Vintage Travel Trailers

Does anyone here own one?

I am in the process of embarking on getting one. Something I can really place 'house' in Concentrating on 50s aged and keeping my sights on a 'canned ham' variety.

Sonia

My friend has a 19' Airstream, he pulls with 1955 Mercury. I just did a bunch of old time travel decals for. If that helps.

I don't have one but there is a style called teardrop trailers that are much beloved by their owners. While a little difficult to find the originals, you can actually get plans to build your own and they can be done in a variety of sizes. Plus they are still being made by companies.

Do a Google search of teardrop trailers to see all sorts of info. There are some videos on you tube from: group camp outs to building these trailers.

There is a great episode of California's Gold with Huell Howser where he visits the Teardrop Trailer club's weekend get together and it is sheer joy to see these.

http://calgold.com/visiting/Default.asp?Series=600&Show=279

I used to own one. I can offer some advise.

These things are built from the inside out. That is they start with the trailer platform then the floor (linoleum was common), erect the interior walls, framing interior paneling. Then apply the ceiling (and front and rear walls) paneling, then the outer skin and finally the roof. So if you look at one and see some water damage and figure on just replacing that wood, be cautious. To do it right is a complete tear down of the trailer.

I would spend more and buy one somebody is using rather then buy one out of a field. Restoring one of these properly is a truly ground up affair. But putting a little spit and polish into one being used might be the better route.

Search the web for one of the many dedicated forums on the topic of vintage travel trailers. Pick those people's brains. They have been down this road and know what pitfalls to avoid and what treasures to keep your eyes out for.

One nice thing about travel trailers versus cars is you can buy an "off brand" NOT as Scotty or NOT an Airstream and still be able to restore it, work on it and use it. Take an obscure or rare car and your life is dedicated to finding parts. But with a few exceptions a trailer is a trailer. From the floor down (axles, brakes, wheels, tires, brake lights) the parts are the same now as they were then and you can get them at any auto parts store.

Hope that helps some
Matt

I get a travel trailer from amazon,and it hold all my stuff

I have a semi-vintage trailer, a 1968 Fan "Luxury Liner" but it's built to more of a 50's design philosophy.

Keep the roof well sealed.

My wife and I adore teardrops and look forward to owning our own. However, for those of you wanting 'vintage' I feel obligated to point out that people were either shorter then or more willing to put up with discomfort. Teardrops built during the '40's through the '60's were, with very rare exceptions, built on 4x8 sheets of plywood and only hold a double mattress. 'Canned hams' were equally snug. If you idea of minimal comfort is a queen bed or larger, you will have to either build your own or go new. This isn't really too much of a problem. Just 'Retro' is up once you get it and pull it with an age appropriate vehicle and almost no one will ever guess.

If you want to see some great examples of vintage trailers, check out Sisters On The Fly website.

http://www.sistersonthefly.com/trailers.php?offset=0&limit=20

I have two "vintage" Holiday Rambler trailers, both late 70s. For comfort reasons, 60s - 70s is about as vintage as I care to get. If you want something from the 50s, large enough to be really comfortable, and truly top-of-the-line, look for a Spartan.

JP

Well since Tear Drops were mostly homebuilt affairs anyways, very few commercial models, you can build a new tear drop to the sizes you want and make it as retro as you like. As for Spartans. I just drool at the name. They were an aircraft manufacturer before getting into camping trailers and their construction reflects that.

Matt

On our side of the pond trailers are called caravans, and I'm in the market. It's easy to pick up a vintage model that's been home to squirrels, mice and every other rodent that has a penchant for the open road, albeit static at present. You can get one for just a few hundred pounds.
There is one particular small model that I like, has to be small, the MG can just about pull the skin off a rice pudding.

View attachment 14427

The price of a restoration project appeals, but the restoration doesn't. A restored caravan can often cost as much as a new one. But a new one is just a bland box, no soul. Time for some serious thinking.

GHT said:

On our side of the pond trailers are called caravans, and I'm in the market. It's easy to pick up a vintage model that's been home to squirrels, mice and every other rodent that has a penchant for the open road, albeit static at present. You can get one for just a few hundred pounds.
There is one particular small model that I like, has to be small, the MG can just about pull the skin off a rice pudding.

View attachment 14427

The price of a restoration project appeals, but the restoration doesn't. A restored caravan can often cost as much as a new one. But a new one is just a bland box, no soul. Time for some serious thinking.

Click to expand...

If you get the one pictured, I want to see pictures of that MG pulling it---make that movies of the MG pulling it.

About eight years ago, I had a 23-foot '69 Airstream Safari. (Sorry, pics are on my old laptop that crashed.) I loved it but it was, admittedly, a money pit. Replacing even the trivial things involved search and destroy on eBay. I once got in a bidding war and paid over $60 just for a 7-inch square plastic ceiling light cover. I actually needed three because they were cracking and bits were falling off my original ones, but I only found the one replacement on eBay in the three years I owned the trailer. Other similar issues occurred. Sadly, I made the decision to sell. But if my purse strings weren't so tight, I'd really enjoy having a vintage trailer again.

Adding: Curiosity just caused me to google for that stupid light cover and there's an RV company that makes replacements now for $20 each.

I'm a fan of vintage travel trailers. I have a 1972 Travelux Princess, a Canadian made polished aluminum job of the school of Avion, Airstream, and Spartan. It resembles a fifties Airstream in appearance.

There are some good information sources on the net. If you are thinking of buying a canned ham or conventional trailer look at some Youtube videos by Mobiltec. He has put up about 100 videos covering every aspect of restoring fifties trailers. You will have an excellent idea of how they are put together, what to look for that goes wrong, and how to fix them.

Another good site is Air Forums for Airstream and Airstream style trailers. They cover the vintage models, and repairs etc in depth. They also have a "vintage kin" section for other makes of streamlined aluminum trailer.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/