There’s an option for a free-standing dinette table with four chairs, and you can get a plank kitchen floor.

Floorplans:
The new Presidential travel trailer line includes six floorplans from 28 to 34 feet at this writing. Four are basically carryovers from the Aluma-Lite line, but two are brand new.

The 33FKS is a front-kitchen, rear-bedroom model with a roadside slideout containing the dinette and sofa. The kitchen is a roomy L-shaped design with two pantries, and two barrel chairs sit on either side of the entrance to the mid bath. The bath holds a garden tub, a large wardrobe and another large storage area that houses the optional washer/dryer.

The 34SKD is basically a ranch-style fifth wheel. The front bedroom has a linen closet and sliding-door wardrobe across the front wall and a vanity curbside next to the bedroom exterior door (something you don’t get with a fifth wheel.) It’s en suite with the roomy bath, which has a washer/dryer cabinet. The kitchen is amidships with the dinette and sofa in the roadside slideout and two barrel chairs in the rear before the big picture window. This will be a great floorplan for long-term stays, especially in campgrounds with a view out the back.

Alumascape Fifth Wheels
In the inexorable march of progress, Holiday Rambler’s popularly priced Alumascape line has received some considerable upgrading for 2002.

New features:
Living room slideouts now have a six-foot, one-inch ceiling height; the rear cap has been modified to provide for this feature. So now a lot fewer guys have to duck when rising from the sofa or dinette. The slideout will now have overhead cabinets, as well.

Counter heights have also been raised here to 36 inches with deeper toe kicks below. In a major décor upgrade, cabinet doors are now raised panel hardwood, and so is the refrigerator door. The new built-in kitchen trash can appears here as well.

Standard appliances now include a microwave and an AM/FM/CD stereo.
The bath gets a new one-piece shower with a glass door and a skylight.

Outside, the Alumascape fifth wheel also has the new central water management system (see Presidential fifth wheels above) plus standard water heater bypass. Power landing jacks are now standard, too.

New options:
The new Nev-R-Lube axles are optional on Alumascapes – 5,200-pounders on the small and midsize models, 7,200 on 34-footers. You can also order quick-draw power rear leveling jacks.

The exterior radio with CD and the camping convenience group described above (see Presidential features) are available. Inside, a new roll-out pantry is an option.

New floorplans:
Holiday Rambler has simplified the offering somewhat, dropping seven floorplans while adding five new ones. The total is now 12, from 26 to 34 feet. The new ones:

The 26RLD is a roomy double slideout in a compact 26-foot towing package. It makes great use of space with an ingenious kitchen design. The range and fridge are in the curbside slideout while an L-shaped sink-and-counter unit juts into the room, providing far more counter space than you’d ever get in a non-slide unit. There’s also a dinette in the roadside slideout and a sofa sleeper aft. A roomy bath with private water closet and a walk-around bed complete the package.

The 28RKD brings back the rear kitchen with a roomy new twist. The kitchen wraps around from side to rear, providing an incredible amount of work space along the back wall. Dinette and sofa are in the roadside slideout with a barrel chair next to the entrance door. The transverse bed slides out; there’s a chest of drawers at the foot and a huge sliding-door closet along the front wall.

The 28RLD has the bed lengthwise and a slideout that contains a generous wardrobe. In the living area, you’ll find the kitchen and dinette amidships and the living room aft, with two barrel chairs against the back wall and the sofa next to the dinette in the slideout.
The living quarters of the new 32SKD are a longer version of those in the 28RLD, but with the entry door in the middle of the coach. This new floorplan has the same en suite bed-and-bath of all the larger models with a roomy bath, slideout bed, chest of drawers and front sliding-door closet.

Finally, there’s a new 34-foot triple slideout model, the 34RLT. It is essentially a flipped version of the other 34-footer (34SKT) with the kitchen and entertainment center in a long slideout on the roadside and the sofa and dinette on the curbside. (Both models have twin barrel chairs in front of the picture windows in the rear.) The new 34RLT will appeal to people who want a larger kitchen with more counter space and the fridge on the same side as the rest of the kitchen.

Alumascape Travel Trailers

New features:

Most of the upgrades to Alumascape fifth wheels are present in the travel trailer line as well: AM/FM/CD stereo, raised-panel cabinet and refrigerator doors, built-in kitchen trash can, 36-inch counters with deeper toe-kicks, overhead cabinets in the living room slideout, one-piece fiberglass shower with glass door and skylight.

Alumascape travel trailers do not have the water-management system of the more expensive models, but they did get a standard exterior shower and water-heater bypass.

New options:
The list of new options is the same as for Alumascape fifth wheels, except for the 7,200-pound axles and electric rear leveling jacks, which are available on fifth wheels only.

New floorplan:
Yep, there’s just one, but it’s a good one. The new 34SKD design you read about above under Presidential travel trailers is available in the Alumascape line, too. With its front bedroom, big walk-through bath and rear living room, it offers fifth-wheel full-time livability in a travel trailer. I think this model will be especially popular with park-it-and-leave-it snowbirds and weekenders.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this quick summary of Holiday Rambler’s 2002 towable line. If I’ve piqued your interest even a little, then let me suggest you head out to your nearest Holiday Rambler dealer and take a look for yourself. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then being there is priceless.

Dave Bessmer is a freelance writer living in East Grand Rapids, Michigan. He has spent 25 years in or around the RV business. He has authored several features for Holidays magazine.