Bus converter
Country Coach
Country Coach of Junction City, Oregon, finished Prevost bus shells into custom motorhomes alongside its own line of Class A motorhomes. Filings by its parent, National R.V. Holdings, describe conversions on the Prevost XL, H3-45 and XLII shells, with the double-slide XLII starting at $1,339,000 in the report for 2005. The newest conversions found are two 2008 coaches in dealer listings. A February 2010 news report says the company shut down in fall 2009 and its assets were sold in a bankruptcy liquidation. The name now belongs to a repair and customizing business in Eugene, Oregon.
Photo: Prevost-Stuff.com listing · All rights reserved
Models
Prevost XLII Conversion
Bus conversion
Prevost H3-45 Conversion
Bus conversion
Prevost Le Mirage XL Conversion
Bus conversion
History
Country Coach is best known for its own Class A diesel motorhomes, which are covered in the Country Coach brand entry. This entry covers a smaller part of the business: finishing Prevost bus shells into custom motorhomes at the company's home in Junction City, Oregon.
The company's own history page says Bob Lee left Caribou Manufacturing in 1973 and started Country Campers, that his brother Ron and Lenard Lee soon joined, and that the business took the name Country Coach, Inc. in 1984. National R.V. Holdings, Inc., a motorhome maker that filed reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, bought Country Coach on November 6, 1996, paying with stock valued at $9.0 million.
The start date of the Prevost program is not settled. The National R.V. annual reports for 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002 say the Country Coach Prevost Conversion was introduced in 1979. The reports for 2003 through 2005 say 1983. The oldest Country Coach Prevost coaches found in used-coach listings are 40-foot XL models from the early 1990s.
The reports show how the coach changed. The 1997 report describes a fully custom coach in 40- and 45-foot lengths, with one floorplan that had a slide-out room, priced from about $650,000 to $1,000,000. The 1998 report names the Prevost Le Mirage XL and H3-45 VIP shells, with prices starting at $659,000. The 1999 report names the XL II shell, starting at $715,000, and the 2001 report lists 40- and 45-foot Le Mirage XLII coaches from $967,000.
In its report for 2001, National R.V. said it intended to end the Prevost conversion in 2002. It gave three reasons: limited profit, falling sales of bus conversions and the need for factory space for motorhomes that sold better. The conversion stayed in the lineup. The report for 2002 lists a 45-foot XLII double-slide coach from $1,218,000, and the report for 2003 says the Prevost work had moved to a leased building away from the main plant. Later reports give that building's size as 27,000 square feet.
Starting prices for the double-slide XLII kept rising: $1,290,000 in the 2003 report, $1,310,000 in the 2004 report and $1,339,000 in the 2005 report. The reports list features such as Crestron electronic controls, a satellite dish that works while driving, GPS navigation and computer-controlled air leveling. MotorHome magazine tested a 45-foot XLII double-slide coach with the Monarch Summit floorplan in its November 2005 issue. The test coach was priced at $1,420,395, including $81,725 in options.
On February 20, 2007, National R.V. sold Country Coach to Country Coach Holdings LLC, a company owned mainly by Riley Investment Management, for total consideration of $38.7 million that also covered some additional assets. Country Coach's history page says the company later went bankrupt and laid off more than 450 workers, then reopened in April 2009 with more than 100 workers. The page says Country Coach is now owned by Oregon Motorcoach Center in Eugene, Oregon, and describes its work as repairs and customizing. A news report from February 2010 adds that the restart was small, that the company shut down again in the fall of 2009, and that a judge converted the case to a Chapter 7 liquidation in November. Ten finished motorhomes were auctioned, and founder Bob Lee and his brother Ron bought the brand rights and other intellectual property for $170,000. The report does not mention Prevost conversions. No source was found that says when the last Prevost conversion was finished. The newest ones found in listings are two 2008 coaches described by a dealer. The Prevost-Stuff listings stop at 2006.
Timeline
The company's history page says Bob Lee left Caribou Manufacturing and started Country Campers in 1973, and that his brother Ron and Lenard Lee soon joined. The business later became Country Coach, Inc.
National R.V. Holdings' annual reports for 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002 say the Country Coach Prevost Conversion was introduced in 1979. Its reports for 2003 through 2005 say 1983.
Used-coach listings show Country Coach conversions of the Prevost XL 40 shell from model years 1990, 1991 and 1992, all without slide-outs. These are the earliest Country Coach bus conversions found.
On November 6, 1996, National R.V. Holdings acquired all of Country Coach, Inc. by issuing 543,806 shares of stock valued at $9.0 million.
The annual report for 1998 says the conversion was built on the 40- and 45-foot Prevost Le Mirage XL or the H3-45 VIP, with prices starting at $659,000.
The annual report for 1999 says the conversion was built on the 40- and 45-foot XL II or the VIP shell, with prices starting at $715,000.
In its annual report for 2001, National R.V. said it intended to discontinue the bus conversion in 2002 because of limited profit and falling volume. Later reports still list the product.
The annual report for 2003 says the company moved its Prevost operation to a leased building away from the main plant to free up space for other motorhomes. The double-slide XLII started at $1,290,000.
MotorHome magazine's November 2005 issue tested a 45-foot XLII double-slide coach with the Monarch Summit floorplan, priced at $1,420,395 with $81,725 in options.
On February 20, 2007, National R.V. Holdings completed the sale of Country Coach to Country Coach Holdings LLC, owned mainly by Riley Investment Management, for total consideration of $38.7 million that also covered some additional assets.
A dealer's listings on RVPark.com describe two 2008 Country Coach XLII double-slide coaches. The listings do not say who finished the coaches or when.
The company's history page says Country Coach went bankrupt and laid off more than 450 workers, then reopened in April 2009 with more than 100 workers.
A February 2010 news report says Country Coach shut down again in the fall of 2009 and that a judge converted its bankruptcy to a Chapter 7 liquidation in November. Founder Bob Lee and his brother Ron bought the brand rights and other intellectual property at the sale for $170,000.
Sources
- National R.V. Holdings, Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal year 1997
- National R.V. Holdings, Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal year 1998
- National R.V. Holdings, Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal year 1999
- National R.V. Holdings, Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal year 2001
- National R.V. Holdings, Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal year 2002
- National R.V. Holdings, Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal year 2003
- National R.V. Holdings, Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal year 2004
- National R.V. Holdings, Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal year 2005
- National R.V. Holdings, Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal year 2006
- Prevost XLII Monarch Summit (MotorHome magazine, November 2005, on RV.com)
- Country Coach: About
- Once-booming Country Coach's assets sold (Associated Press and The Register-Guard, February 5, 2010, on KATU.com)
- Prevost-Stuff: Prevost coaches for sale
- RVPark.com: 2008 Prevost Country Coach XLII Double Slide (Legacy Coach dealer listing)