HolyCoast: Greyhound One, One of the Finest Products of....Canada
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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Greyhound One, One of the Finest Products of....Canada

Pretty snazzy looking bus:
A little factoid about this bus is getting some attention today:
President Obama is barnstorming the heartland to boost US jobs in a taxpayer-financed luxury bus the government had custom built — in Canada, The Post has learned.

The $1.1 million vehicle, one of two that Quebec-based Prevost sold the government, has been tricked out by the Secret Service with state-of-the-art security features and creature comforts.

It’s a VIP H3-45 model, the company’s top of the line, and is used by major traveling rock bands.

“That’s the more luxurious model,” Christine Garant of Prevost told The Post.
I know a little bit about the custom bus business because I used to own one of my own, and frankly, this is no scandal. Prevost currently makes the best bus for this kind of custom use and is the current bus of choice for the entertainment industry and for converters like The Hemphill Brothers who did the conversions on these units for the Secret Service.

Before Prevost came along many entertainers bought Silver Eagle bus conversions (I had an Eagle which is pictured here), and those buses today are made in the US, but the company has had a checkered past, in and out of bankruptcy and with manufacturing being done in Europe, Mexico, and now Brownsville, TX. For many reasons Prevost has become the preeminent coach for entertainer conversions.

I think we can give Obama and the Secret Service a pass on this one. There's nothing wrong with buying the best.

1 comment:

Laura said...

Logistically what you say about the choice may make perfect sense, but someone just wasn't thinking through the "optics" of very ostentatiously debuting this million-dollar-plus bus on a tour expressing concern about American jobs. Does not compute! (Grin)

Best wishes,
Laura