The Sun Bum
I came across this video clip on my YouTube feed. I believe it may have come from Jeff Krulik’s 1997 documentary: Ernest Borgnine On The Bus. The documentary chronicled the time Krulik spent in 1995 on tour with Borgnine as they drove across the Midwest in Borgnine’s 40-ft Prevost bus, The Sun Bum. He was clearly proud of his bus. Interesting to see how much has changed with motorcoaches over the years although the Prevost does hold up pretty well over time. Even with a “telephone” in the cockpit.
So, where is the famous SunBum RV at? And is it for sale?
Not sure. The Borgnines owned Beaver Bus #10 (a Beaver conversion). The 2nd owners bought the bus from the Borgnines in 1993 and owned it for some period of time and perhaps they still do. The 2nd owners were in Washington state when they bought the coach.
It would be a very unique coach to own. Probably still runs great. There are several unique identifiers on the coach. I came across one person attempting to sell a coach a few years back that they claimed was the Sun Bum. From what I understand, the original documentation for the coach went to the 2nd owners and I’m sure that any new buyer would hold those documents carefully to authenticate the coach.
I got to know Ernie when I was a navy recruiter and also working part time with the Knight Rider Car, at Universal, to help a handicapped buddy out, while he was working on Airwolf with Jan Micheal Vincent. He even sent me some referrals that he thought would benefit from the Navy from time to time. I mostly jokingly asked him it he wanted to sell it. I don’t think he really wanted to and it was really too much of a bus for me at the time. And with his various projects and my various projects we lost touch over the years and I never had a chance to see him again before he died. I do regret that. Just out of curiosity while I am no longer interested in it, I would love to know what happened to it. It really was a great RV for its time even though I believe it had no slides. However I believe, as memory serves me, it had two bathrooms. I could be wrong but it was about 42-43 ft. My wife and I wound up with a 34 ft Alllegro and it serves us well. Anyway if any body knows inquiring minds want to know. Later keep safe!!