[ipso_facto]

I think the compromise in quality "today" vs "40+ years ago" is evident in almost all products made today, i.e. homes, cars, appliances, furniture, clothing, etc. The common denominator is we live in a mass-produced, disposable society today, much different from when Airstreams were basically custom made to order in the early '60s & earlier.
Why should Airstreams be held to a different standard than anything else? Even Mercedes aren't what they used to be...


Shari

That hits the nail on the head. The answer you are looking for is inflation. The quality of currency in the society is inversely proporational to its amount. Meaning, the more currency there is, the less it buys.

This is why, for example, a bottle of Coke in 1950's was 5 cents and it is 1 dollar now. Coke surely hasn't become more expensive. How could it? Think about it for a second. Production methods have improved, becoming more efficient, and cheaper with better machinery, computers, et cetera. Distribution methods have improved as well (the interstate highway system). Advertisizing works better. So, that 12 oz of Coke going from 5 cents to about 1 dollar are not an indication of its cost increase or increased demand, it is an indication of something else and that something else is value of currency going down and down. 5 cents doesn't buy you 12 oz anymore, it only gets you 1/20 of that or about 0.6 oz.

It works like that with anything else. It's obvious that rising prices are an indication of a diluted currency. What's not obvious is that another drasticaly detrimental consequence of a diluted currency is that it constitues a powerful stimulus for the manufacturers to produce "disposable" products as you put it. With the value of currency constantly going down, it just doesn't pay to manufacture long-lasting, top quality products. It is more complex than that: it's not just the prices or goods, but also services which are less tangible but also surely affected. (Evident in th original post by femuse) In short, monetary debasement affects the entire society, while consumers blame manufacturers for rising prices and lower quality, manufacturers are forced to raise prices to account for the debased currency, et cetera.

This explains why in late 70's, a period of relatively high inflation of about 20%, Airstream went bankrupt and was bought by Thor. Airstream of course was not an isolated event. Chrysler products also experienced the same thing, their quality hit rock bottom in '78 and would have gone bankrupt had Congress not given them a loan.
Could it be that the highest quality A/S units are really from 50's and 60's, given that inflation was low in that period? (In 1965 Congress removed all silver from the currency, enabling massive inflation of the 70's.)