Marathon’s RV
builds are some
of the best of the
best. However,
with a little bit of
DIY know-how,
you can transform
your interior on
a much tighter
budget.16 May/June 2022
Cars &
(^4) Trucks
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at Marathon Motorcoaches. The man responsible
for transforming drivers’ requests from dreams
into reality is Marathon’s vice president of interior
design and engineering, Alan Christianson, who
says each of their motor coaches receive more than
1,000 hours of work before delivery.
Before you add in the elaborate interior details,
a great motor coach starts with strong bones. Mar-
athon’s custom builds start with a Prevost chassis,
which starts at around $700,000 for an empty bus
with no interior. The Canadian coachmaker who
supplies the chassis to Marathon prides itself
on craftsmanship and reliability, claiming that
every RV it builds can travel well over 1 million
miles. Compared to the top-of-the-line Prevost,
an enthusiast-level RV will run you closer to
$100,000 (see sidebar).
Hess says the sky’s the limit when it comes to
building RVs. Case in point: 2020 NASCAR Cup
Series Champion Chase Elliot asked for a venti-
lated closet to store his race suits and stop his RV
from smelling like a locker room. Once the door is
closed, a series of exhaust fans evacuate the smell
from the closet, while intake fans simultaneously
bring in fresh air. Before Chase Elliot’s special
closet, four-time NASCAR Champion Jeff Gordon
wanted a treadmill inside his RV. He also asked for
a TV in front of his treadmill to keep himself occu-
pied while logging miles.
Once the RVs are built, they’re not going to
drive themselves—at least not yet. Racing drivers
who put their lives on the line at speeds of over 180
miles per hour on superspeedways shouldn’t have to
worry about driving their own motorcoaches across
the country in their off-time. That’s why each bus
has its own driver that will pilot the motorcoach to
every race on the NASCAR calendar. According to
Hess, once they’ve settled in at the race track, the
coach drivers will keep the refrigerator stocked up
with all of the driver’s favorite items, keep track of
maintenance issues, and sometimes even transport
drivers to media appearances.
NASCAR’s elite—along with their families—
face an incredibly busy schedule, but the ability
to control their living space at the track makes
the experience considerably less stressful. Stock-
car drivers might appear to be bitter rivals on the
track, but many of them are good friends after the
checkered f lag drops.
While these custom RVs may seem relatively
insignificant when it comes to a billion-dollar
industry like NASCAR, they’re an important piece
of the puzzle for drivers who want to perform at
their best.
HOW TO
TRANSFORM
YOUR INTERIOR
ON A BUDGET
Marathon’s Alan
Christianson shared
some cheap and easy
solutions for making
your living quarters feel
special.
CUSHIONS
AND PILLOWS
It all starts with throw pillows.
And no, we’re not referring to
the 20 or so that you have lying
across your couch right now.
Adding a couple of cushions
to your seating area—or
reupholstering an existing set—
can really make the space pop.
“It’s important to have
foundational things that
will stand the test of time,
and change the pillows and
tchotchkes,” Christianson says.
NEW FLOORS
If you’re tired of telling guests
to remove their shoes to stop
them from dirtying your carpet,
Christianson says wood or tile
could be great alternatives. He
also mentions that heated floors
are becoming an increasingly
popular option among Marathon
customers. With heated tiles
hovering around $10 to $15 per
square foot, the cost of the job
will vary quite a bit depending
on the size of your RV and your
electrical setup.
REUPHOLSTER
The next step is reupholstering
the seating areas. Fabric often
wears down quickly and can go
out of style, so it’s best to go for
leather, which is more durable.
“You do a color like champagne
or cream, it’s not going to be
here and gone,” Christianson
explains. Pricing can vary quite a
bit, depending on the fabric you
buy and whether you can do the
job yourself, but these types of
jobs generally hover around a
couple hundred dollars.