MEMBERCONNECTION
RACING TO SUCCEED
WILLIAM BOWLUS oversaw construction
of the Spirit of St. Louis, famous as the airplane Charles Lindbergh used for the first
solo nonstop transatlantic flight.
He also dreamed up and riveted
together the world’s first aluminum travel
trailer, constructing more than ;; Bowlus
Road Chiefs from ;;;; to ’;;.
In ;;;;, Costco members John Long
and Helena Mitchell of Oxnard, California,
picked up where Bowlus left off. Today,
Bowlus Road Chief LLC (bowlusroadchief.
com) enters its fourth year of manufacturing, with ;; Bowlus Road Chiefs out on the
highways and byways.
Tech entrepreneurs Long and Mitchell
had already blazed trails with Quadravision,
a company that provided internet solutions
for financial institutions. After they sold
the company, Long, a vintage-auto collector,
bought and restored a ;;;; Bowlus Road
Chief, and the family took to the highway.
Wanting to share their passion, they got the
rights to the Bowlus brand.
“Carrying on Bowlus’ legacy is a respon-
sibility we take seriously,” says Mitchell,
“and it encourages us to seek innovations
just as he did.”
The couple kept the original Bowlus
Road Chief’s unique design and added mod-
ern, environmentally conscious and luxuri-
ous features. The On the Road Edition and
AT ;;, ENTREPRENEUR Donald E.
Panoz of Braselton, Georgia, founded
Mylan Pharmaceuticals in West
Virginia. He sold the company in ;;;;
and moved his family to Ireland, where
he founded Elan Pharmaceuticals, devel-
oped the nicotine patch and pioneered
medications with improved absorption
and delivery. When he retired in ;;;;,
the “little company that could” was
Ireland’s largest corporation.
Back in Braselton, he built Château
Élan Winery & Resort, followed by
resorts in St. Andrews, Scotland, and
Pokolbin, Australia.
But on the side, he’s always been
fascinated by the race car world, where
he’s been an entrepreneur since his
retirement from Elan.
When the upstart Panoz Motors
(
panoz.com) front-engine cars took to
the racetracks, they also began taking
the checkered flag at endurance races,
including the ;; Hours of Le Mans in
;;;;, the Petit Le Mans and the Mobil
; Twelve Hours of Sebring. Panoz Auto
Development also built three winning
cars in the Indy ;;; in a five-year period.
Panoz’s latest endeavor is building
all-aluminum intensive vehicles like the
snazzy Avezzano, named for his ancestral Italian village. “It’s in the same class
as high-end Lamborghinis and Bugattis,
but it’s lighter and easier to handle,”
he says.
In recognition of his contributions
to three industries—pharmaceuticals,
hospitality and automotive—Panoz has
been inducted into the Entrepreneur
Hall of Fame, alongside luminaries like
Thomas Edison and Steve Jobs.
Still, two projects continue to keep
the ;;-year-old entrepreneur up at night:
producing an electric car that can hold
a charge for ;;; miles and creating the
first all-electric race car capable of winning at Le Mans.
Panoz calls it “the Holy Grail.”
—Mickey Goodman
Road-tripping in style
the Limited Edition Lithium; are both ;;
feet long and ; feet ; inches high inside; at
;,;;; pounds, they’re ;,;;; pounds lighter
than most conventional travel trailers. They
also have ;; to ;;; percent less aerodynamic
drag and the lowest center of gravity of any
traditional travel trailer, for smoother rides.
In both models, the king-size bed
becomes two twins, with two more twins
fashioned from living/dining room seat-
ing. The Italian cooktop and stainless steel
countertops join other indulgences, such
as an indoor-outdoor shower and heated
floors. Those floors are a travel trailer first,
Whether it’s
Route ;; or the mid-
dle of nowhere, “our
owners—and John
and I too—hunger
to celebrate the best
of America,” says
Mitchell. “A Bowlus
Road Chief lets us do
that in the utmost
comfort and style.”
—Claire Sykes
© BO WLUS CHIEF LLC
Donald E. Panoz
and the Panoz
Esperante GTLM
race car.
OUR DIGITAL EDITIONS
Click here to view the Bowlus Road
Chief. (See page 12 for details.)
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