Research by WBCCI Number?

[Airspry]

Joe,

Thank you so much for all of the information. It is amazing! As we work on our trailer, I will look carefully at the remains on the decals and other identifying information. Perhaps, there will be a clue there. It is great to have this information before we strip everything off to clean and shine the outside.

In the meantime, I will check to see if the number is still available. It would be great to bring it back to this old girl. It is clear from all the layers of patches and flooring that she has seen a lot in her life.

Thank you again for taking the time to do this research.

Ariel

[OldVwHunters]

Old number 15720. I would have said #15720 but someone might think it was hash tag......whatever the heck that is! Hash tag sounds to me like a game that Cheech & Chong might have played growing up as children. Anyhow this is a 1969 Caravel, don't need any information I just saw that there hadn't been a picture added to this thread for awhile, and By Golly I like pictures.

[RhinoNeil]

Hi folks,

Wondered if anyone would be kind enough to search a number for me please? Currently restoring a 66 OL here in the UK, and the ghost number is 18935. Also, is 1725 taken by anyone? Thanks in advance,

Neil

[jsprather]

Just bought this 1972 Sovereign Airstream. 1st time owner. It has ghost numbers of 8800. Has a Bradenton Fl dealership info by the door, I bought it from a lady in Pittsburgh PA. I was wondering if you have any info on this unit. This is a rescue and restore project. Could I use this numbers? Thanks Johnny

[BAMAjen]

I'm interested in the history of our airstream. The WBCCI number is 26567. The door has Tasha <3 Larry spray painted on the inside of the door. We have a 73 Sovereign Land Yacht. It also has "Scholfields Boulevard Trailers, Wichita, KS" on the back.

I think it would be cool if the number was still available....

[xrvr]

Remember the numbers are assigned to the owners and not the trailer. Calling wbcci may tell you if the numbers are currently being used. The expert here will look up the info for you, he volunteers his efforts so have patients.

[66Overlander]

I've been travelling and will eventually get to the recent requests that include the year of the Airstream as well as the old big red numbers on it. Knowing the year can help limit the amount of manual work searching old paper membership directories, since there is no database. I do not have the time to research requests that do not also provide the year of the Airstream that the numbers are on. Please include this information if you want a response. Thanks for your understanding.

[jsprather]

Thank you for your help.

[KrisE MN]

I have a 54 flying cloud and know who owned it. Would it be difficult to look up by name rather than ghost number to see the history?

[xrvr]

If the number matches the name, that's about as far as you can go. The number is assigned to the owner, not the trailer.

[66Overlander]

Originally Posted by KrisE MN

I have a 54 flying cloud and know who owned it. Would it be difficult to look up by name rather than ghost number to see the history?

If you know the first and last names and years and hopefully location, a search can be done to see if they were ever a member, and if so their WBCCI number. Names without a year range could be a very time consuming​ search, especially if a common last name like Smith or Miller, etc.

[Shacksman]

Originally Posted by KrisE MN

I have a 54 flying cloud and know who owned it. Would it be difficult to look up by name rather than ghost number to see the history?

Not everyone was in the club, therefor not every trailer had a number.

[66Overlander]

Originally Posted by RhinoNeil

Hi folks,

Wondered if anyone would be kind enough to search a number for me please? Currently restoring a 66 OL here in the UK, and the ghost number is 18935. Also, is 1725 taken by anyone? Thanks in advance,

Neil

Hi Neil,
WBCCI #18935 was first assigned in 1967, after your 1966 Overlander was built and thus first appearing in the 1968 WBCCI Membership Directory. Here is how that number has been assigned over the years:
1968-1980: Preston & Ola Mae Miller, Bowling Green, KY, no caravans.
1981+: Unassigned, but I only spot checked a few years.

It would seem that the Miller's most likely owned your 1966 Overlander during at least part of their time in the club, but the club has no record of where they may have traveled with it. If #18935 was ever reassigned by the club, the new assignees did not stay in the club very long, but I tend to doubt this number was ever reassigned, because numbers that high were not frequently reassigned in the mid 1980's and later.

That's all I can turn up. Enjoy your Overlander!

P.S. #18935 is unassigned in the latest Membership Directory and is unlikely to have been reissued since it was published, so you could probably get that number if you join WBCCI. #1725 is currently assigned. Low 4-digit numbers tend to get reassigned quickly when they become unused.

[66Overlander]

Originally Posted by jsprather

Just bought this 1972 Sovereign Airstream. 1st time owner. It has ghost numbers of 8800. Has a Bradenton Fl dealership info by the door, I bought it from a lady in Pittsburgh PA. I was wondering if you have any info on this unit. This is a rescue and restore project. Could I use this numbers? Thanks Johnny

Hi Johnny,
#8800 was first assigned in 1963, well before your 1972 Sovereign was built. Here is how #8800 has been assigned in WBCCI Membership Directories since 1972:
1972: Unassigned.
1973: James M & Estelle C. Kearns, St. Petersburg, FL, no caravans.
1974-75: George W. & Loretta Hull, Largo, FL, no caravans.
1976-81: Ruben R & Mildred Doberstein, Marinette, WI, no caravans.
1982: Unassigned.
1983-94: Gordon & Sue Belcher, Simpsonville, SC (1983), Taylors, SC (1994), WBCCI caravans N16E and N18C.
1995-96: Unassigned.
1997-2003: Vern & Nina Mallis, Alexandria, VA, (1997), Melbourne, FL (2003, Nina only), several caravans prior to 1997 under #20452.
2004: Unassigned.
2005-07: A couple in Ontario, Canada.
2008: Unassigned and did not check further.

The only reasonable matchs appear to be the Kearns and the Hulls, since both were close to Bradenton, FL and the lack of an unassigned year in between suggests the Kearns sold their Airstream to the Hulls.

It seems unlikely that the Doberstein's nor Belcher's nor the couple from Ontario owned your Airstream. They were most likely randomly reassigned an unused number.

The Mallis' are a mystery. It is possible that they changed their number to #8800 because they bought an Airstream that already had that number on it, but they could have requested a change to an unused number for any reason.

That's all I got. No direct tie to an owner in PA. #8800 is unassigned in the 2017 Membership Directory and is unlikely to have been reassigned since it was issued, so you can likely get that number if you join WBCCI.

I hope the rescue and restore project is not too big. Have fun!

This and the prior case are the only ones I have time for today. I'll eventually get to the others.

[TBRich]

Originally Posted by BAMAjen

I'm interested in the history of our airstream. The WBCCI number is 26567. The door has Tasha <3 Larry spray painted on the inside of the door. We have a 73 Sovereign Land Yacht. It also has "Scholfields Boulevard Trailers, Wichita, KS" on the back.

I think it would be cool if the number was still available....

#26567 is not listed in the April 2017 Digital Directory so unless it belongs to someone who is not listed for some other reason, it appears to be unassigned.

[woodpecker]

Could someone give me any history on WBCCI ghost #18736 on 1967 Tradewind and Caravan info.

Thanks Al

[Tom Nugler]

I'm hoping someone can fill in the gaps with the ghost numbers on my '72 Tradewind. We bought the trailer in Wisconsin in 2009. The party we brought the trailer from claimed he had owned it for several years. Looking at a 30 year gap to fill here.
The earlier number, 19749 is still somewhat visible. I ran across a gentleman at one of the Forum Rallys that had an older membership book. From what we could determine the trailer was possibly owned by a couple from one of the Virginias This makes sense as the trailer has a ghost label from a dealer in eastern Ohio. Unfortunately the piece of scrap paper the info was written on was lost.
The second number, 25851, is the bigger mystery. Possibly issued sometime in 1971, I can only speculate as to when the trailer was bought by the second owner.
To further confuse matters, in a folder of papers the PO left in the trailer is a Vintage Advantage Magazine dated March 2007 from VAC Member Don Elliot of Marion Indiana. This seems at odds with the PO's statement of several years of ownership.
Thats all I've been able to come up with.
Hopefully it helps narrow the search.

Thanks in advance,
Tom.

[66Overlander]

Originally Posted by BAMAjen

I'm interested in the history of our airstream. The WBCCI number is 26567. The door has Tasha <3 Larry spray painted on the inside of the door. We have a 73 Sovereign Land Yacht. It also has "Scholfields Boulevard Trailers, Wichita, KS" on the back.

I think it would be cool if the number was still available....

Hi Jennifer (and all),
I am very busy lately (and get some similar requests via email). I try to answer the requests in the order received. I'll address this one today, but am not sure when I'll have the time to get to the next one. With that being said . . .

#26567 was first assigned by WBCCI in 1972 (thus first appearing in the 1973 WBCCI Membership Directory), which could be appropriate for a 1973 Airstream, since model changeover likely occurred in June or July 1972. Here is how #26567 has been assigned over the years:
1973-80: Sherman & Iretta Hutchins, St. Louis, MO (1973), Kevil, KY (1979, Iretta only), caravan 102 - Mexico Guatemala Winter 1975.
1981-85: Unassigned.
1986-2009: A couple from Lafayette, LA, no caravans.
2010+: Unassigned, and unlikely to have been reassigned since the 2017 Membership Directory was issued.

From this, we can guess that the Hutchins most likely bought your 1973 Sovereign in late 1972, immediately joined the club, and likely took it on their Mexico-Guatemala Caravan in 1975.

I cannot really say if the couple from Lafayette, LA possibly also owned your 1973 Sovereign. Making a somewhat circuitous route from Kentucky to Kansas to Louisiana (in some order) seems unlikely, but not impossible. On the other hand, but the mid-1980s, I do not believe that numbers in the mid-20,000s were typically getting reassigned unless someone bought a used Airstream already bearing such a number.

In any case, at least one and possibly both of these couples owned your 1973 during at least part of the time they were in WBCCI. Which one(s) and when might be narrowed down with clues on the trailer or paperwork you got with it.

Regarding the couple form LA, I am not providing their names in this public forum to protect their privacy in case they are still alive. I tend to not provide names on a public forum that were used less than 10 or so years ago. If you want their names, please contact me via email by left clicking on my name and selecting "Send email to 66Overlander".

You can request, and should be able to get, #26567 when you apply for WBCCI membership. Let me offer you a possibly premature "Welcome to the club!"

That's all I got. Enjoy your Sovereign!

[johnganis]

Hi Joe when you get a chance could you please check the history of the WBCCI numbers for my 1967 30 ft. Sovereign? They are 11593. The trailer is from Michigan and I think it might have had 2 owners before me, but Im sre the numbers would have been put on by the original owners.
Thanks!
John

[66Overlander]

Originally Posted by woodpecker

Could someone give me any history on WBCCI ghost #18736 on 1967 Tradewind and Caravan info.

Thanks Al

Hi Al, Sorry for the long delay in getting to this request. It's been a busy summer. Anyway...

WBCCI #18736 was first assigned in 1967 and thus first appears in the 1968 Membership Directory, which is very appropriate for a 1967 Tradewind. Here is how this number has been assigned over the years according to a search of old Membership Directories:

1968-1984: Joseph M. & Catharine Beall, Cottonwood, AL, with the following caravans:
57 - Eastern Mexico Winter 1968
63 - Yucatan February 1969
70 - Western Mexico Winter 1970
80 - Old World Europe 1971
90 - Mexico Guatemala Winter 1973
N4 - Brandon, Manitoba, Canada Post International Rally Caravan 1975

1985-Current: Unassigned, but only spot checked a few directories after 1990.

This was pretty simple and pretty cool. We can pretty confidently guess that the Beall's owned your 1967 Tradewind. Additionally, we can guess that they likely took it on some or maybe all of the caravans they are credited with participating on. Their first caravan seems mostly likely, but it is always possible that they used the Tradewind on all of their caravans, but it is also possible that at some point they traded to a newer Airstream. We just have no way of knowing. Most interesting, though, is the possibility (maybe even the likelihood) that they took your 1967 Tradewind to Europe in 1971!

Maybe information on the Tradewind or on documents you got with it might support the annual trips to Mexico and Central America and/or the Europe trip.

That's all I got. Enjoy that Tradewind along with your other Airstreams! If you have the chance, join WBCCI and take one on a new caravan.