With horse trailers getting bigger and heavier every day, it’s quite common to see big rigs in the horse show parking lot. But see one in the players’ parking lot at a NBA game, and chances are it will make you do a double take. Our perception that “horse show toys” are just for horses is about to change as these big boy toys have made it to the Big Time. How big? How about 7 feet, 1 inches and 325 pounds big.
They certainly don’t get much bigger in stature or stardom than Shaquille O’Neal (commonly referred to as “Shaq”), who is considered to be one of the most dominant players in the history of the NBA. Today, the 14-time All Star plays center for the Phoenix Suns. Shaq purchased a Freightliner Sport Chassis P2 to drive himself and his four NBA Championship rings around Phoenix and back and forth to games. How would Shaq even know about this type of vehicle? He saw it where many of the rich and famous shop for houses, cars and boats, The duPont Registry, which bills itself as “The World’s Premiere Luxury Marketplace.”
“Outside of the horse industry, nobody had ever seen anything like this,” according to Jeremy Shipman, Manager of Southcentral Sportchassis in Oklahoma City. “We sell Sundowner trailers and we are the premier Sportchassis dealer in the country. We decided we wanted to go after a new market and offer something unique and different, so we ran an ad in The duPont Registry, Shaq saw the ad and called us directly.”
Two days after taking Shaq’s call, Shipman personally delivered a black P2 with a truck bed to Shaq at his home in Phoenix (see slide show). “Fortunately we had what he was looking for and we made it happen. It was a pretty cool experience and he has been great to work with,” Shipman said.
Shaq actually likes his so much, he got another one for his family members to drive to the games as well. According to Shipman,“He actually told me that for as nice as a vehicle as it is, that we’re not charging enough!” You don’t have to be famous to own one although George Strait and Richard Petty do. But you do need deep pockets. These vehicles range from $130,000-225,000.
Shaq has made such a media splash with his Sportchassis, that 6-time NBA Champion Scottie Pippen saw him on tv, called Shipman, and had his gray P2 delivered to Florida. “Scottie will call and ask ‘Hey what’s this button do?’ and I’m more than happy to help out,” says Shipman.
When GoHorseShow.com spoke to Shipman, he was in Beverly Hills researching the growing boat market. “People ask me,‘What do you do with this thing?’ and I tell them, ‘What do you want to do? There’s nothing you can’t do.’”
That’s exactly the attitude Joe Prause of Cabot, Arkansas, had when he converted the three horse compartment of his Sundowner Luxury Liner into an entertainment room. Instead of hauling horses in his 53 foot living quarter trailer, he has friends join him in style at the horse shows, again proving that these toys aren’t just for the horses.
In response to the growing demand from customers to create something with the look and feel of a bus and the convenience of a tow vehicle that can be unhooked once they arrive at their destination, Sundowner debuted it’s first Luxury Liner at the 2007 Congress last October, and the response has been tremendous.
“We like to entertain at the horse shows,” says Prause who owns Sundowner of Arkansas. “We have always had a Prevost but now we have friends join us in our Luxury Liner. I’ve made it so it has a wet bar, big screen tv, ice maker sink, air conditioner and it can carry my grill. We entertain and have fun.”
“We’ve sold Luxury Liners to both show folks and trail riders,” said Stephanie Griffin, Living Quarters Design and Development Director for Sundowner. “This product seems to have universal appeal to anyone looking for a high-end home-away-from-home.”
