For many motorists, that means hours spent crawling along parched beach highways or getting stuck behind slow-moving RVs in national parks.

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It's no accident that to get from the campground to the clubhouse visitors who otherwise weren't looking to trade up must pass by a fleet of glistening 40-foot RVs.

FORBES: Twenty-Ton Cult

Some top dogs travel the country in blinged-out RVs, comparable to a rock star's ride, though as Dean writes in "Show Dog, " Uno the beagle, upon winning Westminster, got his own seat on a commercial plane.

WSJ: Jason Gay: When Madison Square Garden Raises the Ruff

In drivable RVs, Thor will run head-on into the powerful 46-year-old firm Winnebago, which gets all its sales from drivable RVs.

FORBES: Lord of the Rigs

These are more complex to build and sell than the lower-end towable RVs, a market that Thor now dominates.

FORBES: Lord of the Rigs

RVs can be invaluable in emergencies--from high-tailing it out of harms way during a hurricane or tornado to setting up shop in your driveway during a power outage, like many on the East Coast did during the blackout of August 2003.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The fraction of 35-to-44-year-old Americans who own RVs grew to 9.6% in 2001 from 6.9% in 1997, according to a 2001 University of Michigan study.

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The price seems high, but RVs are really expensive, and back-up power will just be one more option that Good Sam members will check off.

FORBES: German Company Invents Zero-Emission Power For RVs

Its engine segment (49% of net sales in 2010) produces a wide range of engines that run on diesel and natural gas used in heavy-, medium- and light-duty trucks, buses, automobiles, RVs, and industrial vehicles.

FORBES: CMI Ready To Rev Higher

Bruce Hertzke, the chairman, chief executive and president of Winnebago Industries (nyse: WGO - news - people ), knows the business of recreational vehicles (RVs) from the plumbing up.

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