Bus converter
Liberty Coach
Liberty Coach is a family-owned company in North Chicago, Illinois, that turns Prevost bus shells into finished motorhomes sold under the Elegant Lady name. Liberty dates its start to 1968. Frank and Jeanne Konigseder finished their first coach in 1971 and incorporated the business in 1972. Liberty has built only on Prevost shells since 1979. It said it built 14 to 16 coaches per model year around 2022 and 12 to 14 in 2026, and it runs a sales and service center in Stuart, Florida.
Photo: Liberty Coach · All rights reserved
Models
History
Liberty Coach grew out of a family camping hobby. Frank Konigseder Sr. was born in 1937 in Lake County, Illinois. His parents, German immigrants, started a pattern and foundry business in North Chicago that same year. He and his wife, Jeanne, were keen campers who were unhappy with the motorhomes they could buy. Trade obituaries say that in 1968 they decided to build their own, and Liberty's About page dates its start to that year.
Liberty's anniversary timeline says the couple bought a 1958 GMC passenger bus from Greyhound in 1971, spent the summer converting it and finished by October. They took that first coach to RV shows around the country and incorporated the company in 1972. Near the end of the tour they sold Coach #1 at an FMCA convention in Vermont and started on the next one. For the rest of the 1970s Liberty bought used Greyhound buses, converted them and sold them one after another.
The turning point came in July 1978 at an FMCA show in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Frank Konigseder met Andre Normand, the president of Prevost Car, and within a few hours the two signed a handwritten contract. The first Liberty built on a Prevost shell was shown in Del Mar, California, in March 1979, and Liberty says more than a dozen orders followed. Liberty names Prevost as its only shell supplier since 1979. Its profile on Prevost's converter page calls it the oldest continuously operating Prevost converter.
In late July 1984 Liberty opened a 15,000-square-foot headquarters across the street from its first plant in North Chicago. The founders' sons, Frank Jr. and Kurt, were 6 and 4 years old when Coach #1 was finished. Both went on to work in the company, and trade reports say they have headed it since 2000. In 1991 Jeanne Konigseder handed the interior design role to Kim Konigseder, her daughter-in-law.
Liberty's timeline lists equipment it says it brought to Prevost conversions: a central programmable controller for lights, blinds and climate in 1993, touchscreen controls in 1995, Crestron control systems in 2002, the Moritz Octoplex electrical system in 2007 and lithium-ion house batteries in 2010. Later entries include voice control in 2017, a restyled interior in 2018, and blind-spot detection and the Super Suite bedroom in 2020. These are the company's own claims.
Liberty also opened a sales and service dealership, Liberty Coach of Florida, in Stuart, Florida. Its About page gives the year as 2001 and its timeline gives 2002. In 2013 it added The Motorhome Exchange, a subsidiary based at the Stuart site that sells older Liberty coaches and other pre-owned motorhomes.
Today Liberty says every coach it builds uses the Prevost H3-45 shell with two, three or four slide-outs. Liberty's profile on Prevost's converter page, which marks 2022 as its 50th year in business, says it builds 14 to 16 Elegant Lady coaches per model year, nearly all to order. Liberty's company description in February 2026 trade reports puts the figure at 12 to 14. Coach numbers on Liberty's site had reached #934 for the 2027 model year.
Frank Konigseder Sr., the founder and president, died on February 12, 2026, at age 88. Liberty remains wholly family-owned, and trade reports say a third generation of the family now works in the business.
Timeline
Unhappy with factory-built motorhomes, Frank and Jeanne Konigseder set out to build their own. Liberty's About page dates the company's start to 1968.
Liberty's timeline says the couple bought a 1958 GMC passenger bus from Greyhound and spent the summer converting it. The coach was finished by October.
The company incorporated in 1972. Near the end of a tour of RV shows, the Konigseders accepted an offer for Coach #1 at an FMCA convention in Vermont and started on the next coach.
At an FMCA show in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in July 1978, Frank Konigseder and Prevost Car president Andre Normand signed a handwritten contract to build Liberty coaches on Prevost shells.
In March 1979 the first Liberty built on a Prevost shell was shown at an RV convention in Del Mar, California. Liberty says more than a dozen orders followed, and it names Prevost as its only supplier since that year.
In late July 1984 Liberty opened a 15,000-square-foot building across the street from its first plant, with larger shop and service space, offices and an interior sample showroom.
Co-founder Jeanne Konigseder, the company's longtime interior designer, handed the role to her daughter-in-law, Kim Konigseder.
Liberty introduced a programmable logic controller that put lights, blinds and heating and cooling on a single interface. Liberty calls it a first for Prevost conversions.
Liberty opened a sales and service dealership in Stuart, Florida, separate from its North Chicago plant. Its About page gives the year as 2001; its anniversary timeline gives 2002.
Liberty began fitting Crestron systems as the main control center for lights, fans, climate, water and battery functions.
Liberty says it became the first Prevost converter to install a lithium-ion battery system. Its timeline says it moved to a 58-volt lithium system six years later.
Liberty started a subsidiary dealership for pre-owned coaches with longtime sales manager Dave Wall, based at its Stuart, Florida, site.
Liberty introduced a radar blind-spot detection system and the Super Suite, a larger bedroom for select triple-slide coaches that it developed with Prevost.
Liberty's profile on Prevost's converter page marks 2022 as its 50th year in business and says it builds 14 to 16 Elegant Lady coaches per model year.
Frank Konigseder Sr., founder and president, died on February 12, 2026, at age 88. RVBusiness reported that sons Frank Jr. and Kurt have headed the family-owned company since 2000.
Sources
- Liberty Coach – About Us
- Liberty Coach – 50th Anniversary timeline
- Liberty Coach – Why Liberty
- Liberty Coach – New Liberty Coaches archive
- Liberty Coach – Sold Coaches archive
- 2027 Elegant Lady #934 Super Calabria Quad Slide Edition spec sheet (PDF)
- Prevost – Converter Partners
- RVBusiness – Liberty Coach Founder Frank Konigseder Sr. Has Passed (February 19, 2026)
- RV PRO – Liberty Coach Founder Frank Konigseder Dies (February 18, 2026)
- RV.com – Video: A Look Inside a Luxurious 2023 Liberty Coach RV (January 16, 2023)
- RV.com archive – Liberty Coach Announces Discount on Select Models (MotorHome magazine, undated)
- Liberty Coach – Terms and Conditions