Thor Industries used the inaugural RVX show to get serious about production and potential production RVs like the Sequence camper vanand Tuscany Lithium concept motorhome. But it also kicked back and had some fun … a lot of fun. Its custom-designed Heartland Cyclone Ultimate Tailgate trailer pulls up stadium-side, screens all the biggest games of the day on more than half a dozen TVs, keeps the beer flowing with a built-in keg fridge, and provides plenty of space to relax with dual decks, an indoor/outdoor hot tub and a garage bar. Forget going into the stadium; the real entertainment is hitched to the truck.
We’ve seen a few unique party RVs in the past, including a rolling bachelor pad with remote-controlled beer cooler and outdoor movie theater and a concert-hopping VW bus with “upper deck” seating and slide-out mini-keg. But Thor brand Heartland takes the concept of go-anywhere partying to a new level with its absolutely huge Cyclone Ultimate Tailgate RV.
When the RVIA announced that “Team Tailgate” would be one of the contest categories at the Reveal event of RVX, Heartland didn’t have to work quite as hard as the competition to get nominated. Its range-topping 44-foot (13.4-m) Cyclone 4270 fifth-wheel toy-hauler was born to be a rolling party space, coming straight from the factory with a 13-foot (4-m) garage, available rear and side patios, cocktail bar-style kitchen counter, and plenty of standard and available audio/video equipment.
In fact, Heartland probably could have competed for the title by tacking a couple of optional extras onto a 4270, but instead it decided to throw the kitchen sink in. Inside, it turned the kitchen and living area into a functional sports bar, mounting four 55-in HD TVs in a row opposite the five-seat recliner couch and above the bar area. The wall at the end of that TV lineup houses the heart of the massive audio system, which includes 18 powered speakers and eight subwoofers in total.
Walking past the fully equipped kitchen with French door fridge and residential-grade stovetop and convection oven, one gets to the garage, finding a beer fridge below yet another TV and a beer hall-like picnic table set just ahead of the large doorway to the rear deck. The inflatable hot tub sets up in the garage or outside in the fresh air and should be easy to position in line with the best view (or perhaps in the best spot for enticing members of the opposite sex to hop in).
Tailgaters who prefer to combine fresh air and game-viewing will want to wander around to the side deck, where they can watch the swing-out TV. And if the deck itself is too crowded, there’s a second outdoor TV on the side of the trailer to handle the overflow.
Underbody lighting and a vibrant paint job with loads of swirling bright orange give the Cyclone trailer the proper look of a rolling party. Accessories include an outdoor Blackstone griddle with independent propane tank and a Can-Am side-by-side to add a little fun at events and fill up the rear garage on the way to and from.
Not so surprisingly, this Cyclone party wagon won the Team Tailgate category handily. We reached out to the Thor folks to see if there’s even the tiniest possibility of launching a Cyclone tailgater package inspired by this award-winning show trailer, but we take the lack of a response as an indication that there’s nothing like that in the works.
Ultimate tailgater RV turns parking lot into party with sports bars, patios and hot tub [New Atlas]