Bob and Janet Prince transformed a vintage GMC motorhome. Then they gave it away.
By John Johnston, Associate Editor
February 2019
Someday, Bob and Janet Prince, F305683, will make their first visit to the RV/MH Hall of Fame and Museum in Elkhart, Indiana. When they browse the collection of exhibits that trace the history of RVing, one vehicle in particular is likely to elicit emotions — some sadness, perhaps, but also pride and hopefulness.
Bob and Janet Prince donated their restored 1977 GMC motorhome to the RV/MH Museum in Indiana.
The museum’s 1977 GMC motorhome — its exterior resplendent in metallic black paint, its interior crowned with a plethora of upscale amenities — once was theirs. The Princes donated it in June 2017.
“It is such a unique vehicle,” Janet said. “It broke our hearts to get rid of it. We really did want to keep it the rest of our lives.” She added: “It was the most luxurious RV that I have ever been in, and we’ve been in some mighty fine vehicles.”
It was anything but luxurious in 2013 when the Princes found it decaying in the back lot of a Knoxville, Tennessee, RV dealership. The awning had rotted, the paint was faded and peeling, animals had taken refuge in the wheel wells. The couple bought it for $5,000.
“Bob insisted we could do something with it,” Janet said. Oh, did they ever.
Some readers may recall an article that Janet wrote for the September 2016 issue of this magazine, titled “A Small Rig Living Large” (page 48). It was paired with “GMC Rebuild Was Designer’s Dream Job” (page 52). The articles detailed the amazing transformation the vintage 26-foot motorhome underwent at the Princes’ direction.
This is the rest of the story.
The Princes, who have been married 48 years, bought their first motorhome about 20 years ago. They then owned a succession of coaches, each time opting for a larger one, finally topping out with a 45-foot Prevost bus conversion by Liberty Coach. Motorhomes were the couple’s preferred mode of travel as they crisscrossed the country during Bob’s tenure as CEO of a company that disposed of radioactive waste.
With Bob’s retirement approaching, the couple decided to downsize to a smaller RV. But they did not want to sacrifice luxury. About that time, they found the GMC.
The rebuild, which took more than two years, was not simply a restoration project. The Princes hired experts who understood their desire to remake both the body and the interior. Or, as Janet wrote in 2016: “We would give this humble GMC a space-age look through sleek design, along with the best of modern technology to carry it (and us) into the future of RV travel.”
The GMC was delivered to the Princes in the summer of 2015. It had roof-mounted solar panels, two low-profile air conditioners, custom cabinets, a wine cooler, a washer and dryer, heated floors, remote-control awnings, high-end electronics, and much more. They named it the XF-15: Expeditionary Force 2015.
“Everywhere we went, it caused a big stir,” Bob said. At gas stations and campgrounds, people would approach and say: We don’t want to intrude, but can we look inside?
“It was beautiful,” Bob said, “but it drove very poorly.” Indeed, problems arose immediately.
The Princes, who have a home near Knoxville, Tennessee, said the motorhome struggled mightily on its first trip up the state’s higher elevations. “Eighteen-wheelers were passing us up,” Janet said. “We didn’t think we could get up a mountain, but we did.”
On level terrain, “It did not handle well. It was terrifying to drive,” Janet said. “You could feel the tires vibrating up the steering column.” The problem persisted even after the alignment was adjusted multiple times, Bob said.
Once, while Janet was driving in heavy highway traffic in Naples, Florida, the GMC’s engine died, forcing her to maneuver to the berm without power steering or power brakes.
The Princes did not give up easily. “There was always someone in the RVing community who would say, ‘I know what’s wrong with that and I can fix it,’ ” Janet said. “A couple thousand dollars later, they would give it back to us, and it wasn’t right.”
In the spring of 2017, the Princes drove the motorhome to Texas. “I couldn’t even hold it on the road,” Janet said. “Bob had to drive it.” When they returned to Tennessee, they parked the GMC in their bus port next to their home. A day later, Janet was hospitalized with a ruptured disc.
Lying in a hospital bed at 4:00 a.m., the safety app on Janet’s phone alerted her that the motorhome’s smoke detector was going off. Firefighters arrived and determined that a wire had shorted out in the engine. Fortunately, the Princes’ home was not damaged. But after another trip to a repair shop, their total outlay on the GMC exceeded $500,000.
“That,” Janet said, “was the straw that broke the camel’s back.” Actually, her back was almost broken. “When my disc exploded, it was from the hard ride. Not only did (the GMC) try to kill me, when I was not there it tried to kill Bob by burning down the house.” She chuckled. “It’s like a little poltergeist lived inside of it. It was possessed.”
The Princes never considered selling the motorhome. Instead, Janet called the RV/MH Museum, a place she had never visited but had read about in FMCA’s magazine. “I thought, this is a long shot. I’m just going to tell them what happened and ask if they would be interested in a modern version of the GMC.”
Had the museum declined the donation, “We’d still have it in our garage,” Bob said. Added Janet: “Probably it would have become a spare guest room.”
The vintage GMC motorhome made its way to its new home at the RV/MH Museum in Indiana on a flatbed truck.
Instead, on June 26, 2017, the XF-15 was loaded onto a flatbed trailer, driven to the RV/MH Museum, and put on display. Janet hopes it will inspire someone to build a mass-market motorhome that combines the GMC’s charming shape with a modern drivetrain and conveniences.
As for the Princes, they bought a spare RV while the GMC was being rebuilt, a Winnebago Travato. It proved just how much they could enjoy a Type B motorhome. They now own another Type B, a 2018 Regency Xalta.
“We’re definitely in love with the Regency,” Janet said. “We’re never going to stop RVing.”
Someday, they expect their travels to take them to the Elkhart museum, where they’ll see their old GMC. “I might cry,” Janet said. “I loved it so much.”