The concept of value isn’t new to Holiday Rambler. With over 55 years designing and building the industry’s most value-packed RVs, the company’s credibility in this arena is unquestioned. The Endeavor line was introduced in 1993, and there’s a good reason for its longevity: It delivers value. And according to Kevin Atkinson, Holiday Rambler regional sales manager, it also delivers all the top-selling features experienced RV buyers are looking for. “Customers often use the Endeavor as a benchmark to compare other similarly-priced brands against,” said Atkinson. “The more research they do and the more comparisons they make, the better the Endeavor looks.”

The Basics

It all begins with the chassis. At the heart of the 2007 Endeavor is the Roadmaster Raised Rail RR8R-Series chassis. Designed for the high performance standards of a luxury motorcoach, these chassis are always built to the exact specifications of each floorplan – allowing for an unbeatable ride, superior handling and innovative features not possible otherwise. One of those features is a steel cage cockpit and entry door frame, giving the Roadmaster chassis incomparable strength and safety in the front of the coach.

In addition to the steel cockpit, the Roadmaster chassis features a steel firewall for added protection in the cockpit, an exclusive raised rail design for larger pass-through storage bays with flush floors, eight outboard-mounted air bags for a smoother ride, and monitored leveling sensors that adjust the air pressure at each axle to maintain a level ride and stabilizes the coach on uneven surfaces. “With Endeavor’s eight air bags and eight shocks positioned well outboard, the coach has a stable, wide stance,” Atkinson said. “You just won’t believe how flat and smooth this coach corners until you have a chance to drive one yourself, which I recommend.”

You need a gutsy powerplant to push all that steel effortlessly down the highway, and again, Endeavor delivers. This time, in the form of a throaty Cummins® ISL 400 horsepower diesel engine, which teams with the familiar Allison® 3000 MH 6-speed World transmission. Add to that a GVWR of 33,000 pounds and a 10,000-pound tow hitch rating (highest in its class), and you're off to a pretty good start.

A Floorplan for Everyone

The 2007 Endeavor at this writing is offered in eight floorplans from 36 to 40 feet. There are four new floorplans for ’07: A 36- and 38-foot quad-slide, a 40-foot full-wall slide, and a 40-foot quad-slide with a front kitchen. While all these layouts offer something unique, the standout of the group is the 40SFT, which incorporates Monaco Coach Corporation’s innovative full-wall slide (PANAsuite™) technology. You’ve probably read about this new floorplan in recent issues of Holidays.

“The strength of our engineering allows our product developers to have much more freedom to work with fresh concepts like the full-wall slide,” said Pat Carroll, vice president of product development. “It opens up the floorplan in more than one way, providing more space physically and visually, and allowing our designers to bring in unique features.”

For example, on the ’07 Endeavor, the expansive 24-foot full-wall slideout encompasses portions of the living, dining and sleeping areas. In the bedroom, there’s a curbside slideout as well, with a queen bed mounted crosswise. The full master bath toward the rear of the coach isn’t separated by a hallway. The wardrobe with sliding glass doors provides a lot of storage, the shower/tub is extra large and the sink counter has a flip-up extension. If you’ve actually seen one, you’ll agree, it really does alter the way the inside of the motorhome looks, feels and functions.

Master of All You Survey

I’ve had the pleasure of settling into the driver’s seat of a good many Holiday Rambler coaches, but I never cease to marvel at how well the cockpits are designed. You’d think good cockpit ergonomics would be a no-brainer, considering how may hours you spend there, but it’s not always the case.

The first great thing is how easy it is to find the perfect driving position – and to change it from time to time if you like. The Ultraleather™ seats have six-way power. (The passenger seat has a power footrest.) The lighted VIP Smartwheel® has controls for windshield wipers, headlight flash and cruise control and is large enough to allow a clear view of all the lights and gauges on the low-profile automotive dash. The brake and accelerator pedals adjust in and out at the touch of a button; there are power sunvisors and pilot/co-pilot pull-down sunshades; and there’s a color rear-vision system with audio and adjustable camera. So, not only can you make things perfect in a few seconds, but so can your co-pilot when he or she takes over. The massive

“Customers often use the Endeavor as a benchmark to compare other similarly-priced brands against. The more research they do and the more comparisons they make, the better the Endeavor looks.”

Panaview™ one-piece windshield first appeared on the 2006 Endeavor and quickly received rave reviews. For ’07, the bottom of the windshield drops lower for even better visibility. “We call it the ‘HR Smile,’” said Atkinson.

The Slogan Says it All

Holiday Rambler has used it as their brand slogan for years, but “This is Living” could easily have been written with Endeavor’s interior in mind.

There are four attractive and earthy décor packages with rich fabrics, complementary accents and new full-body paint with new eye-catching graphics. You?ll also have three wood options in which to choose, including the new Vintage Oak (standard), as well as Newport Cherry and Champagne Select (optional).

New Cathedral cabinet doors adorn all upper cabinets, and all cabinet doors have tasteful satin nickel hardware. (Incidentally, all the bath accessories are the same satin nickel finish, which is a nice design touch.) There’s also crown molding in both the living area and bedroom, which offers a high-end residential accent. Designer carpeting fills the living area, with ceramic tile in the entry in all new floorplans but the 40SKT, where ceramic tile extends throughout the first 1/3 of the coach, from the cockpit to the end of the kitchen area. There’s also a standard 24-inch flatscreen TV with remote in the cockpit overhead in all new plans but the 40SKT, which offers a 32-incher standard in the living area hutch, which makes sense with the front kitchen design.

A quick glance at any of the new floorplans and you could conclude that this is the standard Holiday Rambler kitchen — well planned with plenty of storage. But there are some twists in the new Endeavor that are special. New is a polished radius Corian® solid surface kitchen countertop with stainless steel sink and two sink covers in all new floorplans. (These covers can serve as additional cutting boards or small serving trays.) The galley range backsplash behind the cooktop is ceramic tile with Corian molding, which is both really nice to look at and functional. Solid surface countertops also can be found throughout all new layouts, including the dinette table, bath counters and nightstand tops.

A large four-door refrigerator with icemaker is standard in all Endeavor models; a new Dometic® Side Wise 14-cubic-foot two-way fridge with ice dispenser in the door is optional in all new plans but the 38PDQ. There’s also a cool and fashionable new stainless steel package optional for 2007 that includes a stainless steel refrigerator, microwave and cooktop.

All four new floorplans for ’07 offer a legless dinette table with two chairs and two folding chairs. The absence of table legs makes it very easy to get in and out of your chair. And to extend it you just pull – no latches needed. You’ll also notice that new ceramic tile has been installed under the dinette slideout in all new floorplans this year.

Again, all four new floorplans boast a bedroom with a slide on both sides and an oversized rear closet wardrobe with mirror doors and frames in that matching satin nickel found throughout the coach. A queen-size bed (with optional Comfort Air mattress) with a nice hardwood framed headboard with fabric inserts comes standard in the new layouts. Various dresser and storage combinations fill the bedroom slide opposite the bed slideout, depending on the floorplan. All four, however, house a 20-inch color TV with remote.

Value is a word you customarily find in advertising for low-priced, entry-level products. It’s a more novel concept when associated with the likes of the Endeavor, but that’s the point, according to Atkinson. “There isn’t a coach in this price range that has a list of features like this,” he said. “You just won’t find it.”