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Hollywood Stars Snatching Up Aluminum Rvs

Jeff Wilson Associated Press

Forget those stretch limos and private Gulfstreams. Hollywood jet-setters are finding a new way to tool around in sumptuous style.

Two letters: RV. Yes, recreational vehicles are chic again.

Sylvester Stallone, Sean Penn, Matthew Modine, Tom Hanks, Andy Garcia and David Duchovny have each embraced these aluminum highway stalwarts, especially those funky silver jobs.

A “silver love sub” is how “ER” doc Anthony Edwards affectionately refers to his 34-foot, $100,000 Airstream.

Once the embarrassing behemoths that retirees trundled on the snowbird circuit, the rich and famous are snapping up those huge motor homes and bus conversions - and loving them.

Penn lived in an Airstream Sovereign after the 1993 Malibu fire destroyed his $4 million Spanish villa. Garcia, Stallone and Modine bought Airstreams for on-set dressing rooms. Hanks brought his 34-foot battle tank on location for “Sleepless in Seattle.”

But these showbiz rides aren’t your garden variety getaway vehicle - and they’re certainly nothing like the honeymoon-turns ordeal rig that Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz towed across the screen in 1954’s “The Long, Long Trailer.”

“The movie people like an Airstream because it’s distinctive. It sets them aside,” said Andy Rogozinski, 64-year-old owner of Corona’s Inland RV Service Inc.

Rogozinski, known in Hollywood as the Airstream customizer to the stars, has fixed up special models of the campy cocoon for Modine, Michael Madsen and Tim Burton.

Modine’s Airstream was outfitted with a totally stainless steel bathroom. “Matthew uses his as a gloried dressing room. In ‘Bye, Bye Love,’ there was a lot of nighttime work, and he relaxed in it during down time.”

“It is one of the 99 most desired products, according to Money magazine,” Rogozinski said. These gleaming beauties run about $100,000 when he’s finished with them.

“It doesn’t matter how old it is. It’s like a DC-3. A little TLC and that’s it.”

Actually, they kind of look like a DC-3.

Custom trailers and motor homes make sense - and cents - for celebrities with an entourage. They also eliminate complaints from stars unhappy with studio-provided accommodations while on location.

Then there’s the, um, sheer pleasure factor: “It’s very womanlike,” Edwards recently told The Wall Street Journal. “The roundness, the curvature of the interior, makes a really pleasing environment to be in.”

On the other end of the RV scale are the highway behemoths desired by the likes of Ernie Borgnine, who christened his the “Sunbum.” The 80-year-old actor keeps it beaming year-round.

While Borgnine uses his for leisure travel, the wealthy also are snapping them up for use as mobile board rooms.

But you’ve got to dig deep: prices range from $250,000 to $850,000 or more.

These are rolling palaces - opulent presidential suites with lush appointments like gold-plated knobs, marble floors and counters, fragrant leathers, designer lighting, burlwood cabinetry and sculptured carpet.

Rock stars and country music entertainers have traveled in custom coaches for decades, but traveling homes are now in vogue for corporate and private use, especially for those celebrities who hate to fly.