- CHICAGO (Reuters) -- Two
private U.S. companies have designs on building the first luxury recreational
vehicle that could withstand nuclear radiation.
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- Parliament Coach Corp., a privately held company in Clearwater,
Florida, which converts Prevost buses into high-end RVs, has partnered
with Homeland Defense Vehicles to offer consumers a luxury motor coach
that can protect occupants against nuclear radiation from dirty bombs as
well as biological and chemical attacks.
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- The idea is to offer the option on the pricey vehicles
to consumers worried about terror attacks, officials for both companies
said Tuesday.
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- "Many people enjoy the RV lifestyle, but we also
live in an era when people have some level of fear about terrorism,"
Parliament Chief Executive Harvey Mitchell said in a statement. "These
concerns about terrorism are linked to states where people with RVs like
to travel."
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- The vehicles, costing from $1.2 million to $2 million,
will be introduced Wednesday at the Tampa Super RV Show in Florida.
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- Parliament takes the Prevost buses, which are like transit
buses without seats, and adds a luxury interior that sleeps from two to
four people, while also providing such amenities as a satellite navigation
system and plasma televisions.
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- The RVs run from $1.1 million to $1.9 million, including
a trailer, Parliament said. The filtration system, which uses positive
air pressure, will be an option costing about $100,000, added Parliament,
which builds 12 high-end RVs a year.
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- Occupants could live for several days in the custom-built
motor coach, said Daniel Ayres, president and CEO of Homeland Defense,
a privately held company based in Newton, Texas, which makes mobile medical
and command center vehicles for universities, county and state governments,
and the U.S. Department of Defense.
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- Last week, Homeland Defense introduced a similar filtration
system for the luxury version of the Medium Tactical Vehicle used by the
U.S. Army and built by Stewart & Stevenson Services Inc.
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- The vehicle, dubbed "Bad Boy Heavy Muscle Truck,"
weighs more than 13,000 pounds, is 10 feet high and 21 feet long, and has
a ground clearance of almost 2 feet. Homeland Defense hopes to sell 50
of the Bad Boy HMTs this year at prices as high as $750,000.
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