Newell

Newell Coach began in 1967. L.K. Newell made concrete blocks, and later home air conditioners, in Miami, Oklahoma. That year he went to El Monte, California, to pick up a new Streamline motorhome he had bought. According to Family RVing magazine, Streamline's owner dared him to buy the motorhome business if he thought he could do better, and the two men made a deal before the day was over. Newell moved the parts and two or three unfinished shells to Oklahoma. Newell's timeline says the first Newell was finished in Miami that same year.

The Streamline motorhome rode on a Ford chassis with a gasoline engine in front, and L.K. Newell wanted to replace it. In 1971 the company introduced a rear-engine coach. Family RVing says it was based on a FitzJohn bus chassis and used a bridge-style frame of small welded tubes instead of tall frame rails, which left room for large open storage bays under the floor. In 1972, after a buyer asked for diesel power, Newell built its first rear-engine diesel coach. Newell's timeline says the last front-engine Newell was built in 1976.

Health reasons led L.K. Newell to sell the company in 1973. Newell's timeline names the sellers as L.K. and Opal Newell and the buyers as Chuck and Letty Goldenberg. In 1979 Karl Blade, a motorhome dealer from Mount Vernon, Washington, visited the factory. That December he and Alice Blade bought the company with two partners. The Blades moved to Oklahoma in 1981 and became the sole owners in 1985.

Under the Blades the coach kept changing. Newell's timeline lists the 6V92 engine as standard in 1980, the 8V92 engine in 1985, a body 102 inches wide in 1986 and a coach longer than 40 feet in 1988. The Series 2000 arrived in 1990 with a squared-off body. The "Hastings Hump," which added 8 inches of headroom at the rear of the coach, followed in 1995, then slide-out rooms in 1997 and a ZF suspension with a steering tag axle in 2004.

Newell's timeline says its work with Porsche Design on exterior styling began in 2005. That work led to the p2000i front end tested in 2006, the 2020p tested in 2013 and the p50, which marked the company's 50th year in 2017. In 2016 production moved into a new 65,000-square-foot building in Miami.

Today's Newell is not a converted bus. Newell's website says each chassis is built from scratch in welded steel to match the coach's floor plan, and Family RVing has described the body as a welded aluminum frame. Buyers spend two to four days at the factory with Newell's team to settle the floor plan, materials and paint. Family RVing has reported a build time of about five and a half months. The magazine also says Newell has always sold its coaches directly from the factory.

Newell identifies its coaches by number, and its own sales listings use the number, as in "Newell Coach #1877." A list kept by owners at NewellGurus.com says the numbering system began in 1983 and matches number ranges to model years. That list puts the first Series 2000 at coach 214, the first p2000i at coach 776 and the first p50 at coach 1600. It also says numbers 817 through 1199 were skipped during the 2007 model year to account for coaches built before the numbering began. These details come from owners, not from Newell.

Newell builds coaches in small numbers. Family RVing reported 175 employees and about 40 coaches a year in 2002, a peak of 42 a year before the 2007 recession, 24 a year in 2013 and 26 a year in 2017. Oklahoma Magazine counted about 200 employees in 2016.

Ownership has now passed from the Blades to two couples who already worked at Newell. Family RVing reported in 2017 that Grant and Amber Kernan, who joined the company in 2012, and Pat and Becky Dwyer, the Blades' son-in-law and daughter, already held ownership interests. Newell's history page lists the move to new ownership under these two couples under 2024. A company press release dated March 12, 2026, says the Blades finalized the transfer that day, and that Grant Kernan had led the company as president and chief executive for the past three years.

Newell's website listed new 2027 and 2028 model-year p50 coaches in October 2026. In July 2026 the company announced a service partnership with NIRVC, starting at NIRVC's Dallas location.