The restoration and modernization of a "mature" Airstream travel trailer

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat community,

I have made it no secret that I had a deep-seated desire to own a vintage Airstream trailer.  Having an RV goes back to my childhood.  My parents did a tour of the western United States with a rented "canned ham" style travel trailer.  My Dad had bought us a Volkswagon bus camper which was our transportation while in Europe.

Since I wanted to tow it with my trusty 1965 Buick Special wagon, I wanted a trailer of the same "vintage."  As you would expect, there are lots of trade-offs involved in the selection of a travel trailer.  For reasons I won't go into now, the sweet-spot appeared to be a 1965-67 24 foot Airstream Trade Wind.  So how do you find such a thing? . . . . . with a lot of patience and a lot of looking!!

This past summer, I spotted on eBay this 1967 Airstream Trade Wind:



It was being sold by the Airstream dealership in Ventura (next to Santa Barbara on the California coast.)  I tried to play hard to get, but they immediately discounted the price - making it tempting.  I contacted the local shop whom I hoped would do the restoration and they also thought the trailer looked okay.

All signals were looking green, and I was feeling bit blue and in need of a pick me up so I . . . . "Pulled da' trigger!" as the slang goes!!

Lesson #1: Never purchase any sort of RV to chase away the blues - especially an vintage one!!

As noted above, 24 foot Airstream trailers were close to the same from 1965 to 1967.  But there were some differences.  In addition, this trailer had a customized front dinette.  I had to make my own drawing of this trailer's floorplan:



There is a photo walk-through on the web:

https://canebas.smugmug.com/1967-Airstream-Trade-Wind-24-feet/Trailer-walk-through-August-13-2025

Here are some orientation photos.  First, the dinette as seen from the entry door:



Next, the kitchen area (stay tuned for surprises in this area:)



The trailer had a pair of twin beds on the way to the bathroom:



Finally, here is a photo of the bathroom:



That is what the restoration shop: Avalon-RV inherited from the sale.

I'll pause here and continue the saga in the next posting.

Edouard

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCatters with road-trip inclinations, . . . .

Our first installment began with high-hopes for the 1967 Airstream Trade Wind I had bought from Airstream Ventura.  However, the journey quickly got bumpy.  The refrigerator hatch fell off while the trailer was being transported to northern California.  58 year old hatches aren't exactly easy to find.  Happily, lady luck was smiling on my trailer and another hatch was located and refurbished.  By the time all this had occurred, it was approaching the yearly Orinda Classic Car show.  It was premature to try to show Biquette and the trailer so early in the restoration process, so I asked the owner of Avalon RV to help me stage a few photos to display on my trusty wagon.  Here is the front view:



Here is the side view of the wagon and trailer:



This view shows that Biquette has her work cut out for her.  The trailer is 8 feet (about 2.5 meters) longer than Biquette and over 50% heavier.  That explains one of the criteria for this trailer.  24 feet (7.3 meters) was the shortest Airstreams of the period with 2 axles.  Those 2 axles provide 4-wheel braking for the trailer.  Biquette's big-block engine wasn't going to have any trouble moving this consist.  However, my dream trailer would need all the braking capacity it could get.

Here is one last photo that I've already shared:



In closing, I thought I would share the current floor-plan scheme for intended trailer restoration:



The 1967 floor-plan was intended more for families with the irony that they kids were more likely to end up in the twin-beds than the parents.  The current design is based on Airstream trailers of about this size for a decade or more and is intended to be a love-nest for two instead of cramming more bodies than can realistically be comfortable.

Those are the two installments for today.  Worry not, when it comes to this "soap opera" this is only da' beginning!!

Edouard 

[Blicj11]

Fantastic story so far. Thanks for sharing. I'll bet you are excited! What is your estimated time frame for completing the restoration?

[WCDev]

Very nice looking 'van Edouard!