I am a rookie airstream owner. I just purchased a 1971 29' Abassador for $5,250.00. It is in pretty good condition. It has a couple of dents and the tires need to be replaced. It needs some work in the interior and I am planning on replacing the carpeting with wood flooring. I really have no idea what I am doing but I figure this is all part of the fun. I am very happy to have stumbled on to this site. I have always wanted to own an airstream since I was a kid. I cannot wait to take it out on the road once I fix it up and figure out what I am doing. It is all very exciting.
anyone (besides us) get a tour of the seller's home, take steak and potato salad for lunch and lounge by their pool for hours on the purchase day?We got lucky and met great sellers!
__________________ Mark
72 Sovereign: L couch, mid-twin, rear-bath
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it"
"It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much."
"If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else." - Yogi Berra
22 yrs old, approaching 5th year in college out of 6 1/2? or so
loans out the wazoo
upwards of 10G spent on rent already
competing with 60,000 other college students for jobs in a city of 150,000
ah the college life
as rent casually increases and I do good to have roomates that arent trying to steal my stuff, screw me out of money or even kill me- yes i had one nut who got off his happy pill meds try to kill me, I was looking for a better solution for housing
I decided that a camper was the way to go
it would be mine so when i did spend money on it, it would be more like an investment rather than tossing money away making some big real estate company or some big investor rich off of me living in a slum
I was in a bind of a lease that i couldnt get out of and couldnt keep a decent roomate- needless to say i'd had enough of renting and messing with roomates.
started looking around and saw how clearly SOBs could not hold their own
not to mention 3 or 4 sitting out in the woods that people have given to my step dad which we robbed all the parts we could off of (generator, misc appliances, but mostly scrap iron)
started looking on ebay
liked the prices on airstreams to be restored
have known a couple of people who owned airstreams in the past and who swear by them
so I took a chance on a '69 Overlander and it turned out to be the best thing I've done in a while
for $2100, it had no upholstery, bare plywood floor, severe rust under holding tank, no fresh tank, missing twin bed, missing bathroom cabinet doors, rotten around toilet, missing front couch, faded falling apart curtains, and for icing on the cake a stink worth several gallons of bleach.
all present appliances work except roof air- which i promptly fixed because that is one of the four things i require to live in a place (bed, toilet, shower, and ac)
after some bleach, febreze, shop vac, comet, scrubbing, shop vac, bleach, scrubbing, bleach, scrubbing, cut out rotten plywood, brace in new piece of treated plywood, bleach, comet , scrubbing, pull twin bed out bleach, comet scrub all surrounding and under, pull out carpet that was under bed, bleach, scrub, shop vac, then... wood putty bad spots, sand, more wood putty here and there, sand, lay down some stick on linoleum squares.
beautiful
that is to date
I'm currently able to stay in there and save money
still have a long way to go, most of it consists of me waiting to see what I'm going to need and put in the front living room and opposite hole where the other twin bed used to be
the threads have been much help
thanks to all who get on here with advice
J
We paid $3500.00 for a 1972 31 ft Ambassador. After all is said and done; floor,curtains, new mattresses,couch,microwave,rims,tires,brakes and all the fun stuff for the inside; cleaning, polish, etc.. add another $3500.00 approx. But we feel a sense of pride and my wife is attached to that "tincan." We even love our small vintage dents. The best part is traveling and meeting A/S enthusiast and going to rallies. But most of all, its paid for and no monthly bills or interest!! Keep up the good work everyone hope to see you on the road.
We just picked up our new 2005 28 Classic; it is a gorgeous unit with the new Vista View Windows. It was $49,500 out the door. This is our second Airstream trailer, we had a 1998 28 Excella which we were dumb enough to sell to get a Motorhome which we did not like.
My wife is tickled pink now that she has her 28 back!
A month ago, I bought a 1970's Overlander for $3000.... it looks really nice inside and outside.... so it doesn't need much work.... the couch in the living room is missing, and so is the fold out kitchen table missing... and it doesn't have a fridge... but everything else is in pretty good shape....
I heard later from one of my cousins that my uncle rejected many offers from others before I ever made my presentation. Susie wanted the Overlander, but neither her or her husband have the skills to put it back in the campground.
I ended up feeling kind of special about getting my Airstream before I ever knew about this forum or the great people who contribute to it.
I bought my little 1964, 3000 lb. Globetrotter 5 yrs. ago. I paid $2000.00. It was all original. As of 6 wks ago I'm beginning to fix/restore all, including floor, floor beneath the toilet, power system, lights, dents, plumbing, upholstering.... need I go on. I'm having fun. I love this little gem! Happy trails!
Bought our '51 Airstream Flying Cloud last year for $5,000 Canadian. Re-modeled/rebuilt much of the interior, installed a bathroom, grey and black tanks and waste plumbing system, 50amp converter, mag wheels, hidden A/C and Micro and just took it out for a 7 day camping trip. It worked perfect, there's not one thing we'd change or do differently from how we've built it out, and it sure got a TON of attention. We pulled it with our '57 Pontiac stationwagon and the two look like they were made for each other. Total into the Airstream with me doing all the work is $6,600 and some change, and I sold my SOB for $6,900 so I'm stull bucks up and have the neatest trailer we can imagine owning. Life is good!
Barry
What about those of us who own more than one Airstream? May we vote in the poll for each one? The price variation between my trailers is pretty extreme . . . Or should we just do an average?
...May we vote in the poll for each one? ...do an average?
You won't be able to. One vote per member. I say this because I have already voted on my one Airstream, and the poll now tells me I have already voted.
Voting an average value of your American Classics would not help the end value of the poll. You have two options as I see it:
1) Pick your most memorable price & post it.
2) Become "Sybil", and join the forums under multiple names (rfield54B, rfield54c), and vote every case.
I bought my trailer gutted-out, but it had a fairly nice body and I thought it was possible to restore it, along with the fact that it was impossible for me to buy a new one. I traded an enclosed utility trailer (that i had paid $600.00 for it) and a $200.00 donation to a church, so my initial investment was for a total of $800.00.
Two and a half years later, $4200.00 additional money spent and countless hours working on it and it's still not finished, but what fun it has been and what an education too, thanks again to all you nice folks on the forums who have helped me with answers and even parts. Thanks,
Ernie
'58 Traveler, 18ft.
I paid $1,500 for my 1977 Minuet last June. I have had to replace nearly everything in it but that was mainly because I do not want something to break while I am camping. If I replace it now and service it when I should then I know what shape it is in and how long it has been in service.
I paid $800 for my 1973 Argosy 20. My brother that restored our 1963 Bambi with me when we were teenagers has laid claim to it. It needs a little more work than my Minuet but it is in great shape. Very roadworthy and tows like a charm. My brother says that he will pay me for it but I am not holding my breath!
well i had a big set of whevos when i bought mine.........firefighter had it for sale on ebay for $5500, looked like hell in the pictures,looked even worse when i got it,but i got a great deal. i think the 2 previous owners were just overwhelmed by the damage.i am in the process of replacing the 2 rear r/s panels[1st one done this morning]just waiting on the proper ribs to be sent by airstream. they sent middle ribs not end ribs that were welded together........and very flimsy.
i have the r/s brown belly skin off and have matereal on it's way for free from a gutter contractor. all i have to do is cut it out using the old as a pattern.and then install the rest of the windows. still missing 2 out of 6 that were broken in the crash.
i am very happy with my purchase..........when i'm done it won't look brand new ,but it will look much better than it did and be very useable.......i am dissipointed with how much crud airstream leaves behind in the belly and behind the walls though...i found papers and a lot of metal shavings which could of been cleaned up before shipping. i also found a hole that a new york sewer rat could of gotten through where the gas pipes come through the floor. i will foam that before i seal up everything..............all in all it has been a fun experance: D.
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