I was under the impression that the slide out was something that was thought up here in America, but no. There I was looking at this website, leodis.net, it's a slew of photos from Leeds England and the surrounding area. Much to my surprise there's a photo of a vehicle designed and patented during WW2 by Charles H. Roe who built trams and buses. It's mounted on a six wheel drive Foden chassis and has full length slide outs on both sides.
Unfortunately it's beyond my skills to load the image to this posting.
Manston Lane, Charles H. Roe Ltd, Cross Gates Carriage Works, Military Vehicle
Thanks for sharing
Interesting. I have lived 74 years without them.
We had one on our mpg trailer. It wasn't very big, but did make a difference. Unfortunately, our cat was a very small kitten back then, so before we could let her out of her travel kennel we had to get the slide out and close up every small hole around it so that she couldn't get into places she shouldn't go.
The galley was in that slide, and I got very tired of having the sink there, as it required flexible hoses for hot, cold, and drain lines. I decided that if we ever got another RV with a slide, the sink and stove could NOT be in the slide.
It makes a lot of sense to have slide outs on a vehicle that has to have certain parameters to get down the highway safely. When I see a 45 ft coach with four slide outs I think. Wow! There's got to be a lot of room inside of there! And then I think about how difficult it would be to access the storage bays underneath. Then I remember all of the stories that I've heard of coaches with slides falling out bladder replacement issues. Then I remember being in coaches would slides and thinking that the person I was talking to is too far away for a good conversation , especially when there is multiple people talking across from each other. I think about how easy it is to set up my RV once I arrive and if I'm boondocking in a fuel station or rest area overnight as I am apt to do on my longer drives, my coach is no different with the slides in or out. Out. So at this point in my life I think that I am okay with no slides but they sure do look pretty.
But that's an interesting story and thanks for sharing it!
I'll never forget my trip to the RV/MH Hall of Fame, and seeing a 1916 motorhome with slideouts! Granted they needed to be manually operated, but I was flabbergasted! I didn't move from that spot for an hour I was so amazed. They even had a loop from the radiator for hot water showers. I do think the term motorhome is an improvement over "Automobile Telescope Apartment", but you can't beat the price.