This 1973 Eagle Motor Coach is in my neck of the woods on the Providence, Rhode Island craigslist, with its last destination of San Francisco is still displayed prominently above the windshield. How did it get here? I can’t imagine some local entrepreneur is paying to ship old buses from one coast to another in hopes of turning a profit, but stranger things have happened. Find this Eagle here on craigslist for $4,500 in North Kingstown.
Photos are limited, but that doesn’t mean your imagination has to be. The bus appears to be in very nice condition, but I’m still baffled as to why it’s here. I did some quick Googling to see if Viking was a local sports team or fleet operator and neither bore any fruit. There is the famous Viking tower in Newport, but the chances of a connection are slim. The seller mentions converting this Eagle to a luxurious motor home, but that’s a costly project to take on.
Still, a quick search reveals there is precedent for such a conversion, as the website BusesForSale.com shows more than one Eagle up for grabs that’s gotten the R/V treatment inside. This 1963 model is selling for a cool $62,900 (!) with all the conveniences of home and then some. That being said, is there any real incentive to buying an old bus converted to an R/V versus just buying a lightly used motorhome from your local dealer?
If you want to kill a few minutes, be sure to visit the listing for this updated Eagle motorcoach. It’s insane just how big the inside of the bus is when converted to residential use, and although I can think of numerous other ways to spend $62K, this is at least a far more creative use of that money than buying another generic R/V like the thousands that reside in Florida and Arizona this time of year. How would you use this Viking coach? Thanks to Barn Finds reader AMXBrian for the find.
Or, you could go the COPART route, and bid on a Prevost with “mechanical” issues:
https://www.copart.com/lot/54235398
There is a flooded one as well, but anyone venturing into that territory had certainly better know what they are doing!
https://www.copart.com/lot/49206638
These old buses are becoming popular with people that want to live off grid. The tiny house idea is actually a very inexpensive way to live if you don’t mind the lifestyle change to minimalist. In your US economy high paying jobs aren’t as plentiful and younger people are seeing this as an alternative to a big morgage. If your capable your can convert this yourself for far less then 62k and live more comfortably than on the street. And your mobile, you can move your house to where ever your job is. For full time living buses are better than RV’s because they’re more rugged. If I was younger and lived in the southern US I’d give this strong consideration. Good find.
The RV conversion bus is sooo stuck in 1987 with it’s mauve and green colors. It has not aged well.
This bus is straight out of the movie “The Gauntlet” with Clint Eastwood!
Bus conversions are handy for making large fortunes into small ones. They are also nice if you’re looking to divorce soon. But if undeterred, buy the best shell you can find, and have a bus or truck shop tell you what mechanical work it will need (because it will). Secondly, have a well-thought plan and keep it simple. Often, band tour buses make for great conversions because they are in constant use and thus maintained, and will already have kitchen, plumbing, bath, etc that you can use as is or upgrade bit by bit. People who have gone with a commercial bus would never go back to flimsy RVs which are often poorly built and impossible to restore.
You are so rite about new motor homes built flimsy. I worked for a dealer and they bought one from a auction that was hit in the front corner and I couldn’t believe how it was built. Thin fiberglass over a thin metal frame with plywood under. Pure crap for something that was over 100.000 when new.
Viking Tours are out of Middletown RI
I would back this thing up to a snow bank and live in it after I installed the basics! The rest would eventually get done!