Provan Tiger diesel camper

[snorkel54]

Diplomat,

I used to live on N. Livingston St, now in Annandale. Will you give tours when your Tiger arrives?

Thanks

 

[DiploStrat]

Happily. But don't hold your breath; for personal reasons, I don't think that it will be before next year. There are several Tigers in Virginia and Pennsylvania.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Full disclosure - I have a deposit in on a Tiger.

That is great! Good for you! What model are you looking at?

The more I look at the Tigers the more I like them, but they are way out of my range at this point, but I can dream/plan.

 

[DiploStrat]

I confess I did not pay much attention to the roof. After years of camping indside/beside a Blazer or a Trooper in the Andes or the Hoggar, ANY hard side camper would be a tremendous step up. There is very little that I want to do when the temperature drops below freezing, so we are only looking for a three season camper.

That said:

-- The original Tiger is evolved from the Four Wheel camper - Dave Rowe was a founder of both companies. The CX/Bengal offer about 1-2" of fiberglas insulation, with the possibility of "cold bridges" in the aluminum frame. You can read tons of discussion of this in the reports of the Turtle Expedition over the years, the prototype Earthroamer, and the blogs of Rob Blackwell and Rick Howe.

-- Mark Guild, the current owner of Provan, now Tiger Adventure Vehicles, is aware that people want more insulation. His answer is the aluminum sandwich construction of the Siberian. I rather doubt that he will do that much more to the CX/Bengal beyond the windows, etc. I do know that he is looking at a better furnace. I suspect that you will see an aluminum sandwich Tiger at about the one ton size in the coming years, but I wouldn't dare to guess when. Right now he cannot keep up with the demand for CX/Bengal Tigers from customers with cash in hand.

The Siberian is not just a bigger Tiger, but a whole new vehicle. Read the specs and options - diesel appliances, cassette toilets, Heike/Dometic windows, LED lighting, hard floors, increased external storage, dedicated electrics cabinet, increased solar capacity. On top of the things that Tiger has long done well or better than most - ample propane (with option to use local small tanks), integrated generator, practical floor plan, ample kitchen working space (look at some of the competition and try to imagine actually preparing a meal in there), etc.

Tigers regularly get trashed on this and other forums for not being "serious" overland vehicles. Indeed at least one Tiger owner gave up on Expo because he was tired of being told that his Tiger "couldn't do" the things that he did everyday because it didn't have a pivot frame, etc. A lot of Tiger owners are simply out there driving around the world and enjoying it in their "toy" overlanders while a lot of the wannabes are killing electrons on the Internet.

We are looking at a Bengal, probably extended cab, but, if I could be sure to have room for camping and recovery junk, would prefer a regular cab for the shorter wheel base. My advice to anyone interested in a Tiger is to send them an e-mail and, better yet, go visit. I don't get paid to shill for Tigers. If Dave Rowe was noted for not being interested in customization, Mark Guild is very different. He is not in the custom coach building business, but he is very interested in talking to current and prospective customers to understand and meet their needs. They might be able to meet yours.

 

[fyreles]

We are Tiger fans and spent an afternoon there last month planning a refit. We saw a Dodge Cummins 4X4 four door cab about to be delivered that was awesome. Ours is a Cummins, can't imagine this without a diesel.

 

[FLTLNDR]

Fire at the Tiger plant:
http://www.tigervehicles.com/statement-fire-manufacturing-facility-tiger-adventure-vehicles/

 

[Overland Hadley]

Fire at the Tiger plant:
http://www.tigervehicles.com/statement-fire-manufacturing-facility-tiger-adventure-vehicles/

Thankfully, not as bad as it could have been.

Apr 20, 2012
On Wednesday, April 18, after normal production hours, a fire occurred in the primary manufacturing area of Tiger Adventure Vehicles. The fire started, and was contained in an area that included welding and vehicle preparation. This section of the facility was largely destroyed. Fortunately, no customer vehicles were present in the affected area. Clean-up crews are beginning their work, and this portion of the facility should re-open in early May. Normal production is continuing in other areas of the plant, and affected operations have been temporarily re-located to facilitate the production schedule.

“A quick response by the local fire department prevented widespread damage to the facility. We are very grateful for the excellent work by the local emergency authorities. We are also very thankful that no customer vehicles were involved.” says Mark Guild, General Manager of Provan Industries, LLC. “We are continuing operations with very little interruption to our production schedule. We are bringing in outside clean-up crews to properly clean the facility and repair the affected area. We will continue to manufacture and deliver quality Tiger Vehicles even while we recover from this unfortunate event.”

Provan Industries, LLC, originally established in 1986, is a manufacturer of class C 4×4 motorhomes for both on-road and off-road camping adventures. The Company sells its vehicles under the Tiger Adventure Vehicle brand name. The Company is headquartered, and has primary manufacturing, in West Columbia, SC. Provan Industries, LLC is a privately held company. For additional information, visit www.tigervehicles.com