Community Forums

1chordfan · 01-08-2010, 03:15 PM

Official start date for Western RV was April l, 1971

EngineerMike · 01-08-2010, 03:31 PM

Was the official end date April 1, 2009?
Nice set of bookends.

1chordfan · 01-08-2010, 03:50 PM

EngineerMike
I'm not certain about the end date but very certain about the begining date.

Refuse1 · 01-08-2010, 04:40 PM

Chordfan....you seem pretty certain about the start date, how is it that you are so certain?

1chordfan · 01-11-2010, 09:30 PM

Refuse1
I am very certain because I was there!!

Refuse1 · 01-12-2010, 07:17 AM

Chordfan,

Were you there as an employee, vendor or customer or otherwise? Seems like there must be a story here?

1chordfan · 01-14-2010, 09:54 AM

Refuse1
Discussions leading up to the formation of WRV actually started in the late 1970's. The three parties involved all worked at Chinook Mobilodge in Union Gap, Wa. but when it was time to make the move from Chinook only two left to form the new company.
Bill left Chinook on the first of March of 1971 and I the 17th of March 1971 with the location for business being 5010 West Chestnut Yakima WA. The property rented consisted of three bays of the dry storage area and a small office/display area. The first products produced were a 30" pickup canopy top and an 8' truck camper.

Refuse1 · 01-14-2010, 10:06 AM

Chordfan,

So you were 1 of the 2 who left Chinook? Did you have ownership in the company at that time? Was it just the 2 of you building products at first? How long did you work there? What was your role at the company?

Thanks.....

1chordfan · 01-14-2010, 10:24 AM

Refuse1,
Yes, as I wrote I left Chinook March 17th. In the begining the ownership had been discussed and was to be finalized after we got the company off the ground and running. Initially there was just the two of us, but we did hire a couple of people that summer. I worked for WRV nearly 35 years and wore many hats to include Plant Mgr. GM, VP Product Dev. also had responsibility w/facilities development at Ahtanum in the later years.

mythplaced · 01-14-2010, 10:43 AM

WHOOHOO

We have a WRV "celebrity" in our midst....

WELCOME....

I can't speak for everyone, but I LOVE my Alpine, and am glad you folks built such an amazing RV!

Refuse1 · 01-14-2010, 12:35 PM

Chordfan,

This leads back to my original curiousity.....what possessed WRV to make the giant leap into motorhomes? Building towables has got to be quite a complicated process, but adding all the complications of the powertrain / chassis had to be a monumental undertaking. I'm sure its tough to put it into a paragraph or 2, but what was that process like? How were the prototypes developed and tested?

Thanks,

takepride · 01-23-2010, 12:49 AM

Mythplaced speaks for me, too. My Alpine is probably one of the best things I've ever purchased. I LOVE it.

Thanks 1chordfan! You guys made a great coach!

Rusty Bear · 02-04-2010, 12:09 PM

Doe's anyone know when the last completed coach came off the line and what model?

takepride · 02-04-2010, 10:25 PM

IIRC they closed April 30th, 2009 but had several coaches in production. Some were later completed and some were sold uncompleted (chassis, too). Not sure about the VIN.

They also had a few sold units that were back in for repairs that were temporarily unavailable to their owners. A few got repaired after the closing.

There were several posts around that time explaining what was happening (or guessing).