CHAPARRAL TO BE DISCONTINUED

Snowmobile Dealer Magazine - Press Release - March 1974
Armco Will Discontinue Chaparral Product Line - Denver, Armco Steel Corporation has announced that it will discontinue its Chaparral recreational vehicle lines, either through sale of the product lines, or by liquidation. The products affected by the decision of the giant steel company, which owns Chaparral through its subsidiary, Armco Recreational Products, Inc., Denver, includes snowmobiles, sport cyc;es, bicycles, clothing and accessories.
In announcing its decision to get out of the recreational vehicle industry, Armco cited general conditions within the snowmobile industry and losses from the snowmobile and supporting operations.
James E. Kunkler, president of the Armco Recreational Products and also a senior vice president for Armco Steel, said, "although Chaparral has made outstanding progress in recreational products during recent years, our remaining products could not continue to absorb losses from snowmobiles and supporting operations. We will either sell or liquidate these unprofitable product lines this year.
The company further stressed that complete warranty service will be maintained in all discontinued products and the Denver-based parts distributor center for Chaparral products will continue to operate.  Parts will be available for a period of at least five years after the model year of each snowmobile, sport cycle and bicycle.
It was estimated that Chaparral produced about 11,000 snowmobiles for the 1974 season, down 40% from the year before, in spite of the well accepted new liquid cooled machines.