By default, recreational vehicles have to be functional almost to a fault and versatile enough as to include all the creature comforts of a home. The Valiha is an RV, but it’s also a proper work of art.
December is Celebration Month on autoevolution and, among other topics, we’re also looking at outstanding examples of luxury transportation. The Valiha fits the bill: one of the more recent custom projects from Italian manufacturers CMC Caravan, it is a gorgeous, massive trailer that defies expectations – even those of utmost luxury.
We’ve covered several of the mega-trailers from CMC Caravan, and the one thing they all have in common, besides their impressive size and the fact that they expand at camp, is that they’re all technical and design wonders. They’re far from convenient for the regular RV-er, but the idea is that they aim to show just how high you can elevate the standard for luxury living on the road. They’re doing a mighty fine job at it, if we’re being honest.
A single look at Valiha, aka The Muse, can confirm it. It’s another ginormous trailer that offers three slide-outs for almost double the living space in camp mode and such exquisite craftsmanship that it could very well be described as a work of art. Designed for a customer with a very specific taste, it also exemplifies the trend of mixing rare wood pieces with natural stone and eco-friendly materials.
Photo: CMC Caravan
“When beauty reaches all the senses and evolves, it becomes music, it becomes perfume, it becomes shape and materials. And it makes the heartbeat,” CMC said of the Valiha when it was presented to the public in late 2021. Those are some very fancy words that would probably ring empty were they not backed by the beautiful visuals of the trailer.
Constructed over 14 months, during which time the client was involved in every step of the process, the Valiha sits on a 17-meter (55.7-foot) CMC semitrailer with three BPW axles of 10 tons each, with Pirelli 265/70 R 19.5” twin wheels. The chassis is of high-grade steel, with the bodywork of 50x50 galvanized steel and the roof frame, fairings, and corners made of stainless steel. Like with every other of its trailers, CMC uses aluminum coils for the roof, painted with nano-tech white cover.
The Valiha has three slide-outs and offers sleeping for an entire family in a master bedroom and two children’s rooms, each with its own ensuite bathroom. In reality, however, it could probably sleep a much larger party, since it’s positively massive. CMC doesn’t offer an exact size for the layout, but similar builds go up to 120 square meters (1,292 square feet), which is absolutely bonkers if you consider we’re talking about a trailer. In camp mode, the mega-trailer is 7.5 meters (24.6 feet) wide thanks to the two lateral slide-outs that go from one end to the other.
The styling of this one is a very exotic mix of rare woods and natural stone, with the occasional eco-friendly element like Paperstone, which is a beautiful, modern-looking, and heavy-duty paper composite surface that is made with recycled paper, natural pigments and petroleum-free resins. And you thought the rich didn’t care about the environment!
Inside, the Valiha offers a living room with a formal dining table and a very futuristic, open-plan kitchen, separated from the living by a gorgeous wooden island. The kitchen has every appliance you could possibly need or want, but they’re all tucked away from view behind panels, almost as if on purpose so they don’t distract from the beautiful woodwork.
Photo: CMC Caravan
The living expands into a terrace, which sits on the smaller slide-out and is fitted with two wooden lounge chairs that would, again, look just at home on an art gallery display. CMC Caravan tells autoevolution that work on the Valiha started with the doors, since the client fell in love with the way the company worked with wood and evolved from there. You can best see that in one of the kids’ rooms, where the same mosaic-like motif on the door extends into the furniture and then through the rest of the room.
Like other CMC Caravan trailers, the Valiha has to be towed with a semi, which means it won’t be allowed on most roads and will require a special permit to operate. It is described as an eye-catching “symphony” for the senses, one that is meant to evoke a journey into the natural world, but one where, you know, you’re not bothered by the elements or pests like bugs and mosquitoes. Valiha has several AC zones, underfloor heating and thick insulation, which makes it suitable for all-season use.
Since most trailers from CMC Caravan are custom designs, they don’t come with fixed price tags. It goes without saying that these are products only for the kind of client for whom spending a fortune on a secondary home is not something to lose sleep over, so the only limitations are those imposed by what you can actually build into a trailer. That said, the company says Valiha was in the same neighborhood of €1 million (approximately $1 million at the current exchange rate) as The Core completed in 2020.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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