Blue Bird Wanderlodge

Wanderlodge is a retired series of recreational vehicles built by American bus manufacturer Blue Bird Body Company (now Blue Bird Corporation). Introduced as the Blue Bird Transit Home in 1963, the Wanderlodge was a derivative of the Blue Bird All American school bus for over year; two further generations were produced, adapting motorcoach body and chassis design.

Assembled by Blue Bird in Fort Valley, Georgia, each example of the Wanderlodge was built to customer specification. In contrast to Blue Bird school buses, no two Wanderlodges were alike; each example was assembled with a hand-crafted interior, with over 200 available options (with some examples adding additional customization). Through much of its first generation, the Wanderlodge was priced similarly to a medium-sized American home (dependent on customization); later examples were priced significantly higher than that, competing against coaches from Newell and Prevost. Highly prized by their owners, many were sold to middle/upper-class families, and some to celebrities and heads of state around the world.

As part of a reorganization of Blue Bird Corporation, the rights to the Wanderlodge model line were sold in 2007; production ended in 2009 after 44 continuous years.

Background

By the early 1960s, Blue Bird Body Company had expanded from its beginnings in rural Georgia to become the fourth-largest manufacturer of school buses in the United States. While leading the segment, in looking towards the future, Blue Bird company management sought to diversify product offerings beyond school buses. As motorhomes began to evolve from travel trailers in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the company saw an opportunity to design its own vehicle.