Chinook RV

Thought this article in Yakima Magazine would be of interest to Chinook owners. (Interesting how they described how Chinook came to an end. Sort of true I suppose )
https://www.yakimaherald.com/magazine/t ... 59f48.html

Excellent article, thanks for sharing.

Our little rigs are pretty awesome. I bought mine as a placeholder for graduating to Provan Tiger closer to retirement, but honestly I am rethinking this as the Chinook has everything I need except for second person sleeping since I have concourse model. But I rarely take second person with me....decisions decisions.

According to the article, 25 bajas were made. I wonder if that's correct? seems pretty low. maybe I just thought there was more of those running around out there.

Kind of a fun article. That Chummer is something else!
I heard a very different story about the demise of Chinook in 2005...what I heard was that Gary had turned over the business to his son, who ran it into the ground (substance abuse?). Whatever happened, we can all agree that they don't make em like they used to.

Hey Camaro--I was also eyeing the Tiger Provan before we got our Premier. I liked the ruggedness, 4-wheel capability, and high ground clearance. But when we went to look at one, I was disappointed. Interior was not as well constructed as our Rigs, and the lay out did not feel as comfortable for "living." Still, we might have ended up with one, if my wife hadn't seen the Chinook and liked how much better it looked and felt both inside and out. Six years later, and counting, I definitely think we made the right choice!
David

deppstein wrote: July 28th, 2020, 12:19 pm
Hey Camaro--I was also eyeing the Tiger Provan before we got our Premier. I liked the ruggedness, 4-wheel capability, and high ground clearance. But when we went to look at one, I was disappointed. Interior was not as well constructed as our Rigs, and the lay out did not feel as comfortable for "living." Still, we might have ended up with one, if my wife hadn't seen the Chinook and liked how much better it looked and felt both inside and out. Six years later, and counting, I definitely think we made the right choice!
David

Glad to hear it worked out. The Tiger on a Chevy 3500 with lift and all modern comforts and safety features is sweet for sure. I agree on layout of Chinook vs. Tiger. Tiger is bigger so naturally more room but the Chinook build is second to none. Winter comfort is big for me and I think Chinook has edge there as well.

I went to the Provan factory twice and second time with check in hand. However, when I went there the second time I was comparing with Chinooks I've seen and just couldn't justify expense compared to Provan since I wasn't retired and would only use occasionally. I haven't counted Provan out yet but the more I use the Chinook the harder it is to justify a switch.

At an estimated 50,000 units over the course of Chinook's history, say mid 80's to mid 2000's, thats about 1600 units per year over 30 years. That's cranking out about 130 units a month, 5 or 6 a day rolling through the plant.

At any rate, depending on how many are still in service, that makes them pretty rare.

Always interesting to read about Chinooks

130 unit a year is a bit high for his scale of production. I think he started to make the various RV in the 60's and 70's with the 200 surfer vans, and maybe as early as 1962, so maybe 150 unit per year for the Toyota Chinook, but much less for other rigs that are more complex.

Seems like a lot of people on this forum have 2000,2001 chinooks when they list year and model they own vs other years!

Jlfchinook wrote: July 29th, 2020, 8:38 am Seems like a lot of people on this forum have 2000,2001 chinooks when they list year and model they own vs other years!

Just an observation, its great when people have the year and model of Chinook in their signatures especially when asking questions so other members (smarter than me) can give better responses.