Life on the road is not for everybody and not even a fancy motorhome could convince some people to give up the comfort of their actual, non-motorized home. But these people have probably not seen the DecoLiner.
The DecoLiner is arguably the coolest motorhomes out there. Sure, it doesn’t come with all the luxury amenities of an Airstream and it isn’t fit for off-grid glamping or able to park itself like some other models, but what it lacks in this department it more than compensates for in appeal. The DecoLiner is a hot rod, having been built from scratch by builder Randy Grubb, aka Blastolene, from Grants Pass, Oregon.
If the name Randy Grubb doesn’t ring a bell, it’s ok. Just know that he’s also responsible for a handful of other creations that have made headlines in recent years, including the roadster powered by a 30-liter V12 Patton tank engine known as the Tank Car, which Jay Leno bought and added to his collection.
Leno is also familiar with the DecoLiner, having featured it on his show back in 2012. When Grubb was on the show, the build wasn’t yet complete: the DecoLiner worked just fine and the exterior was finished, but he still had some work to do on the interior.
Since then and until February 2020, when Grubb sold the motorhome for the impressive amount of $500,000, he put thousands of miles on it, driving it across the United States with his wife. Because this isn’t just the world’s first double-decker motorhome (or so Grubb says), it’s also a very comfy and spacious one. At this price, it’s also among the most expensive.
Photo: Randy Grubb
The DecoLiner uses the chassis of a 1973 GMC motorhome and the cab from a 1953 White COE garbage truck, and everything else was done by hand by Grubb himself. Once a glassworker, Rubb considers himself an automotive artist, so he wanted everything to be perfect. He used handblown glass for the porthole-style windows and fashioned the motorhome after the design of early passenger aircraft and what he imagined Flash Gordon would drive, with cues from deco art.
The result is a striking double-decker with a flybridge similar to what you can see on yachts and smaller power boats. From these, he took the idea of being able to drive both from inside the cab and from the flydeck, so he created a steering shaft that allows him to do both. That is to say, whenever he wants to feel the breeze or see traffic from high up, he hangs up the wheel (literally so), walks out and climbs the teak stairs on the back, and gets to drive the motorhome from the flybridge.
It took Grubb 6,000 work hours over a period of 18 months and what he estimates is nearly $100,000 in parts to build the DecoLiner. So “yeah, I have a problem,” he told Barcroft Cars in an interview earlier this year, when news that he had sold it came out. His “problem” is that he can’t stop building cars, so he had to make room for more in his garage, which is why he decided to sell it.
Photo: Randy Grubb
As a side note, the man who now owns the DecoLiner also bought one of Grubb’s Deco-Pod motorbikes and a roadster, both clad in the aluminum the builder loves so much.
The DecoLiner is powered by an Oldsmobile 455 with a front-wheel-drive. The fact that it’s FWD allowed Grubb to stack the flybridge on top of it because the back sits very low to the ground. This way, the DecoLiner is in compliance with U.S. height regulations and is able to pass under most bridges and underpasses. As long as the driver doesn’t wear high hats.
In total, the DecoLiner weighs about 7,000 pounds (3,175 kg), so it’s actually lighter than the original GMC motorhome. Perhaps more importantly, it’s a street-legal vehicle or, as Grubb puts it, it’s not illegal. There is no law saying you can’t drive a car from the roof, according to him. The view and the reactions you get from people make the experience all the more spectacular.
“One of the lessons I learned very early on about the Decoliner is that there's a certain responsibility that comes with driving it,” Grubb says. “When you bring the circus to town; you better have the patience to deal with the response that you've elicited. It's really an honor and a privilege to drive this thing and make people smile and laugh wherever it goes. I'm a lucky guy.”
You could be a lucky guy, too. Though this DecoLiner has already changed hands, Grubb can build you a new one just like it, or close to it. The layout of the cabin is customizable and the flybridge can comfortably seat up to five passengers – what more do you need to take the party on the road, other than a lot of money?
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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