Ever heard of "Prevost Car"? Sarah Palin has. And you aren't welcome. (pic warning)

[A HERETIC I AM]

Prevost (Pronounced "Pray-Vo" - a Quebecois company and a Francophone name) is one of only a handful of large, commercial motorcoach manufacturers in North America and a favorite among the wealthy for use as conversion platforms to luxury motorhomes. Think Winnebago not only on steroids, but with a huge bank account as well.

Prevost builds large bus platforms for the touring coach and transport segments as well as "shells" for the coach conversion industry. Look at the next big tour bus you see on the highway. Chances are, it will either be a Prevost or an MCI. There are a few large conversion companies that will take a bare shell and turn it into a luxury coach for you. The largest are Marathon Coach (from my experience, truly the premier converter),
Featherlite, known as Vantare, Popular with NASCAR drivers, primarily because of Featherlites inroads into the Race Transporter segment, Country Coach, Liberty Coach & Millenium
There is another builder of large, custom motorhomes of the same scale by the name of Newell Coach and they are, to my knowledge, the only builder that manufactures large, heavy, 3 axle coaches of the same class as Prevost than makes them exclusivly for the custom motorhome market. In other words, you can't buy a Newell that carries 60 people. Sarah ain't in a Newell.

But I digress.

I have been interested in these machines for a long while, as they are very popular in the motor racing industry for both hospitality rigs and refuges for drivers and team owners. I drove a tractor trailer that was painted several times at Marathon Coach, in Coburg Oregon, one of the largest conversion companies in the US for such coaches and I became quite familiar with them. Not to mention they're cool! I'd buy one if I ever won the lottery, so there you go.

So...a little about Ms. Palin's "bus" from what I know of the industry and how these things work.
1) She is riding around the country in a customozed motorcoach of the kind, price and quality most of us can't imagine. This ain't your papa's pickup shell nor is it a typical motorhome. It is a custom coach with a six figure price tag.

2) She is likely leasing it, as it would be difficult for her to justify buying it outright if she plans a run for the Presidency. As she is not an official candidate, leasing it is no problem at all for her "PAC". Buying it with her own money for the purposes of this one trip is ...well....stupid. And as stupid as we all know Sarah to be, she ain't THAT stupid. Besides, with that god-awful and vain paint job, this is most assuredly a one-off.

3) From the footage I've seen of the coach, it is most likely a Prevost "H3-45" like this one;



Whether or not it has the "Slide-outs", or the expanding floor spaces shown in the above pic is something I haven't been able to discern from the pics and footage I've seen of her coach, but if it does have them, and it has an interior layout like many I've been aboard, you are looking at a piece of equipment that could be well in excess of $750,000 original cost. I doubt seriously they went out an bought a new one or arranged for a new one to be built up, as there are so many on the used market. Still, a nice, newish, low miles Prevost with a custom interior is going to run a quarter million (they tend to depreciate like Cadillacs).

And by custom interior, I mean it looks like this on the inside;





(Now that's not necessarily her coach. Just an example of how these things are fitted out. The source of those pics is the page linked below. Just click on "View more info" on the first coach and the slide show will open.)

To lease that puppy, you are looking at upward of $10,000 a a WEEK, NOT including fuel, driver costs * and the paint job.

* The driver is likely running her $200 + a day PLUS per diem. We all know god damned well neither her or the Toddster is driving that coach. The driver is staying in a hotel room of his own, I guarantee it and from what I know of the biz, his per diem is at least $35 a day PLUS the room. If the guy is settling for anything less than a Holiday Inn @ $100 or better, he is getting ripped off. A gig like that is a Hampton Inn at $125.00 a night or higher, I'm sure and knowing the grifters they are, the Palins are probably staying at Hyatts or better and so is the driver.

4) ALL of this is being paid for out of her PAC. Meaning the idiots that send her money are paying for a customized motorcoach to haul her, her hubby and her kids around the country at better than $12,000 a week, probably closer to $15,000. With diesel at close to $4.00/gallon and these units getting less than 12 MPG, her fuel costs alone are staggering. These units, btw have a fuel capacity like a Semi truck - 200 plus gallons. $550 or more to top it off.

Edited to fix the GOD DAMNED typo!! No matter how many times I proofread, I ALWAYS miss something!

[GKirk]

1. I'm sorry but

so what? Did you think she was going to sleep in a pup tent?

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. So what? Hey...you're right. It is a huge so what.

In fact, it is such a huge so what that the entire point of her tour - to interest people in the "foundations" of this country are entirely served when she is getting around in a motorcoach that is worth more than most peoples houses yet she wants everyone to think she is just like them, wearing that stupid, dopey, HUGE fucking cross around her neck every time a camera is pointed at her.

The point I am simply trying to make is she is a hypocrite of the highest order.

But you got that, didn't you?

[Angry Dragon]

5. The problem as I see it is who really is paying for everything

She claims it is a family vacation.
PACs can only be used for politicians......
If the money is coming from the PAC then
she is stealing money.........

[A HERETIC I AM]

6. That's just it. She isn't stealing anything!

It is all perfectly legal as long as she hasn't officially declared her candidacy. THEN it becomes illegal. As long as she isn't a candidate, she is free to spend the money her PAC gathers in this way.

At least that is how I understand it. And that is what pisses me off.

Actually, it doesn't piss me off. It amuses me. To think the idiots who idolize her and are sending her PAC money are paying for a tour of the country in a fashion most of us could only dream of is something I find pretty funny, really.

She is a dipshit, a sham, a scammer and a hypocrite par excellence and those that think she is "one of us" are getting exactly what they deserve.

To be ripped off.

[Angry Dragon]

7. She has repeatedly called this a family vacation

'In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation.'

She is not a candidate nor is she pushing for a political issue or legislation

Under this definition she is stealing money in my opinion


'It is all perfectly legal as long as she hasn't officially declared her candidacy'
I think she has to form an exploratory committee if she has not declared

Other wise anyone could form a PAC, call themselves a politician, travel around and say whatever they wanted, and not really do anything.

[A HERETIC I AM]

12. Fair enough.

Please understand I am not defending this abomination of a "vacation" in any way, shape or form. I am simply trying to bring attention to how much it is costing a week and exactly what type of vehicle it is. I really don't think too many Americans understand precisely what kind and what cost this vehicle represents, that's all.

If it is indeed an illegal use of PAC money, I hope someone in the media has the balls to call her on it.

[Angry Dragon]

14. .........

:hi:

I think she feels any money coming in is her's.
I have not heard anyone ask her about the money.
I think they are blinded by her great presence and her great mind.............

[ejpoeta]

36. these are the same people that send money to preachers like jim and tammy fay baker

and some of the other ones who live in mansions and then when they show video of the old lady who is living off of catfood in her trailer what her donations are going to she says that it's ok they should be living in a nice house with nice cars..... that is what we are dealing with.

[Marrah_G]

22. Yes because it's either a pup tent or a 5 star hotel on wheels

Nothing in between for a "family vacation". If she is running that is one thing, but if she is not, this has to be some sort of a violation of PAC funds. She is a con artist and she has all those people fooled into thinking she is one of them.

[piratefish08]

26. nope. just an ordinary, average, plain ol' family summer vacation

in a million dollar motorhome paid for by suckers and televised nightly on tv.

definitely no pup tents here.

this is NOT a campaign. i repeat, this is NOT a campaign.

[KansDem]

2. Wait! In that third photo...looking out the window...

I think I see Russia!

Really!

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. That bus will look great stuck up to it's wheelwells in cowshit

when she tries to crash Mitt's big kick-off party at the Bittersweet Farm in Stratham, NH later this week.

[Orsino]

8. See, Sarah? Workers with socialized medical care built your land yacht.

Which you use to fleece American wage earners.

[madrchsod]

9. there was a teevee program about these busses...

750,000 is chump change....

but what hell,fox news is paying her way...

[A HERETIC I AM]

13. Yup. New builds with all the bells and whistles run $1.5 mil and up. n/t

[RB TexLa]

10. That thing is nice

[Shagbark Hickory]

11. IT just goes to show how these politicians are clueless when it comes to spending money.

But I guess it's the in thing to have a bus.
Don't worry, I'm sure she's still booked into the Four Seasons

[Angry Dragon]

15. This came up on lastest page while we were talking

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1213402

[A HERETIC I AM]

16. LOL....if only one of those reporters could have this thread handy, eh?

The answer Sarah, with nowt but a few minutes Googling, is AT LEAST $12,000 A WEEK!!!


"How much is this costing you?"

Bub (the "reporter" that asked that question), please, PLEASE look at this thread and the links I provided.

Anyone that thinks she actually bought and paid for that coach with her own money and is paying for this sham of a vacation out her own checkbook is a moron.

[Electric Monk]

19. You could tweet this to http://twitter.com/sheilaym

The reporter from the article in that other thread.

http://twitter.com/sheilaym

[jmowreader]

17. It is highly possible she bought it

Palin makes somewhere between $12 and $20 million per year, so she has the money to buy it out of pocket. The coach is probably used because she'd be stupid to buy a new one, and because she's not going to lose a nickel when she goes to sell it--"used by Sarah Palin on her 2011 Tour of America" is going to appeal to a certain segment of the people who'd buy a used coach, and she'll be able to flip the thing for at least as much as she paid for it, if not more.

Her total coach-buying expenses are going to include sales tax, license and registration, insurance, $10,000 to have the coach wrapped before the trip and another grand to have the wrap stripped off at the end.

[A HERETIC I AM]

18. Naaaah.....

No one in their right mind buys such a coach for such a purpose. There is an entire leasing segment of the industry specifically geared to such endeavors. I'll bet a $20.00 donation to DU that this is a leased unit and she'll be rid of it as soon as this is over and we won't see her NEAR another Prevost until she leases either it or a newer unit for her presidential run.


This is a rock and roll tour, nothing else. And no rock and roll tour buys their coaches.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mfcorey1]

21. Did Sarah send you over? Tell her what we think of her here at DU. Then you can return

to Freep.com

[ProfessorGAC]

23. Boy, Have You Been Fished In

Quite the brainwashing that has happened to you. Either that or you've never been capable of critical thinking.

Talk about an entire post being a "fail". That applies much more to your post.
GAC

[A HERETIC I AM]

27. WOW.... What did I miss?

Someone had a problem with me pointing out the truth?

[muriel_volestrangler]

32. A short-lived Palin groupie

who came here specially to tell us how much better Her Alaskan Highness is than us proles. Don't we realise her families are all bona fide TV stars?

[ProfessorGAC]

33. You Already Know By Now

But, there was some troll pretending that the queen mother of political idiots was legit and perfectly on the up and up.
GAC

[A HERETIC I AM]

34. LOL.....Got it. Thanks GAC and Muriel! n/t

[Bluebear]

24. OK, Trick, or Trapp, or Prick, or whatever Palin child you are,

Time for bed.

[Mopar151]

25. Thanks for the thumbnail sketch!

A friend of mine has driven a rock music tour bus, and you are right on the money about the lease thing! A few artists own their buses (Neil Young, Willie Nelson), but it's a long term investment, with significant maintainence and operation costs.

[winstars]

28. The touring bus used to be America Eagles before the Prevost came...

to be used by all the bus companies. It's leased for sure and not purchased. As stated above, no one buys one in the music business. However, I have seen on TeeVee some rich old people getting one of these instead of an RV which is so over the top IMHO...

[Common Sense Party]

29. A Quebecois company? She can't even lease Amurican? n/t

[Erose999]

30. The "God awful paint job" is probably a vinyl wrap that will be removed when the lease is up.

Far less expensive than paint. Thats how a lot of the "company cars" that are festooned with advertising are done. A graphic artist makes the image and its printed onto vinyl. Its wrapped over the vehicle in a process similar to window tinting and the whole thing is done in a couple of hours.

That bus is nicer than most people's homes.

[A HERETIC I AM]

31. Yes, I know it's a wrap.....I used "paint job" with literary license, if you will.

If that had been actually painted on, it would have been extremely costly, but you are correct, it is a vinyl applique'.

The last firm I worked for in Racing had its own vinyl shop/printers and I have helped put these things on.

This is the truck I drove for them and it is wrapped in the same fashion;


This truck however, was painted;

I drove that one in the early 1990's

[PCIntern]

35. Neat!! One question:

Is it one big piece of vinyl or several placed together like wallpaper? any references for the process would be appreciated. I love this stuff.

TIA.

PC

[A HERETIC I AM]

37. Like wallpaper.

The machines that print this material have a maximum width. The machines the company I worked for had a 4 foot print head. I imagine there may be wider printers available, but I've only ever seen 4 footers. The material is purchased in rolls of - say 100' and you could arrange the print to be done in a landscape or portrait. The thing is, the larger the individual sections of the wrap are, the more difficult they are to get on, align properly and apply with no bubbles. The NASCAR trailer above was printed vertically in strips with about a 1/2" overlap on each edge. So a 53' trailer wrapped all the way down its side in vertical strips is going to take a little more than 13 strips.