Vintage from original owners?

[SilverHoot]

Just read ALANSD bought a 1966 from the original owner. Made me wonder how many others have bought vintage trailers from there original owners. Wonder what the oldest original owner purchase is?

[Blanchard]

We bought our 64 Tradewind from the son of the original owner. Original owner had passed away. He had kept absolutely every scrap of paper that ever went with the trailer though and we have it including some wonderful vintage Airstream brochures and such.

[Stefrobrts]

That's going to be a pretty exclusive club. I bought mine from the second owners, but they had been friends of the first owners. I thought that was pretty close to the source. I'd sure love to see camping pictures from the original family

[InsideOut]

We go our '56 from the grand-daughter of the original owner...does that count? The original owners are at the big campground in the sky ~

Shari

[Emerson75]

Well, ours isn't going to be the oldest but we bought our '75 Tradewind from the original owner. Actually the original owners wife, who happens to be my grandmother. My late grandfather owned many Airstreams over a ~50 year period. He worked out of the them traveling the country as a salesman. His latest trailer (our '75 Tradewind) was used mainly for pleasure as he was not on the road near as much in late 70s and 80s.

I had actually asked about buying it about 6 years ago, when he was still alive, but he wasn't willing to part with it. He passed away about 2 years ago and late last summer it had come up in family discussions about selling it, so I bought it.

Its very cool that I was able to purchase his AS and keep it in the family. So now I will start the second generation in the AS, and with any luck some day my kids (currently 5 and 8) or grandkids will start a third generation with it. We've only had it for a year, but we've spent a lot of time and money working on it, but have also managed to get quite a bit of camping and traveling out of it as well. I couldn't be happier. For what it is worth, we sold a 2005 camper we bought new to "upgrade" to the AS which happens to be a few years older than I am! The most amazing thing is my wife hasn't even filed for divorce yet!!

I'm working on getting some good photos of my grandfather camping in it, so I can hang a few up in the AS. My grandmother has already told me about a photo she remembers of my grandfather when he was much younger standing outside shaving in his reflection (kind like the AS illustration of the woman putting on her lipstick using her reflection).

SilverHoot- Cool thread idea!

-Eric

[Ganaraska]

Not long ago I saw an article online about a mid 1930s bread loaf trailer in the hands of its original owner or his heirs. The trailer is in showroom condition. The original owner wanted a portable dressing room to use while showing his show horses. It was stored inside when not in use, and was used only a few weekends a year. It was never slept in at night and the kitchen hardly used. It is still on the horse farm where it was originally delivered and still in occasional use.

[rovercamper]

How cool Eric. That lifetime warranty for the original owner could come in handy if you share your grandfather's name

[SuztheCruz]

The man we purchased our AS from (the father of my husband's childhood friend) purchased it from the original owners, but never put the title in his name! So technically I think that makes us the second owners....on paper anyways

[shermybaby]

Don't know if it counts but my grandfather bought our '56 from the original owner and it has been in our family since.

[ddstech]

I purchased my 58 cloud from a guy that got it from the original owner who passed away. When we made the transaction, he handed me the pink slip from the original owner. Since he never registered it, i am the official second owner. Unless you count the thousands of rats that inhabited it for thirty years in a orchard as owners. And yes it smelled worse then you imagine.

[4RXLA]

My parents were the original owners of my 77.

[markdoane]

We inherited our 59 Tradewind from the original owner.

[SilverHoot]

GREAT stories! Well, looks like Markdoane has the oldest so far, a 59 from original owner, wow. Just reading the stories of Airstreams staying in families makes me smile and wish my family had been into them, so that I had a similar story. Hope that one of my grown children are interested enough to keep ours in the family.

[slowmover]

Hope that one of my grown children are interested enough to keep ours in the family.

Or, that they enjoy it so well they want their own. I'm third generation aluminum trailer owner, and -- while it would be fun to have owned my parents or grandparents trailers (a Silver Streak and a Streamline, respectively) -- the truth is that I want a different size and floorplan.

I know where the first one went, and I assume that the occasional of the latter I see for sale in AZ may be "the one" . . . happy to know that -- barring fire -- the pair are likely still in use thirty-five and forty-four years later.

So, I say, involve those children in the problem-solving (if they're of an age) or at least in the upkeep of cleaning and such. Helping the old man on his was a part-and-parcel of being father-son for many years.

[bredlo]

We got our '62 from a collector, who'd owned the trailer for a few years but to our knowledge had never used it.

Since he'd bought it from the children of the original owner when "Walter" passed away, I sort of consider us the real second owners, even if not that's technically the case.

[TG Twinkie]

Bought ours from the son of the original owner, so we are the second family to own it.

[overlander64]

I purchased my '78 Argosy Minuet from its original owner in 2004. With the purchase, I received all of the documentation that accompanied it from the dealer. The only thing that was not among the paperwork was the special order invoice. I had first met the owner two years earlier at the WBCCI International Rally.

I had the chance to purchase my '64 Overlander from the original owners who special ordered it from the Airstream dealer in Detroit, Michigan. I was in college at the time (1980) and the $3,000 price tag was more than I could afford. In 1995, I purchased it from the second owner through a trailer flipper; but I didn't know that it was the same trailer until a few months after I had brought it home.

Kevin

[SilverHoot]

Kevin, that is a great story about your 64'. You were meant to have that trailer!