Research by WBCCI Number?

[xrvr]

Originally Posted by painterfam

I have a 1959 Overlander with very clear #2828 stickers on it. I read about a previous person (not owner) in this thread who has a 76 with the same numbers. I would love the history on my trailer. Obviously, prior to '76 is what I'm looking for.
My husband was able to see today that there are scratches from where there was (what we have since deduced) a Wally Byam's plaque. I'm dying to know if there are records of my trailer having gone on a Caravan.
We haven't found any other stickers..or evidence of old stickers.
Also, where would the Overlander name plate have been? I don't see a place where rivets were removed. The Overlander plate is missing.


Thanks so much in advance!
Rachael

Both trailers could have been owned by the same person since the numbers belong to the person, not the trailer. Trying to remember when the numbers started to be used, anyone know? When did the club start?

[mark49brown]

Hello all! I have a 1971 Land Yacht that has two ghost numbers on the back. 5052 looks like the older one and 2092 more recent. I heard from the previous owner that a previous to him owner had taken it overseas to Europe and Africa and I was hoping to verify this. Can anyone help?

[66Overlander]

Originally Posted by mark49brown

Hello all! I have a 1971 Land Yacht that has two ghost numbers on the back. 5052 looks like the older one and 2092 more recent. I heard from the previous owner that a previous to him owner had taken it overseas to Europe and Africa and I was hoping to verify this. Can anyone help?

Hi Mark,
People often make claims with no proof to back them up. Sorry to be a downer, but this appears to be such a case, at least for official Airstream caravans. The last 3 caravans where Airstreams were actually shipped to Europe occurred in 1971, 1973, and 1977. Neither 2092 nor 5052 are recorded as having been on those caravans. There was only one Caravan where Airstreams were shipped to Africa and that occurred in 1959-60, well before a 1971 Airstream was built. So for sure, your 1971 Airstrean did not participate on any Airstream caravan to Europe or Africa, under the numbers you provided. There have been cases of individuals shipping an Airstream overseas for personal travel, at least in the 1950s and 1960s and likely still possible in the 1970s. You would need some supporting documents, such as shipping papers listing the trailer serial number to substatiate such a claim.

[mark49brown]

Hi 66Overlander,

Thanks for the prompt reply. I inspected the trailer again this morning and I'm hanging my last romantic hope on 5050... I understand if people have inflated the lore of their trailers, but would you please let me know if 5050 brings up anything?

Thank you!

[66Overlander]

Originally Posted by mark49brown

Hi 66Overlander,

Thanks for the prompt reply. I inspected the trailer again this morning and I'm hanging my last romantic hope on 5050... I understand if people have inflated the lore of their trailers, but would you please let me know if 5050 brings up anything?

Thank you!

Sorry, 5050 was also not a participant on any of the 1971, 1973, or 1977 European caravans.

[callegarza]

I was wondering if you could help me with a number on my new to me 1965 22'
Safari..its 11994 The original owner was from Denver.. where is this number now..
Thanks for the help..
Susie

[66Overlander]

Originally Posted by callegarza

I was wondering if you could help me with a number on my new to me 1965 22'
Safari..its 11994 The original owner was from Denver.. where is this number now..
Thanks for the help..
Susie

Hi Susie,
What you've been told may or may not be correct. Let me explain.

11994 was first assigned in late 1964, which would likely be correct for a 1965 with an early serial number, since model year changeover likely occurred mid year. 11994 thus first appears in the 1965 Membership Directory, when it belonged to a couple in California. 11994 was later assigned to someone in Denver, Colorado. Here are the details by Membership Directory year:

1965: T.B. & Nadine Culwell, Santa Barbara, CA, no caravans.
1966: Nadine Culwell, Salinas, CA, no caravans.
1967: (I am am missing this directory)
1968-69: Bill & La Veda Hoffman, Sacramento, CA, no caravans.
1970: Unassigned.
1971: Wilfred & Lily Miller, Denver, CO, no caravans.
1972-73: Unassigned.
1974+: William J. & Marty Kemp, Seattle, WA, no caravans. (Did not check any further.)

We have no record of who may have owned a given Airstream, so we can only make educated guesses based upon the info gathered from the Membership Directories.

We can guess that the Culwells may have most likely owned a 1964 or 1965 Airstream. We can guess that Nadine may have sold that Airstream to the Hoffmans because of the relative proximity. Whether the Hoffmans sold that Airstream to the Millers is more of a reach because of the distance, but the possibility exists. If this happened, all might have owned your 1965 Safari. If it did not happen, it is possible that the Millers were the first owner of your 1965 Safari, but did not join the club until several years later and by chance got reassigned an available number that had first been assigned about the time the Airstream was made. If your Safari has an early serial number, both scenarios are possible. It the Safari has a late serial number, only the second scenario makes possible sense. I do not believe the Kemps ever owned your Safari because you said it was both originally and currently in Denver, so I did not check any later directories.

That's all I have. Enjoy that Airstream!

[callegarza]

wow thanks for all the info.. your going to go to heaven in an Airsteam...The numbers are on the trailer.. they are very visible.. I have the original owners manual.. and the guy was in Denver with a Denver dealer.. and the guy i bought it from had it for 40 years and his last name was Blackwell.. in Santa Fe.

If they could only talk..
do you think the number is taken now.. i would think people would try to get early numbers..
your the best
susie

[callegarza]

whats the definition of an early serial number??? the number is S0225130 and was made in California

[66Overlander]

Originally Posted by callegarza

wow thanks for all the info.. your going to go to heaven in an Airsteam...The numbers are on the trailer.. they are very visible.. I have the original owners manual.. and the guy was in Denver with a Denver dealer.. and the guy i bought it from had it for 40 years and his last name was Blackwell.. in Santa Fe.

If they could only talk..
do you think the number is taken now.. i would think people would try to get early numbers..
your the best
susie

Originally Posted by callegarza

whats the definition of an early serial number??? the number is S0225130 and was made in California

Well, I hoped that we had records of the serial numbers used in the mid 1960s, like we do for the 1950s and early 1960s, but I checked some old publications and cannot find a serial number range published for 1965 Airstreams, so that is likely a dead end.

Being a California built Airstream makes it more likely that the Culwells were in fact the first owners and Hoffmans were also previous owners, but this is certainly not proof. Had your trailer been built in Ohio, first owners in California would have been much less likely.

I checked the current 2015 Membership Directory and 11994 is unassigned. You can mostly likely get it if you join the club, but the staff at club HQ would have to perform the final check. I suppose there is a minuscule chance that someone took this number since the directory was published, but that is highly unlikely since people typically get the smallest 4 digit number available unless they are matching a number that is already on their Airstream.

Good luck!

[xrvr]

Blackwell may not have been a club member, hence no number assigned to him.

[chrisetmike]

Hi
We have a 1967 Overlander with a ghost number 25449. We would appreciate any information anyone could provide. I would like to know where my trailer has been. What rallies it has attended. I have very little information on this trailer just clues. I think it was in Moncton NB for a centennial celebration (it has a Moncton 100 sticker on the back ) . I am just curious but any information on this trailer would be great .

[xrvr]

The number only means the owner was there, not necessarily the trailer. If the owner has more than one AS, he may have the same number on each. But the rally patch is a good clue that the trailer was there. Good hunting for info.

[66Overlander]

Originally Posted by chrisetmike

Hi
We have a 1967 Overlander with a ghost number 25449. We would appreciate any information anyone could provide. I would like to know where my trailer has been. What rallies it has attended. I have very little information on this trailer just clues. I think it was in Moncton NB for a centennial celebration (it has a Moncton 100 sticker on the back ) . I am just curious but any information on this trailer would be great .

It is true that WBCCI does not keep records of Airstreams owned by members, nor rallies attended. Participation on "numbered" caravans is recorded for members, but not Airstreams used on them. Sometimes, we can make educated guesses though based upon Membership Directory records.

Your case is very tough, though. The number 25449 was not first assigned until 1971 and thus first appears in the 1972 Membership Directory, which means this number was not first assigned to your 1967 Overlander when it was new. This makes it much harder to know when this number was applied to the Airstream. Over the years, 25449 has been assigned in Membership Directories as follows:
1972-73: Vernon & Jean Higgs, Brookville, FL, no caravans.
1974-75: Unassigned
1976-91: Robert & Ruth Keller, Upper Marlboro, MD, no caravans.
1992+: Unassigned (only spot checked a few Directories)

It thus seems likely that either the Higgs or Kellers owned your 1967 Overlander, but I can only guess that it might more likely be the Kellers during at least part of the time they were in the club (they could have changed Airstreams over the years) because Maryland is closer to New Brunswick than Florida. But depending upon where you bought the Airstream and whether there might be dealer emblems or decals on it might tilt the likelihood to one couple or the other. In any case, neither of these possible owners participated on any numbered caravans, so we really cannot make any guesses about where it's been.

In seems that the Moncton 100 celebration occurred in 1990, so the Kellers could have taken the Overlander to that event if they owned it then. Or another owner may have taken it to that event. We really have no way of knowing.

That's all I can determine. Sorry that it's not much. Enjoy that Overlander!

[AudioMike]

HI, I have a 1966 Safari that, from what I can tell, has spent most, if not all of its time in the Wyoming/Colorado area. It still has the number 17012 on it and I was wondering if there was any info on potential owner(s).

Thanks

[chrisetmike]

Originally Posted by 66Overlander

It is true that WBCCI does not keep records of Airstreams owned by members, nor rallies attended. Participation on "numbered" caravans is recorded for members, but not Airstreams used on them. Sometimes, we can make educated guesses though based upon Membership Directory records.

Your case is very tough, though. The number 25449 was not first assigned until 1971 and thus first appears in the 1972 Membership Directory, which means this number was not first assigned to your 1967 Overlander when it was new. This makes it much harder to know when this number was applied to the Airstream. Over the years, 25449 has been assigned in Membership Directories as follows:
1972-73: Vernon & Jean Higgs, Brookville, FL, no caravans.
1974-75: Unassigned
1976-91: Robert & Ruth Keller, Upper Marlboro, MD, no caravans.
1992+: Unassigned (only spot checked a few Directories)

It thus seems likely that either the Higgs or Kellers owned your 1967 Overlander, but I can only guess that it might more likely be the Kellers during at least part of the time they were in the club (they could have changed Airstreams over the years) because Maryland is closer to New Brunswick than Florida. But depending upon where you bought the Airstream and whether there might be dealer emblems or decals on it might tilt the likelihood to one couple or the other. In any case, neither of these possible owners participated on any numbered caravans, so we really cannot make any guesses about where it's been.

In seems that the Moncton 100 celebration occurred in 1990, so the Kellers could have taken the Overlander to that event if they owned it then. Or another owner may have taken it to that event. We really have no way of knowing.

That's all I can determine. Sorry that it's not much. Enjoy that Overlander!

Thank you for your reply and your research , it is very much appreciated ! It raises more questions than answers lol . We bought our Overlander from PEI . A short ferry ride to Moncton . The previous owners bought it from another Islander so I know it has been in PEI for a while . I haven't found any dealer decals so it may have changed hands privatly . On a positive note , the original number appears to be ours for the taking , if we decide to join the club !

[66Overlander]

Originally Posted by AudioMike

HI, I have a 1966 Safari that, from what I can tell, has spent most, if not all of its time in the Wyoming/Colorado area. It still has the number 17012 on it and I was wondering if there was any info on potential owner(s).

This is another toughie and may cause some doubt about what you were told about the prior history of your 1966 Safari. #17012 was first assigned in 1966 which is very appropriate for a 1966 Airstream. #17012 should thus first appear in the 1967 Membership Directory, but this is the only issue I am currently missing. From 1968 onward, #17012 was assigned as follows:
1967: Unknown
1968-1983: Fred R. & Ruth Kruger, Sebago Lake, ME (Maine, not Colordo), caravans 56, 63, & 84.
1984+: Unassigned (spot checked several, but not all issues)

So, what are the possibilities for your 1966 Safari?

1. #17012 was assigned to someone possibly in/near CO/WY in 1966 and was then reassigned to the Krugers in Maine the next year. This is very unlikely (but not impossible), because when a member does not renew, their number is typically reserved for a couple of years before being reasigned to someone else. Exceptions exist and often occur when a member sells their Airstream and informed the club that they will not be renewing, so that the new owner can get the same WBCCI # that is already on the trailer. This seems unlikely in this case.

2. The Krugers bought your Airstream when new and that is when the 17012 was assigned. How and when the Airstream got from Maine to Colorado, we do not know. This option brings the possibility that the Krugers may have taken your Safari on some or all of these caravans:
- 56 - Western Mexico Winter 1968
- 63 - Yucatan Winter 1969
- 89 - Mexico Fall 1972

3. Someone else owned your Safari after 1984 and joined the club but likely did not remain in the club very long, possibly being a "one and done" that joined after a Membership Directory was published, but not renewing and thus not being listed in the following Directory. I consider this unlikely, because by 1984 most new members were getting reassigned 4 digit numbers and generally only got 5 digit numbers if they bought a used Airstream that already had a 5 digit number on it. Also, it would be a coincidence if they joined in the 1980s or later with a 1966 Airstream and just by chance got randomly assigned a number that has been first assigned in 1966.

I actually believe that option #2 is the most likely. The Kruger's may very well have bought your Safari new, but they might have changed trailers some time during their time in the club, possibly soon after 1966. If they sold it on their way to or from one of their Mexico caravans, they could have sold it somewhere near Colorado. Mind you, this is just speculation, but such a scenario could support the contention that your 1966 Safari has been in/near Colorado most of it's life. On the other hand, if the Krugers sold it in 1983 or so when they did not renew in the club and it then made it's way to Colorado, that would still be a long time in that area.

That's all I got. Enjoy that Safari!

[SteveSueMac]

What a great service you provide for everyone curious about the history of their numbers. Thanks!

[ArtisanAir]

I've got a couple you could help me with please.

First pic is a 1960 tradewind
Second (which am surprised it has a sticker, or maybe a knock off) is a Avion C-10 truck top.

Thanks in advance!

[xrvr]

The Avion might be registered with the old Avion Travelcade club. Don't know if any Avion people have an old register list. Nothing to do with the WBCCI.