Met the niece of Gary Lukehart

[sm350bl]

Had a really interesting event happen to me over the long weekend. Its too good not to share. I had pulled into a local Walgreen's to get some last minute Christmas cards. I was walking through the parking lot and a lady approached me and asked about my Chinook. Then she proceeded to tell me that her family had were the ones who made those. She told me Gary Lukehart was her uncle and she pointed to the lady in the car ( who is her mother ) and told me her brother was Gary. She went on to tell me about growing up and taking countless camping trips growing up with the family. At the end of the conversation she mentioned she has lots of pictures from the camping trips with lots of models of Chinooks! So I gave her my email address because she said she would scan and send over some pictures of interest. I told her about the forum here and that people would probably love to hear the insider stories of company development and odds and ends pertaining to chinooks. I'm hoping she will find her way here to share. I was pretty surprised though. What were the chances I would stumble upon something like this in Santa Cruz??? Small world. If she does get me some pictures, I'll ask if I can share here and post them for everybody to enjoy.

Rich

[Blue~Go]

How cool is that!? I hope she does come here to visit. And that you can share any gems (with her permission).

[pdemarest]

Hey Rich - amazing that she was in Santa Cruz. Hope she follows through with those photos.

[sm350bl]

Hey Rich - amazing that she was in Santa Cruz. Hope she follows through with those photos.

Hey Paul, I sure hope we are able to get some pictures too! Ironically since im new to the scene, I've been doing some research about the company so I was somewhat familiar with the names she was talking about, but in the words of a millennial, "it blew my mind". Hey thanks again for the solar info! I am going to hang onto that.

Rich

[pdemarest]

Hey Rich - anytime you need inspiration to spend lots of money on your rig let me know - I have more ideas than sense!

[Kirah]

I have more ideas than sense!

I suspect you are not alone in that!

[68camaro]

That is cool encounter, would love to hear some inside stories.

[Dano]

What I'd like to do is buy the original molds, which rumor has it he still has and start building our 2000's style

[HoosierB]

From a very good, in-depth article chinook440 posted:
https://tincantourists.com/wiki/chinook/

As reported by David MacNeal in the June 2017 issue of RV Pro magazine:

”…When Phil Rizzio purchased the rights to Chinook in 2013, it was with the caveat that he’d restore the company’s Glacier and Concourse models to their former glory. Rizzio promised Gary Lukehart, the company’s former owner, to reignite the nostalgia of those units, restoring the zeal Chinook’s Class B’s once evoked. After long negotiations, Rizzio received Lukehart’s blessings as well as the fiberglass molds for the Concourse and Glacier. Lukehart was pleased to see the prototypes roll out, and gave his thumbs up. “We’ll make it the best it’s ever been, further enhancing what his vision was,” says Rizzio. “That’s one of my big motivations. Lukehart didn’t want to turn the project over to just anybody. He was very adamant that Chinook was never coming back…”

It was reported that Chinook was looking to open a major manufacturing facility here in Indiana (Elkhart), but I haven't seen any updates on that news.
Rumor also has it that the molds are being stored in a warehouse facility in southwest lower Michigan (just over the state line from here).

[Dano]

I'll meet you at the Detroit/London border and we'll buy them and start our own company okay Hoosier? Shhhhhh...don't tell anyone. We'll make a killing!