Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 4, 1993 TAG: 9308040136
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Elegant, plush, pricey - and sold.
That's the only way to describe the $832,000, 45-foot-long motor home that's been the most talked about exhibit at the Family Motor Coach Convention in Blacksburg.
The mobile mansion, made by Liberty Coach in Chicago, is the most expensive and luxurious of the more than 500 coaches on display.
Since the outdoor exhibit area opened Monday night, curious - and envious - convention-goers and town citizens have clustered around the bus-like vehicle.
Most just shake their heads in awe while looking at the leather dashboard, the two leather couches, the marble bathroom floor and counters, and the living room's sculptured carpeting.
One couple did more than that: They bought the coach, which comes fully-loaded with three televisions, two VCRs, a Nintendo setup, a telephone and computer hookups.
"I'd have to sell my house about three times to afford some of those coaches," said Blackburg Town Councilman Waldon Kerns after visiting the display.
Jeanne T. Konigseder, part-owner of the family-run Liberty company, said the coach was sold Monday night, after less than three hours on exhibit.
"They take possession as soon as the show ends," Konigseder said. She would not divulge the buyers' names.
In the meantime, conventioneers get to gawk at the completely computerized coach that is powered by a 451 horsepower engine and winds out eight miles per gallon of diesel. The new owners won't have to stop often for fill-ups, because the coach holds a whopping 300 gallons of fuel.
Liberty's top-of-the-line product was just one of many attractions Tuesday as the motor coach convention officially got under way.
Rector Field House was crammed with convention members looking at the displays of more than 300 exhibitors hawking such items as tires, air conditioners, couches, satellite dishes, cookware - and even stuffed olives.
Jerome L. DeVilbiss traveled from Bellingham, Wash., to sell the motor-coachers on the latest in computer technology.
He is president of RVlink Electronic Mail, a company he started to market an electronic mail program for coach owners.
Only a few dozen RVers have joined the mail system since it was started earlier this year, but DeVilbiss has high hopes for the program.
"By and large people are just a bit stunned at what technology can do," he said.
Local residents interested in visiting the motor-home exhibits can purchase a one-day pass for $5.
by CNB