Community Forums

Bookman · 09-08-2012, 07:29 AM

Hello all. I am new this forum and am doing research for a potential motorhome that my honey and I might purchase when retirement time comes. I have seen a few ads for Country Coach Concept coaches, and even fewer ads for Concept Alpha and Concept Omega coaches.

Can anyone give me specifics on these coaches? I am probably more drawn to the Alpha and Omega versions since they are three axle and longer coaches. I am especially interested in the chassis construction and the suspension. Some questions are:

1) Do all Concept, Alpha, and Omega coaches have independent suspension?

2) How many airbags do they have, and are they set inward or outward on the chassis?

3) Especially to us is the ride. How soft and forgiving is the ride over such normal road nuisances as bridge joints, expansion joints in concrete highways, etc.?

I have done some searches on Google for this information and so far have come up empty handed. I have contacted Damon Rapozo for more info, but he has not had enough time to answer yet, I'm sure.

Thank you for any information you can offer.

deandec · 09-09-2012, 09:52 AM

I have little knowledge and no experience with the Concept.

I really like the external appearance of the Concept and of course a Prevost conversion by CC. The chassis and shell seem to be exceptional.

However, the internal storage and galley counters for normal housekeeping purposes appears to be quite limited compared to the interiors of Affinity, Magna, and Intrigue models. So the bus types have not held our interest.

We like to think we achieved the bus chassis benefits by buying a Magna built on the Gillig Bus chassis.

Bookman · 09-09-2012, 11:16 AM

I also like the outside design of the Concept coaches. More than twenty years ago I drove buses for Trailways, then for entertainers and amassed more than 1.5 million miles of coach driving experience in the process. One thing that I have always wanted in a motorhome for my wife and me is a coach that favors the older look buses with all new mechanical and interior technology - like an old home with all new electrical, plumbing, etc.

With the Country Coach year models that we have been thinking of - mid to late nineties - I would get a look that is like a newer "retro" version of the older MCI or GM coaches in the nose, but with much more updated electronics, newer drivetrains, etc.

I have not been able to find any information about the mechanical side of the Concept coaches beyond what I've seen in ads. One of the most important questions to me is whether they had independent front suspension. I know that the Magnas and Affinities got IFS around 1999 or 2000. Nearly all of the Concepts, as far as I have been able to learn, were built prior to 2000. So the question is, since Country Coach was trying to compete with Prevost when it designed the Concept chassis and shell, were the Concepts ahead of the other CC models and possibly received IFS earlier, or, did they also not get it until the 1999/2000 models?

I hope someone can offer an answer to that question.

Thanks.

Drafter · 09-27-2012, 10:27 AM

Tom,
While I know very little about the CC Concept line, I do love CC. Great coach and one you will enjoy.

DPink · 09-27-2012, 08:09 PM

We are proud owners of a 1998 Concept. Very impressed with everything about the coach. A large learning curve but, well worth the time.

Pairajays · 09-27-2012, 08:53 PM

The CC Concept was first buit in 1989 and the last was 1999. It was the best production line MH ever built, bar none. I might add, it was also the most expensive. I owned a 40' 1995 and the basic MSRP was about $450? A few extras brought the cost to $475K. Every thing was top-of-line. I doubt you will find a better riding MH, even current models. If manufactured today, with the same quality and current technology, it would probably be in the $125M to $150M range.

Jim E