Model · Beaver
Beaver Contessa
The Contessa was a Beaver model before SMC bought the company in 1994. SMC brought the name back in 1997 on a redesigned coach with a 330-horsepower engine. Monaco's price tables list it until the report filed in March 2003, and the owners' club holds Contessa brochures and manuals for 2007 to 2009; the 2008 manual lists a 425-horsepower Caterpillar C9 engine. Two Contessas finished in 2009 and labeled 2010 models were the last Beaver coaches built.
Photo: The Motorcoach Store · All rights reserved (brand photo)
About this model
SMC's 1997 report says the Contessa had been a Beaver model before SMC bought Beaver in 1994. A long-time club member lists the 1993 Contessa at $270,000 to $295,000, and club members say 1993 was the last year of that design.
SMC brought the name back in 1997 on a completely redesigned coach with a 330-horsepower engine. Its price range was $190,000 to $230,000 in SMC's report for 1997 and $216,000 to $275,000 in its report for 2000. Club members say SMC's chief, Mathew Perlot, wanted the Contessa to be a lower-priced line rather than sit just below the Marquis; SMC's price ranges put it between the Monterey and the Patriot. Monaco listed the Contessa at $255,000 to $270,000 in its annual report filed in March 2003, but the line is missing from the reports filed in 2004 and 2005.
The club's library next lists a Contessa brochure for 2007. The 2008 owner's manual covers models from 38 to 42 feet with a 425-horsepower Caterpillar C9 engine. When Monaco went bankrupt in 2009, two Contessas were on the production line. They were finished after Navistar bought Monaco and were labeled 2010 models.