Inside Vin Diesel's Million Dollar Luxury Mansion On Wheels
Mark Sinclair, famously known as Vin Diesel, started his career at the age of seven when he was caught trying to vandalize a theater with his friends. Instead of calling the police, the director offered to give them $20 each if they returned after school every day and acted in her upcoming play, "Dinosaur Door."
Some ten years later, Sinclair was working as a bouncer, a job that helped form the tough guy persona seen in his films. He told Men's Fitness that he was in over 500 skirmishes, "and these weren't pretty fights." During his bouncer phase, he changed his name to Vin Diesel, likely to protect his identity, or maybe because it just sounded cool. "Vin" is short for Vincent, the last name of his step-father, Irving H. Vincent, while "Diesel" was a nickname given by his friends, because he always seemed to be gassed up.
With over 50 acting credits to his name, he is best known as the voice of Groot in Marvel's Cinematic Universe, the antihero Richard B. Riddick in the sci-fi "Riddick" films, and of course — Dominic Toretto in the juggernaut "Fast & Furious" franchise. But when he's out and about on location filming his latest movie, he sometimes likes to take things ... Slow & Luxurious, if you will.
It's always play time in Vin's diesel
In or around 2012, Sinclair went to Anderson Mobile Estates (AME), the leader in high-end luxury trailers, to get his own mansion on wheels. AME's first client was Will Smith but has since gone on to fashion two-story expanding trailers with "yacht-like" features for some of Hollywood's heaviest hitters, such as Brad Pitt, Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone, Oscar De La Hoya, and former President Bill Clinton.
According to the company, "every square inch" of living space is customized to the client's needs, and no "creature comfort" is off-limits. It claims to be able to bring anything a person might have in their oceanfront home into a trailer, including "exotic woods, fine leather, audio and visual, and hard surface tops."
Known as "The Comfy Cabin," the ground floor of Diesel's two-story, 1,100 square foot RV has a lounge, a small kitchen, a well-appointed bathroom, and a living room with an adjacent conference room. The second floor features a media lounge or office, its primary bedroom, and a massive play area for his kids. Nearly half of the upper floor is dedicated to the play space, with a padded mattress floor, pillows, and a safety net across the door to keep the kids from flying out. On the very top is a sundeck.
Along with the sub-zero refrigerator in the kitchen and costume suede sofas in the lounge, the 40-ton rig boasts over $70,000 in technological gizmos and gadgets. It has full satellite hookups for 3D flat screen smart televisions (equipped with Blu-Ray players), surround sound, and a cutting-edge 360-degree surveillance system (via auotevolution). According to sources, the trailer cost a cool $1.1 million.
You too can sleep where The Diesel slept
Diesel used this for many years, including while filming "Fast & Furious" movies in Puerto Rico and the third "Riddick" movie in Canada. However, it doesn't appear that he still owns the big rig, and it may have since been remodeled and renamed.
Anderson Mobile Estates, in business since 2000, has a more recent venture called 7744 Ranch in Austin, Texas, that opened up just this year. Located just two miles from Tesla's Gigafactory, the resort RV park is trying to target high-end glampers and businesses in need of a corporate retreat or a team-building experience. Folks can rent one of its luxury trailers that were previously owned by celebrity A-listers Will Smith, Jennifer Lopez, Simon Cowell, and Vin Diesel. Prices range from $400 on week days to $650 on Friday and Saturday nights and $850 per night on holidays.
But after comparing photos of "The Aspen" on its website today with pictures of Diesel's "Comfy Cabin" from 2012, what they claim was once Diesel's is either an entirely different trailer or has been overhauled. The exterior looks like the same model, albeit with a brown paint job, but the interiors look quite a bit different.
So why the "previously owned by" marketing angle at all, though? In recent years celebrities have been selling back their mobile mansions to avoid environmental backlash associated with owning big rigs in today's eco-friendly climate. It's actually a pretty clever way to repurpose old "mobile estates," and at a halfway reasonable price point, can truly offer a "one-of-a-kind experience" to just about everyone.