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In 1940, movie-mogul Howard Hughes commissioned eight mobile dressing rooms for his company, RKO Studios (now Paramount). This 19-foot vehicle, with 15 feet of usable interior space is built on a heavy-duty GMC chassis that was originally designed for military vehicles. Indeed, its instrument panel has a decidedly industrial look to it. The driver’s and passenger’s seats are the same as those used in the Ford Tri-Motor airplane, and the headlights are equipped with side blackout lights. The vehicle is also equipped with a generator, which provided power when the vehicle was used in remote mountain and desert locations.
One of the vehicles first assignments was as a dressing room for Jane Russell during filming of the controversial movie The Outlaw. Much of the controversy revolved around Russell’s attributes, cleverly referred to in one advertisement for the film: “What are the two reasons for Jane Russell’s rise to stardom?”
The vehicle was sold to a collector during the RKO liquidation auction in 1958 for the then staggering sum of $12,000, but it wound up moldering away in eastern Washington. In 2003, it was acquired by John Agnew who is restoring it at Funky Junk Farms in Los Angeles.
One of the vehicles first assignments was as a dressing room for Jane Russell during filming of the controversial movie The Outlaw. Much of the controversy revolved around Russell’s attributes, cleverly referred to in one advertisement for the film: “What are the two reasons for Jane Russell’s rise to stardom?”
The vehicle was sold to a collector during the RKO liquidation auction in 1958 for the then staggering sum of $12,000, but it wound up moldering away in eastern Washington. In 2003, it was acquired by John Agnew who is restoring it at Funky Junk Farms in Los Angeles.
Douglas Keister