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Motorcoach.direct

Bus converter

Marathon Coach

Marathon Coach is a family-owned company in Coburg, Oregon, that turns Prevost bus shells into custom motorhomes and corporate coaches. It began operations in September 1983 and has built on Prevost shells since 1989. The Schoellhorn family has owned it since the early 1990s. Prevost and a 2021 trade report credit it with more than 1,300 coaches, and it runs sales and service centers in Oregon, Florida and Texas.

A Marathon Coach conversion on a Prevost shell

Photo: Motormadness · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Top model
H3-45
Owner
Schoellhorn family since 1994
Headquarters
Coburg, Oregon
Founded
1983
Type
Bus conversion
Status
Building today
Shells / platforms
Prevost H3-45 and X3-45; earlier, the Prevost XLII
Website
www.marathoncoach.com

Models

H3-45

Bus conversion

X3-45

Bus conversion

History

Marathon Coach, Inc. began operations in September 1983, converting new commercial bus shells into motorhomes and corporate coaches. The sources read for this entry do not name its founders or say where it started. Wikipedia's article on Junction City, Oregon, says Marathon was based there before moving to nearby Coburg. The regional tourism page it cites says only that Marathon was one of the RV makers that opened divisions in Junction City.

A company article says Marathon has built its conversions on Prevost bus shells since 1989. In 1990 Bob Schoellhorn, who had retired as chief executive and chairman of Abbott Laboratories, bought his first Marathon coach and invested in the company. The same article says he became sole owner in 1994, the year Marathon moved into its custom-built plant in Coburg and opened Marathon Coach Florida in San Antonio, near Tampa. A 2023 profile says the Schoellhorn family has owned Marathon since 1992.

Marathon Coach Texas opened in Grand Prairie, near Dallas and Fort Worth, in November 2006. An undated MotorHome magazine item said Marathon planned to open another sales and service dealership, in Beaumont, California, in late 2007. No later report on that site was found, and a 2021 trade report names facilities in Oregon, Texas and Florida.

Marathon gives each coach a number. An undated MotorHome magazine item reports its 1,200th conversion, which Marathon called a record for the bus conversion industry. Show Coach #1317 appeared in February 2020 and coach #1375 in February 2023, and a 2025 model was listed as #1397. Prevost's converter page and a 2021 trade report both credit Marathon with more than 1,300 coaches since 1983.

Marathon was reported as the first converter to show coaches on two updated Prevost shells. In February 2020 RVBusiness wrote that Marathon was the first builder to feature Prevost's new X3 chassis, on Show Coach #1317. In 2023 Marathon said its double-slide coach #1375 was the first luxury RV finished on the redesigned H3-45, and it showed the coach at the Prevost Motorhome Expo in West Palm Beach, Florida, on February 8 and 9.

Trade reports from 2020 and 2021 name Steve Schoellhorn as president and owner. A 2023 profile describes the Coburg headquarters as a 160,000-square-foot facility on 17.5 acres and says each coach takes about six to nine months to build. Documented new prices include $2,433,569 as tested for a quad-slide H3-45 reviewed by RV.com in December 2020 and an MSRP of $2,989,929 for coach #1375 in 2023.

Timeline

1983
Marathon Coach begins operations
Marathon Coach, Inc. began converting new commercial bus shells into motorhomes and corporate coaches in September 1983.
1989
Conversions move to Prevost shells
A company article says Marathon has built its conversions on Prevost bus shells since 1989.
1990
Bob Schoellhorn invests
Bob Schoellhorn, the retired chief executive and chairman of Abbott Laboratories, bought his first Marathon coach and invested in the company.
1994
Sole ownership, the Coburg plant and a Florida center
The company article says Schoellhorn became sole owner in 1994. That same year Marathon moved into its custom-built plant in Coburg, Oregon, and opened Marathon Coach Florida in San Antonio, near Tampa.
2006
Marathon Coach Texas opens
A sales and service center opened in Grand Prairie, near Dallas and Fort Worth, in November 2006.
2007
California dealership planned
An undated MotorHome magazine item said Marathon planned to open a sales and service dealership in Beaumont, California, in late 2007, in a 51,000-square-foot building on three acres.
2020
First coach on Prevost's new X3 chassis
Marathon Show Coach #1317 debuted at the Prevost Motorhome Expo in West Palm Beach, Florida. RVBusiness reported that Marathon was the first builder to feature Prevost's new X3 chassis.
2020
Sales rise and hiring planned
In June 2020, president and owner Steve Schoellhorn projected a 30 percent rise in new-coach sales over 2019 and planned to hire at the Coburg headquarters and at all three sales and service locations.
2021
More than 1,300 coaches
A trade report on a quad-slide coach built for golfer Bubba Watson said Marathon had produced more than 1,300 coaches since 1983 and had facilities in Oregon, Texas and Florida.
2023
First motorhome on the redesigned H3-45
Double-slide coach #1375, which Marathon called the first luxury RV on Prevost's redesigned H3-45, was shown at the Prevost Motorhome Expo in West Palm Beach, Florida, on February 8 and 9, 2023.

Sources