General Boards > General Discussion
History of the Beaver Brand?
Bill Sprague:
I started the thread hoping I would learn a little. I've already learned a lot.
I'll contact Jim O'Hara and work on possible scheduling at Harrisburg. If we get something going I will try to take detailed notes so that I can work up a written version.
Peter and Connie Bradish:
We have a 1993 Beaver Contessa, one of the last Beavers made by the original Beaver company. The 1993 Contessa was the only year Contessa with the flat floor plan (no step up in the bedroom). There were some 1994s made before Beaver went bankrupt. The Contessa (slope nose) was discontinued and replaced by a bus front Acclaim. Some of the Acclaims have the Contessa metal names on them a few have Acclaim.
Peter and I visited the factory in Bend over a number of years. We have scanned many of the original brochures (Peter could tell you the dates) and have copies of all the technical schematics (given to techs to work on Beavers) for the classic Beavers.
We heard the story that Matt Perlot disagreed with the powers that were in Beaver over a number of issues. One of them being he wanted the Contessa/Acclaim to be a lower line in Beaver rather than just below the Marquis. Over the disagreements he left Beaver and started Safari with the Trek being very successful. When Perlot acquired Beaver, he later brought the Contessa back in the position above the Monterey and below the Patriot where he thought it belonged.
We will not be at Harrisburg (we will be at Perry and Wisconsin), but if you do have a seminar on it, someone PLEASE take notes as the BAC club may be the only repository of the history of Beaver. It would be neat (and yes I am volunteering to help) to put together a booklet (The History of Beaver RVs) for our club. :) Connie B.
MarcRodstein:
Mandy, you said that "Even after the bankruptcy was settled the Beaver line was still manufactured in Bend, OR until Monaco took over and moved the facility to Coburg." I think you will agree that Monaco made Beavers in Bend for a couple of years before they moved production to Coburg.
As an aside, I did not know how much of a Beaver pioneer you were, on the rainy day in 2002 when I met you by chance in a restaurant in Hutchinson Kansas. I had flown there to the FMCA International Rally to peruse the latest motorhomes before buying what I intended would be a Dutchstar. It was to be my very first RV. You invited me to attend a BAC cocktail party the next day, which I did. Tough break for Newmar, I ended up buying a 2003 Monterey instead! Followed by many fun times with the super people in BAC.
Joel Ashley:
Ain't that just how it goes? Though not our first motor home, we also were determined our new coach would be either a Mountain Aire or a Dutch Star, but fell for a Monterey. Silly us ;). Some of the blame has to go to Ron Estes, and Ty Kelly's no-pressure salesmanship and the hours he spent just "shooting the breeze" with us, not to mention the well-deserved and well documented reputation of Beaver Coach Sales.
Diana Bentley:
I hope people will continue to add history to this thread. It would make an interesting Beaver Tales article, so I'm collecting what is said. I agree with Connie though, that it would be nice to have a full history in written form.
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