Gulf Stream Coach

About Gulf Stream Coach

Gulf Stream Coach is a family-owned RV manufacturer based in Nappanee, Indiana, founded on March 17, 1983 by Jim Shea Sr., whose family had previously built manufactured housing under the Fairmont Homes name starting in 1971. The company builds motorhomes, travel trailers, fifth wheels, destination trailers and toy haulers across 22 in-house brands and roughly 140 models, employing more than 1,500 people. Gulf Stream remains family-owned and family-operated; company president Phil Sarvari and Shea family members, including chairman Dan Shea and his children Regan and Saylor Shea, lead the company today, and it sells exclusively through a network of independent RV dealers across the US and Canada.

How they build

Gulf Stream describes its approach as listening closely to dealers and customers and building what they ask for rather than dictating designs top-down; leadership repeatedly credits the company's debt-free, independent, family-owned structure with letting it make long-term decisions instead of managing to quarterly results.

• Family-owned RV manufacturing since 1983
• 22 in-house RV brands
• Laminated fiberglass lightweight trailers
• Vintage Cruiser retro-styled trailers
• RVDA DSI Quality Circle Award winner

Milestones

1. 1971The Shea family founds Fairmont Homes, a manufactured housing company, in Nappanee, Indiana
2. 1983Jim Shea Sr. establishes Gulf Stream Coach on March 17, launching its first RV, the Foxfire travel trailer
3. 1990s — Jim Shea Sr.'s three sons take over day-to-day operations
4. 2022Gulf Stream Coach celebrates its 40th anniversary, having built nearly 400,000 units to date
5. 2026Gulf Stream Coach promotes Regan Shea to Director of Dealer Relations and Saylor Shea to Director of Strategy and Communications as part of a next-generation family leadership transition