Unidentified Prevost Beaver XL
There is a 1990 shell, (2P9M33404L1001686 vin) 1991 Prevost Beaver XL 40 found on
www.craigslist.org Portland Oregon. Under Prevost beaver
that is being marketed as having been owned by Ernest Borgnine. The story with this coach has been following it since it surface for sale back in 2006 in Texas. Its Carfax only goes back to 2005 when it 70,000 miles on it. To the best of mine and GMCBuffalo knowledge, and the folks at Beaver Coach, since all info has been destroyed by Monaco when they bought Beaver in 2001, the Borgnines only owned one Beaver Bus conversion before the 1994 Country Coach you can see, if you dial up YouTube, Ernest Borgnine and "On the Bus" or "Sun bum:". That bus was Beaver Bus #10. It currently resides with the 2nd owner in the Washington state, and they have owned it since buying it from the Borgnines April 1993. Bus 10 has many little features showing Borgnine ownership such as the family monogram letter "B" etched into the shower door. There is also a brass plaque Beaver Coach attached to the Beaver Command Center stating the coach was built for the Borgnines, and there is also an inscription on the lighting computer, that it was specially programmed for the Borgnines. With all this documentation, Bus 10's current owners have a copy of the title with Ernest and Tova Borgnine's name.
This coach does have some significance, in that it doesn't have OTR. So far, two other busses we have found don't have OTR. Also, another significant item, it has the "Astral Window"option. There are two pairs of windows in salon in the ceiling. We have identified 4 others that have this option, Our coach build sheets indicate, we have the Astral window frames in place between the roof ribs, but the metal was left in place. Hypothesis, Beaver offered the Astral windows as a option.
Also, the mystery coach for sale in Oregon as a consignment, the advertised description states this coach was built for Ernest Borgnine so he didn't have to commute to and from a film site in Bend Oregon, while filming the TV show 'Airwolf" There seems to be a flaw in that, the Borgnines used their bus as a get-away from business etc. 2nd fact, the TV show "Airwolf" was never filimed in Oregon let alone near or in the town of Bend Or as the ad reads. TV show "Airwolf" ran for two seasons being filmed in a California studio, and on location in Monument Valley, AZ from 1984-1986, and a 3rd season for 1987 was pickup by USA Network, filming all of that year in Canada. So, a little research can show a prospective buyer this coach wasn't even twinkle in Prevost's eye, around the time of the TV show.\
Now it is conceivable, that this mystery coach which is the 13th shell sent to Beaver Coach from Prevost, may have had an owner who was at a rally the Borgnines attended and somehow posed/orchestrated a photo. The dealership that has this coach has been a bit slow or cagey giving me info but I do have a photo of the data plate, now. I have also contacted membership of the Beaver Coach club about information who was the first owner if that info still exists. But generally, this is a heads up to any bus shoppers, that even tho this maybe a great coach, from what we have researched Beaver bus history, this particular coach never belonged to Ernest Borgnine. Like our bus, which is the last Beaver Conversion, this advertized coach has never visited a Prevost Service Center ever. It should still have 2 outstanding service bulletins that need to be taken care of.
