Hi. This is my first time, and I'm new to airstreams, too. In fact, I don't have one, yet. That's my question, where do I start? I'm a little overwhelmed! I'm looking for one for pleasure and work, I'm a massage therapist and I'd like to use my airstream as my studio and then be able to take off to anywhere in my spare time. Ideally, I'd like to buy an old vintage one and fix it up beautifully for my specific needs. can someone please tell me where to begin this adventure?
You need to figure out a few things first. One, what will you tow it with? That will determine the size of the trailer you can go for.
How deep do you want to go financially and or personally in repairing or restoring, upgrading?
Once you have an idea of those two issues, then you can move onto how much do you want to spend on it to buy? How far will you go to get one?
Then i would read as many posts on the interior, and exterior issues here in these pages, so you know what to look out for.
Get closer and ask away!
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Rallys twice a year..Lots of fun, food, and aluminum.
You are working in the right direction - - research then look at available coaches, and make your final purchase decision one that is well-informed. To start you out on the research road, I would suggest the following links:
To get a better idea of Vintage Airstream products prices related to condition, try:
A Forums search will also provide you with other general RV Classified sites that also will often have Vintage Airstreams listed as well. The "penny-trader' magazines that are often available at supermarkets have also been a source of some Vintage Airstreams as well. I located my Overlander through a classified in a "penny-trader" magazine back in 1995.
Good luck with your investigation!
Kevin
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Kevin D. Allen WBCCI (Lifetime Member)/VAC/Free Wheelers #6359 AIR #827
1964 Overlander International/1999 GMC K2500 Suburban (7400 VORTEC/4.11 Differentials)
1978 Argosy Minuet 6.0 Metre/1975 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible (8.2 Liter V8/2.70 Final Drive)
there is an alternative to the "due diligence" part
this simple 2-pronged strategy worked for me:
1) Buy, sight unseen, the first cheap, restorable wreck offered, no matter where it is, how many axles it has or whether it is towable. Leave there in the woods for now.
2) Raid 401(k) and splurge, sight unseen, on the first model you find that combines your nickname & year of birth. In my case that was a '62 Bambi. Leave in Abilene, Texas, for time being.
See, with the monkey off yer back, you have loads more free time to ponder answers to the question, "Um, what now?"
The previous two post from Overlander64 and ALANSD have provided you with the overall basics. There is a wealth of help here on the forum. I respect and admire your wish to combine work and pleasure.
My dream rides on these same coat tails.
Set a price your willing to pay for a good unit then figure how much your conversion will cost.
For help, if you find the unit you think you want, see this thread.
P.S. I run across a lot of used units so include the size and price you are looking for.
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Regards Greg
Life is like an Airstream, we always have the potential to shine
I woke up one Sunday morning and decided to peruse the non-motorized RV want ads in the Sunday newspaper. Noticed there was a vintage Airstream for sale with a phone number in my neighborhood. Since it was close by, we decided to check it out. When my wife said she liked it, I pulled the checkbook out and bought it, "Um, what now?" works.
Just got ours Friday Feb 13th - total spontinaety - we were looking at the SOB's for a week and not too impressed at what we had to pay for what we were getting.
Saw the new 04 Airstreams and said WOW - love'em but there would go our retirement savings which is not very much
Decided to check out the used A/s's - found one about the right size - Did not know what year it was and still said WOW waited for the interior pics - Said double WOW. Spent the next 14 hours reading everything we could on the Vintage A/S and scanning through this forums 100's of threads and looking at 100's of renovating photos and said Wooooo Nellie - not in to huge renos but reasonable repair/replace work would be okay.
Really lucky to have Gsymes (Greg & Max) live about an hour away from the trailer to act as our eyes and on site consultants!!!......and literally 3 weeks later we were on our way back home from Louisiana to Ontario with our brand new GT6921 - Globe Trotter, 1969, 21ft. AKA "Moon Beam".
Go with your gut - and don't hum and ha because the good ones do not last - and be prepared to pay a little extra for the smaller size and those that are in better shape - great advice on the VAC site!!!! read "cover to cover" and look at every photo.
Don't be afraid to ask tons of questions here at this forum - you will get a great variety of answers to help you make informed decisions.
Be willing to take a vacation and travel anywhere to get one - or you could be waiting for a year or more for one to come up close by.
You could stay small - but have interchangeable furniture that is easily converted from comfort to massage needs - especially with these new fancy massage tables in a bag!!! You are limited by your imagination - and somewhat by your pocket book.
Also staying small you can get into reasonably priced Tow Vehicles that are still economical on gas.
Just a practical question here, did you mean to imply that you want to use the Airstream as a place to practice massage AND travel? As in setting your table up inside of the space? You may need to rethink that...I have an Overlander which has a good deal of space in both the salon and the mid area sleeping compartment. Gutted down to the skin, the salon would not provide enough space for a table (and working space all the way around.) The sleeping area gutted to the skin...maybe, but it would be a tight squeeze. Anyway, keep it in mind when you start looking for your Airstream if you want to have a working space and still keep it in shape to be able to use on the road. Good luck to you and... "keep in touch."
OC
I've owned a 30' and 34'. I could set up a massage table in the 34' and still get around it (barely) but in anything smaller I think it would really be a challenge.
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Keep the shiny side up. WBCCI # 3485 Region 3 1stVP
Past President Tidewater Unit 111
visit tidewater Virginia's web page @ www.tidewaterwbcci.com
Rick Bell in "Silverbell"
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