Brand
Tiffin
Tiffin Motorhomes is a motorhome builder based in Red Bay, Alabama. Bob Tiffin started it in 1972, and its first coach was called the Allegro. THOR Industries bought the company in December 2020, and it still sells coaches under the Tiffin name. Its top diesel coaches are the Zephyr, Allegro Bus and Phaeton, and it also builds the Allegro Bay Super C.
Photo: Transwest · All rights reserved
Models
Zephyr
Class A
Allegro Bus
Class A
Phaeton
Class A
Allegro RED
Class A
Allegro Bay
Super C
Open Road Allegro
Class A
Byway
Class A · 2024–present
Allegro RED 340
Class A
Allegro Breeze
Class A · 2011–present
History
Tiffin's story starts with a family store. In 1941 Alex Tiffin opened Tiffin Supply Company in Red Bay, Alabama, selling most of what a family needed to build and furnish a house. In 1965 the family bought a cotton gin, and Alex's 23-year-old son Bob took charge of running it.
Tiffin's own history blog says that in the early 1970s a small RV maker called Sunliner Motor Homes went bankrupt in nearby Tremont, Mississippi, and that Bob Tiffin saw promise in a chance that many others passed over. Its About Us page says an RV company came to the area, called it quits, and the Tiffin family bought it. The first Allegro motorhome rolled out in Red Bay in the winter of 1972, and Tiffin counts 1972 as its founding year.
In the 1980s Tiffin added the Allegro Pusher, a diesel coach with basement storage, and by the middle of that decade it was building ten motorhomes a day. Bob Tiffin's sons Tim and Van joined the business in those years.
Tiffin says it launched its first slide-out motorhome in 1992 and, five years later (1997 by that count), what it calls the industry's first triple-slide motorhome. Its history adds that the 1990s saw the rise of some of its best-known models, including the Allegro Bus, Zephyr and Phaeton, but it gives no launch years. Tiffin's history says Bob Tiffin was inducted into the RV Industry Association Hall of Fame in 1999, and by 2005 all three of his sons, Tim, Van and Lex, worked in the company.
The oldest brochures in Tiffin's online library are from 2005. They show the Allegro Bus and Phaeton on Freightliner chassis and the Zephyr as a 45-foot coach with a 500-horsepower Cummins engine. A brochure printed in April 2010 introduced the Allegro RED on a Freightliner chassis. Tiffin also developed its own rear-engine chassis, called PowerGlide; a 2011 brochure for the new 28-foot Allegro Breeze says that chassis was designed and built at the Red Bay plant.
On December 18, 2020, THOR Industries bought Tiffin Motorhomes and its related companies for $300 million. The deal, announced three days later, included fifth-wheel builder Vanleigh RV and suppliers of windows, furniture, doors and fiberglass parts. THOR said the group had about $800 million in RV sales in the fiscal year that ended February 28, 2020, and that Bob Tiffin would stay on as chief executive. In June 2021 his grandson Leigh Tiffin was named president, starting July 12, 2021.
In March 2023 Tiffin and Freightliner Custom Chassis began a partnership on the next version of the PowerGlide chassis. Tiffin's review of 2023 says Freightliner will manufacture that chassis while Tiffin works on the design, and later specification sheets list coaches such as the Phaeton on a Freightliner PowerGlide chassis. In September 2023 Tiffin launched the Byway, a new diesel coach that replaced the Allegro RED 340. For the 2024 model year the Allegro RED 360 was renamed Allegro RED.
Leigh Tiffin resigned as president on February 12, 2026. Tiffin's announcement says he chose a new opportunity with NIRVC, that he was not fired, and that no successor had been named. On February 25 a company question-and-answer post said Class A diesel manufacturing is shifting to Tiffin and that Entegra Coach is not closing. The post also said Tiffin has introduced a separate brand, Cornerstone, whose coaches will not be Tiffin models, and that Tiffin sits in a THOR operating group with Jayco, Entegra Coach, Open Range RV and Heartland RV. Bob Tiffin remains actively involved, and in June 2026 Tiffin said it had put more than 90,000 RVs on the road since 1972.
Timeline
Alex Tiffin, Bob Tiffin's father, starts Tiffin Supply Company in Red Bay, Alabama.
The Tiffins buy a cotton gin, and 23-year-old Bob Tiffin runs it.
After a nearby motorhome maker fails, the Tiffins start building motorhomes. The first Allegro rolls out in Red Bay in the winter of 1972.
Tiffin adds the Allegro Pusher diesel coach and reaches ten motorhomes a day by the middle of the decade. Tim and Van Tiffin join the company.
Tiffin says it launched its first motorhome with a slide-out room in 1992.
Tiffin says it debuted the industry's first triple-slide motorhome five years after its first slide-out, which makes it 1997.
Tiffin's history says Bob Tiffin was inducted into the RV industry's hall of fame in 1999.
Tiffin's history page says that by 2005 Bob's sons Tim, Van and Lex had all joined the company. The oldest brochures in its online library also date from 2005.
A brochure printed in April 2010 presents the Allegro RED, a rear-engine diesel coach on a Freightliner chassis.
The 2011 brochure introduces the 28-foot Allegro Breeze and says its PowerGlide chassis is designed and built at Tiffin's Red Bay plant.
THOR Industries buys Tiffin Motorhomes, Vanleigh RV and related supplier companies for $300 million, effective December 18, 2020.
Bob Tiffin's grandson Leigh Tiffin becomes president on July 12, 2021. Bob Tiffin stays on as chief executive.
The earliest Allegro Bay Super C brochure in Tiffin's library is for the 2022 model year, on a Freightliner S2RV chassis.
In March 2023 Tiffin and Freightliner Custom Chassis began a partnership on the next version of the PowerGlide chassis. Tiffin's December 2023 review says Freightliner will manufacture the chassis, Tiffin will work on the design, and the new chassis would be unveiled in January 2024 at the Florida RV SuperShow.
In September 2023 Tiffin launches the Byway, a new Class A diesel coach that replaces the Allegro RED 340. Tiffin's August 2023 'What's New for 2024' post lists the Byway as new for the 2024 model year.
Tiffin's 'What's New for 2024' post (August 2023) says the Allegro RED 360 is renamed Allegro RED, and lists the 450-horsepower Cummins L9 as standard on all Phaeton floorplans.
Leigh Tiffin resigns as president, effective immediately, in an announcement dated February 12, 2026. No successor is named in the announcement.
A February 25, 2026 company question-and-answer post says Class A diesel manufacturing is shifting to Tiffin and that Entegra Coach is not closing. It also says a separate brand, Cornerstone, has been introduced and its coaches will not be Tiffin models.
In a company history post dated June 2, 2026, Tiffin says it has put more than 90,000 RVs on the road since 1972.
Sources
- Tiffin brochure library
- About Us (Tiffin Motorhomes)
- The History of Tiffin Motorhomes (Tiffin blog, June 2026)
- THOR Announces Acquisition of Luxury RV Manufacturer Tiffin Motorhomes
- Tiffin model lineup
- PowerGlide chassis page
- What's New for 2024 (Tiffin blog, August 2023)
- What's New for 2025 Models (Tiffin blog, March 2024)
- A Year In Review at Tiffin: 2023
- A Closer Look at Tiffin Innovation (Tiffin blog, July 2020)
- Leigh Tiffin Named President of Tiffin Motorhomes (June 2021)
- Leadership Transition (February 2026)
- Clearing The Air: Your Questions Answered (February 2026)
- The Many Adventures of Bob Tiffin (March 2024)
- The Tiffin Allegro Club (Tiffin blog)