A RENOWNED automotive artist has built a $500,000 motorhome that you can drive from the roof. Randy Grubb, from Oregon, is well-known for building beautiful and unique chrome vehicles. Some of his masterpieces include the Blastolene Indy Special, Jay Leno Tank Car, Decoson and the $500,000 motorhome - the Decoliner. Inspired by the 1980s sci-fi space traveller Flash Gordon, Randy spent over $100,000 in parts and 6,000 hours in manpower on the stylised mobile home. Using the chassis of a 1973 GMC motorhome which sports a front-wheel drive, it allows the frame of the Decoliner to be very low to the ground, around 14 inches. This means that Randy had enough space to stack the vehicle as a double decker and for an additional driving position on the roof low enough to fit under most bridges and overpasses. Randy and his wife drove the Decoliner all over America, putting over 15,000 miles on the camper without being stopped for the unusual driving position.
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MotorTranscript
00:00One of the coolest things about the DecoLiner is the fact that you can drive it from the
00:05roof.
00:06I always get asked, is that legal?
00:09Well, it's not illegal and it's a very fine line.
00:23I was never a big motor homer.
00:25I always thought it was kind of weird driving around in a big box and sleeping in it.
00:29Then I built the DecoLiner.
00:31It's really cool.
00:32We had a lot of fun with it.
00:33I put over 15,000 miles on the DecoLiner.
00:35The wife and I drove all over America.
00:37While building the DecoLiner, Randy invested over $100,000 in parts and a whole lot of
00:44time.
00:45The DecoLiner was a 6,000-hour build executed over an 18-month period.
00:52I know, do the math.
00:54It's a serious medical condition.
00:57Seven days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day, there were only 15 days taken off.
01:02Yeah, I have issues, obviously.
01:06It's not based on anything else.
01:07The chassis under the DecoLiner started as a 1973 GMC motor home.
01:13That motor home was a very iconic motor home.
01:16It was way ahead of its time.
01:18The DecoLiner has a 455 holes and a front-wheel drive system in it.
01:26Most motor homes, you walk up a flight of stairs to get above the engine and the drivetrain.
01:31Because the DecoLiner is front-wheel drive, the frame is only 14 inches off the ground,
01:36and it allowed me to stack the roof and still keep it under the 13.6 legal max here in the
01:41States.
01:42The vehicle was recently sold for half a million dollars.
01:47I had seen the DecoLiner on a couple of television shows and always loved the design of it, the
01:53art deco aspect of the vehicle.
01:55By happenstance, I met somebody who knew Randy, discovered that the vehicle was for sale,
02:00so we arranged a meeting and worked out a deal.
02:04It's an amazing vehicle to be involved with because everybody smiles profusely at it.
02:11It just brings a lot of joy to people.
02:14I've always thought of the DecoLiner as Flash Gordon's motor home.
02:17One of the coolest things about the DecoLiner is the fact that you can drive it from the
02:20roof.
02:21I always get asked, is that legal?
02:27Well, it's not illegal, and it's a very fine line.
02:31For a policeman to pull you over and write you a ticket, he's got to put down what vehicle
02:36code you violated, and there's nothing on the books about driving a car from the roof.
02:44And it'll probably come as no surprise that this isn't Randy's first build.
02:49This is what I do for fun and profit.
02:52I actually make a living building these crazy vehicles.
02:55A lot of people know me for the Jay Leno tank car.
02:58That was the very first car that I built, and that really put me on the map.
03:02Believe me, when Jay Leno buys your car and gives it the thumbs up, you're a hero.
03:08So here we are in Frankenmuth, Michigan.
03:11There's this giant car show, really had fun bringing the DecoLiner and letting everybody
03:17see it and experience it firsthand.
03:20When I negotiated the deal for the DecoLiner, I also negotiated a deal for one of the DecoPod
03:25motorbikes.
03:26And after I got to know Randy better and got to experience the quality of his work, we
03:30created a new vehicle, a Roadster.
03:32The DecoLiner is the center of attention wherever it goes.
03:37One of the lessons that I learned very early on about the DecoLiner is that there's a certain
03:42responsibility that comes with driving it.
03:44I was driving it to its debut in the Portland Art Museum up in Portland, Oregon, and I was
03:50late.
03:51It's showtime.
03:52And I'm mobbed at the gas station with everybody wanting to know what this crazy thing is.
03:56So I finally get fueled up and I'm like, I need to go, I need to go, you guys.
04:00And then here comes a bus full of 30 deaf kids.
04:03They all surround me and the guy, he's asking me questions and he's signing to the kids.
04:10And I'm in a hurry and I got to go.
04:12That's when it really hit me, wow, you don't have time for 30 deaf kids?
04:19What's wrong with you guy?
04:21That's when I realized when you bring the circus to town, you better have the patience
04:28to deal with the response, the smiles and the joy and letting the kids go up on the
04:34upper deck.
04:36That's what floats my boat.
04:37It's really an honor and a privilege to drive this thing and make people smile and laugh
04:44wherever it goes.
04:45I'm a lucky guy.