I don't have a typical office, 9-5 jobs and I'm usually driving around talking to or doing work for clients. This means I don't have a steady "home base" situation. Recently I've been thinking of building something of a mobile office. Kinda like the police. I would need some kind of wifi capability (research in progress. I get real tired of bumming internet from McDonalds and public libraries), comfy seats to spend lots of time in, a place to put a mini fridge probably with a power inverter since I can't stand that 2 or 3 meals a day come from take out at this point, and a work desk-type bench (again, something that I've seen in with the 5.0). The kicker is that I'd like the buy in price to be less than or equal to 6k, be kinda fun to drive (or can be made to be with relatively little cash), mechanically simple and DIYable for basic maintenance, not ancient, and give a "good impression" when I roll up to some of these multi-millionaires' houses. I think all in all I'd be willing to spend around, give or take, 10 with the outfitting that I'd need to do.
My first thoughts scream Panther--specifically a later Grand Marquis with P71 mechanicals or maybe I can find a Town Car that's not beat to hell. I've also thought about mid-2000s Suburban, but I've never been one for using an SUV as a DD unless absolutely necessary. Plus I think this puts a damper on the "can be made relatively fun to drive" caveat.
So besides Panthers and soccer mom SUVs, what am I neglecting?
Get a driver and do the "Lincoln Lawyer" routine like the book and movie. Lincoln Town Car.
If you want an actual mobile office setup with table, chairs, fridge, etc... VW Eurovan?
Do you want a rear seat office more like this Jaguar or a driver's seat office more like a cop car?
With your budget and your project goals I think you're right to consider an ex-police vehicle. The big alternator would help a lot, I expect. However, besides the Panther, don't overlook ex-cop Impalas or Chargers. Depending on where you do your driving, they might be good alternatives; for example, in a city environment Impala > Panther.
You know better than we do how to make a good impression on millionaires. If they made their money by actually working, I expect they'd appreciate the custom touches you're going to add to the car to make it ideal for your use. If they made their money by playing razzle-dazzle on the stock market or multiplying drug prices by a factor of ten to screw sick people, then just try to park facing out the driveway so you can leave as efficiently as possible after you get your check.
92dxman
SuperDork
3/19/16 10:44 a.m.
Honda Element with the back seats folded to the sides? For portable wi-fi, i'd look into one of those portable wi-fi hot spots:
https://www.boostmobile.com/#!/shop/plans/wifi-hotspots/
Years ago, I did some work for a local well-known attorney who had several offices across western PA. He had a conversion van with a complete mobile office in the back, and a driver so that he could shuttle between offices and not lose hours of work when on the road. This is when cell-phones were still a new fad, and I swear he had a fax machine in that thing, a desk and a mobile computer.
If it were me, I'd want a surface that I could work on when needed, so I would vote for a Dodge Caravan with the optional table. Plenty of room to work, sleep, eat, etc. Heck, you could hold meetings back there!
What about a hatch type vehicle with a "Command Center" type set up in the back. Police supervisors and Fire Captains usually have some variation of this in their SUVs. The TruckVault ones are too heavy and aomething like $3,500. They are insanely overbuilt AND marketed to government agencies that seem to just LOVE to throw large somes of money at stuff. I'm sure something similar could be build for a few hundred bucks and some effort.
They are only used out the back and you would be exposed to elements and such. Don't know how important that is.
Link to TruckVault Command Center line for reference.
Here you go: a 1968 Chrysler Imperial Crown Coupe, already set up for a mobile office.
http://texasclassiccarsofdallas.com
Chevy express van.... not fun to drive unless you like candy and little kids. But I did have one when I worked for state farm that had a full desk, two printers, two lap tops, verizon wireless (3g at the time) paper shredder etc. Worked great. I guess it just depends on what you want. Something with enough room to truly work in or something that's fun to drive. Not sure you can do both. I did put a sub and amp in it though...shhhh.... don't tell statefarm
stuart in mn wrote:
Here you go: a 1968 Chrysler Imperial Crown Coupe, already set up for a mobile office.
http://texasclassiccarsofdallas.com
That thing is awesome! Four cigar lighters too, pretty classy.
