Chaparral Boats

Every Chaparral comes out of a plant of about one million square feet in Nashville, Georgia, where the powerboat brand has been based since 1976. William Pegg, known as Buck, and Reggie Rose founded the company in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1965.

Chaparral grew out of Fiberglass Fabricators, a shop incorporated in 1961; the first hulls appeared in 1964 and complete boats followed in 1965. The early bestseller was a 15 foot tri-hull with a sticker price of 675 dollars. That model was dropped in the early 1980s, but many are still in use. In 1976 the company bought a former boat factory in Nashville, Georgia, and moved production there from Florida.

The range covers fiberglass pleasure, sport and fishing boats, from 18 foot bowriders such as the 185 LE up to cruisers like the 350 Signature. Long-running lines include the SSi sport boats and the Signature cruisers; the H2O series joined in 2012 and the Premiere 420 sport yacht in 2013. Marine Products Corporation, a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has owned Chaparral since a 2001 spin-off from RPC.

Six decades of volume production keep the used market well stocked. Signature cruisers such as the 276, 310, 330 and 350 change hands steadily, along with sport boats like the 255 SSi, and GetBoat's Chaparral listings cover models across that span.