Corona, CA: West Coast Customs turns Bounder motorhome into mobile blending unit

Corona, California-based West Coast Customs (WCC) embark on a sick customization of a venerable Fleetwood Bounder motorhome on a 1-hour episode of the Inside West Coast Customs reality show that airs on Discovery’s Velocity HD Channel today, Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 5:00 PM PST. The episode features Ryan Friedlinghaus - owner and CEO of West Coast Customs – and his team of dedicated vehicle restylers who are given just 30 days to turn a dated 28-foot Fleetwood Enterprises Class A motorhome into a mobile smoothie blending unit.

Sourced through California-based Giant RV (Colton, Corona, Murietta and Montclair) the Bounder-based smoothie food truck was originally conceived by Adam Ogden, CEO of the Florida-based Juiceblendz franchise, as a mobile alternative to a conventional bricks and mortar juice bar. The lackluster looking RV received a complete makeover including; a full built in stainless steel kitchen with sinks, icemaker, and freezers; a multiple blending station with custom serving window; two external TV’s working as digital menus, and a custom lounge with two televisions coupled to a satellite system. The end result is a chic smoothie mobile that would be equally at home at the Daytona 500 or a food truck festival.

WCC’s team of craftsmen faced a number of tough challenges on the show ranging from the late arrival of essential equipment to the revelation that, Ishmael, their lead interior specialist and longtime member of the team is actually colour blind (check out the Ishihara test in the slideshow to see if you’re colour blind). However, perhaps the biggest challenge faced by these California-based kings of custom was figuring out how to get the oversize kitchen equipment into the Bounder via the standard RV entry door!

There’s a certain irony to the Juiceblendz RV makeover because John C. Crean’s groundbreaking 1985 Fleetwood Bounder definitely wouldn’t have won any beauty pageants and neither would the circa 1999 model year RV used in the show (it looks like the 28T Bounder on the Ford chassis). However, the addition of a customized RV wrap (installed by Daley Visual) and the external modifications – like the awning and ticker screen above, the steps below, and the TV’s either side of the smoothie serving window – helped pimp out the exterior whilst the complete internal remodel helped to transform something that more closely resembled your grandma’s living room into a “West Coast” work of art. Indeed, Ogden was so pleased with the Juiceblendz conversion that he subsequently asked West Coast Customs to create a similar unit – based on an old school bus – for his Yoblendz self-serve frozen yogurt franchise.

Friedlinghaus and his West Coast wizards of leather and chrome have previously undertaken custom builds for the MTV show Pimp my Ride (seasons 1-4), TLC’s Street Customs (produced by Pilgrim Studios) and Street Customs Berlin which featured the German WCC franchise which has since closed. The Juiceblendz episode of Inside West Coast Customs first aired on the Discovery Channel HD Theater on February 27, 2011. You can take a sneak peak at the show here or watch the full episode by clicking on the video link on the left of the article.