76-77 Restored Argosy motorhome wanted

[tripower348]

I'm new to the forum.

I am looking for a 20-24' Argosy motorhome that has been fully restored and ready to roll like the one pictured?

Anyone know of any?

Thank you

[tripower348]

It's a tough search! I only want a 20' Motorhome with polished exterior

Needs to be a restored unit

Help me find this

Thank you

[Isuzusweet]

Your budget should be $35,000+, maybe as high as $50,000.

Cheers
Tony

[Aage]

Also, may I suggest that you will do much better in the Classified "Wanted" section than you will do here.

People don't expect to see this type post anywhere but in the Classifieds. Sign in there and have a look around; you'll see that it is set up for what you are looking to do.

[drboyd]

The polished aluminum unit in your picture is an Airstream. An Argosy would be painted instead of polished.

[Isuzusweet]

Originally Posted by drboyd

The polished aluminum unit in your picture is an Airstream. An Argosy would be painted instead of polished.

FYI Yes, the Argosy's were painted as the end caps were steel, instead of the three section aluminum of the Airstream moho's, however the body was still aluminum; so you could, and some did, strip and polish the aluminum body.

This one on further reflection is I think a very well photoshoped Airstream 270 or 290.

Cheers
Tony

[martin300662]

It is a 20ft Argosy Tony, just the paint has been stripped, the aluminum body polished and the end cap painted. All Argosy are like that underneath the paint. But bear in mind Airstream built Argosy from aluminum that they were going to paint and there is some suggestion (especially in the case of the trailers) that lower quality (some even say scrap) aluminum was used, so you aren't really sure what you will find when you strip.

There is a lady in the SW who runs a company that buys (polishes), has the same Airstream labeling applied and puts them on eBay. They are not restored, they are just polished, often with no interior in them. People that like shiny things buy them!

Truly restored units just aren't available for sale. Occasionally a very good, very well maintained, original unit comes up for sale (there were only about 100 20ft 1976-1978 units made (no idea about the 24ft), so they are rare), and can command, those prices, but I don't know what a truly restored one would go for.

I have twice now been offered to name my price, have told the potential buyer what I have in it (about the same as a new Ferrari Berlinetta), and both have tried to bid me. I have turned them down.

If the OP wants a restored MH, he needs to find an unrestored one and then talk to Timeless or Hofarc (or an equivalent) and have what he wants built. Folks that have done that tend not to let them go afterwards. Those guys will be charging at least $150-250K for a restoration.

[tripower348]

Thanks for all the help! Basically I want a "Shiny" 20' Airstream or polished Argosy as long as the finish is good.

I need one that is reliable with newer drivetrain-(rebuilt) and restored interior.

I posted in the wanted section of classified also.

Thanks

Eric

[SSARKO]

I have a 1988 Airstream 345 that is restored and I MIGHT be interested in selling it...Not sure how to add pictures to this post, but if you are interested, I will happy yo email them to you..In the mean time, I will try to figure out how to import pics...Thanks, Scott

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by tripower348

Thanks for all the help! Basically I want a "Shiny" 20' Airstream or polished Argosy as long as the finish is good.

I need one that is reliable with newer drivetrain-(rebuilt) and restored interior.

I posted in the wanted section of classified also.

Thanks

Eric

Hi Eric

Airstream never made a 20ft Airstream MH, polished or not.

The smallest (aluminum bodied) Airstream was the 250 (25ft) in 1900-93 (http://www.viewrvs.com/motorhome/air...stream-250.php).

The 20ft Argosy were all painted (1974-75 mainly rear bed, which means rear panoroma windows and the bathroom immediately behind the drivers seat, and 1976-78 mainly rear bath so only a small single window at the rear).

Seems like you have set your mind on a rear bath from 1976-78, there were about 100 made in that period. Of those, the whereabouts of about 30 or so are known (Fred at ViewRvs is starting a database of those) and less than a handful are polished (http://www.viewrvs.com/motorhome/argosy/argosy-20.php)

Even if you want a polished version you are better off locating a good painted version and then have it polished (and end cap painted) as the majority of Argosy owners have Argosy because they are the 'painted Airstream' and have them repainted rather than polished when restoring.

[Isuzusweet]

Originally Posted by tripower348

Thanks for all the help! Basically I want a "Shiny" 20' Airstream or polished Argosy as long as the finish is good.

I need one that is reliable with newer drivetrain-(rebuilt) and restored interior.

I posted in the wanted section of classified also.

Thanks

Eric

Be very careful of what you want and how much you want it for, as you can expect scammers to immediately send you pictures of that 20' polished Airstream motorhome that you lust for; for a ridiculously low price of only $10,000.00. They will even ship it to you for free, just send a deposit by wire transfer or Paypal to secure the motorhome, as they are getting a ton of interest and you're the first person to contact them; you have less than 24 hours to send money.

You send the money, and it's gone, poof.

Scammers love people that post for wanted stuff, even really odd ball items. They will even talk on the phone and seem very knowledgable about the item you want.

Be aware!

As for anything Argosy, I defer to Martin above who has the prettiest Argosy in the known universe.

Cheers
Tony

[martin300662]

Seems like I need to find out if Ernie can polish an extra $20K of value into Peanut. I will split the profit between Ernie and Brad! It wouldn't be the first time I suggested getting a sign that says 'Brad and Ernie's Airstream Restoration' made for the front of Brad's workshop!

Certainly polishing is much cheaper than repainting (I have seen quotes of $7-10K to polish and then reseal all the seams which are now exposed by the paint removal vs the $40K it cost to repaint Bella).

[bkahler]

I suppose it's a good thing I told Ernie not to paint that new rear panel.....

[tripower348]

Has anyone heard of a polished restored 20-24' motorhome I can buy?

Eric

[bkahler]

Eric, in 8 to 10 years of watching sales of the Argosy motorhomes I've only seen 2 or 3 come up for sale during that time period.

Your best bet would be to contact that seller in Arizona that has previously listed at least two on ebay.

Brad

[martin300662]

From memory even those units weren't 'restored'. No mechanical work was done. At least one was totally gutted.

[bkahler]

You're right the interiors were worn original or gutted, yet they still claimed a premium price on ebay. Maybe I need to polish mine...

[ViewRVs]

Originally Posted by tripower348

I'm new to the forum.

I am looking for a 20-24' Argosy motorhome that has been fully restored and ready to roll like the one pictured?

Anyone know of any?

Thank you

Here is a link to the pictures of the Argosy that has been re-branded as an Airstream.
http://www.viewrvs.com/motorhome/arg...rgosy_20_j.php

You can see that the front and rear caps are galvanized steel on all Argosy units. In this case, they are painted gray. The later Airstream motorhomes have aluminum caps.

[martin300662]

This is one of the others I saw from Heather. An early model rear bedroom, sold on eBay, from memory the sale was stopped early already way north of $20K.



But it would have taken much more than that to install an interior as it actually had nothing inside.





I remember being told a story that in the last 5-7 years, she had found 5 20ft for sale, had she had bought, polished and sold 3 (on eBay). I suspect the example on Fred's site (simply because of the similarity in the decals) is one of those, but then someone redid the interior and mechanicals.

[martin300662]

After digging around a bit I found another 20ft that hdabackintime sold a year ago - this would make 6 in 5-7 years. However this '74 had already had a silver Maaco paint job so she didn't polish.



This one they redid the interior to add some value.





To back up Brad's message seems best approach is to contact Heather Anderson, eBay seller hdabackintime, in Huachuca City, Arizona and see what she can source for you.