i saw this 69 airstream in a local backyard....

leefields · 02-13-2005, 12:08 PM

and was able to haggle a small amount .....4k....

69 Ambassador....frame solid front to back, floor solid..new ac...new water heater...tows like a charm....interior great condition...will need new tires and awning material....

maybe will be on ebay next week....3-400 extra would be nice....

lee

leefields · 02-13-2005, 12:33 PM

i have spoken with the gentleman this morning and he is looking for 4k....

frame solid no rearend sag...everything inside in great condition...skin looks fine...will need new tires and new awning material...i think i will go and pick it up this afternoon.....maybe it will be on ebay in a day or so....

lee

leefields · 02-13-2005, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leefields

i have spoken with the gentleman this morning and he is looking for 4k....

frame solid no rearend sag...everything inside in great condition...skin looks fine...will need new tires and new awning material...i think i will go and pick it up this afternoon.....maybe it will be on ebay in a day or so....

lee

just got it back home, pulled like a champ....
any ideas on what size tires i should replace with....these ones are not original tires...rims original not tires....

till · 02-13-2005, 03:35 PM

225/75R15 load range C or D Trailer rated tires.
Rims can be had from your Airstream dealer or Camping supply house. Make sure they are trailer rated and load range you need. I think that the rating on the rims is something around 2500 lbs.

maxandgeorgia · 02-13-2005, 04:10 PM

Leefields, I just found a 70's (era, Ithink) Avion, about a 22' (couldn't tell by the emblems), green with mossy stuff, but looking like good exterior skin and windows and door. Tires looked like they were sunk several inches into the ground, but several inches of tire showed under the wheel well, so axles MIGHT be okay (a la Andy's tips). I knocked on the door, talked to a renter who said it belonged to the owner of the property,to check back in a few days and he'd call the owner to see if he was interested in selling. Since I want to find a small aluminum trailer, this might work, but I have no idea of values with Avions and I've found no forums such as ours for A/S to go to for information. I assume with the interior, everything that applies to vintage A/S's would apply as well, such as floor and so on. As an owner of a small Avion, would you give me some tips and even offer a guestimate of value if the owner should talk to me about this? Have values of small Avions escalated like the Airstreams have? What would be a great buy on something like this, assuming the inside is not a rotten wreck? Thanks so much for any help you can give.

leefields · 02-13-2005, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxandgeorgia

Leefields, I just found a 70's (era, Ithink) Avion, about a 22' (couldn't tell by the emblems), green with mossy stuff, but looking like good exterior skin and windows and door. Tires looked like they were sunk several inches into the ground, but several inches of tire showed under the wheel well, so axles MIGHT be okay (a la Andy's tips). I knocked on the door, talked to a renter who said it belonged to the owner of the property,to check back in a few days and he'd call the owner to see if he was interested in selling. Since I want to find a small aluminum trailer, this might work, but I have no idea of values with Avions and I've found no forums such as ours for A/S to go to for information. I assume with the interior, everything that applies to vintage A/S's would apply as well, such as floor and so on. As an owner of a small Avion, would you give me some tips and even offer a guestimate of value if the owner should talk to me about this? Have values of small Avions escalated like the Airstreams have? What would be a great buy on something like this, assuming the inside is not a rotten wreck? Thanks so much for any help you can give.

i am currently looking at a 20 foot avion from 1963 the owner and i are somewhere around 3500.00 i know that seems like a lot but i dont mind paying for a trailer that is 42 years old and looks to be in excellent condition...there is a big difference in a gutted, rusted wreck and one that was just parked and basically left alone....alot of people (most on this site) are Airstream fanatics.

when i spot something in someones backyard, ...i stop and knock...it will either be a yes or no....not hard.......then a lot of looking and walking around and more looking and more walking around...then a story of how poor i am and my kids dont have shoes but my wife says i can have one if it is affordable....

if the trailers has not been used in 10 years or more, they will likely sell...

ok...so i look and try to decide if it is usable...if i consider 2 or 3 days of cleanup for one of my workers...and then i would feel safe spending a weekend in then i will ask about price...then a look down and my no money story...and usually i can drive away by writing a check on my business account...

my current avion an 1963 h-24 in good to excellent condition...will be on ebay this week with a res. of 3500.00 i just took the pics this afternoon....

i will buy a avion because they are built to last....forever...some will shine up, some not, some are better painted some not....mine is anonized and not painted...but i have used it on several weekends...

avion does not have the name that airsteam has....but i actually think they are built about 10 times better...and made to last...

ok ok....dirty, grimey, not a wreck inside, windows intact...offer 500.00 and you pull it away...let him talk you up and make him feel good....i base price on trailer condition when i see it and then with a couple of days of work...i wont buy a trailer that needs a full refit....just dont have time...

my current targets are 63 20 foot avion, a 48 spartan, an 90 avion 30 foot, and a 49 spartan that should be ready to sell in 6 months or less when the guy moves house i get spartan for about 2k....

pay what the trailer is worth to you....

maxandgeorgia · 02-13-2005, 08:33 PM

Great answer! Now, can I pull that off? I hope I at least get a look inside. Thanks for the great description and technique

More later, if we get to look. As for the Avions, I think I agree, on a par with or a maybe even a touch above our AS's. Maybe we'll become fans of both.

85MH325 · 02-14-2005, 07:32 AM

Georgia...

I've looked at a number of Avions over the years... they're well built. I think that the cabinetry in them was superior to Airstream offerings for many years... but they seemed to pick the most gawd-awful ugly colored woods and interiors (for my taste anyway). The only other issue with every Avion I've been in is that they just seem dark to me. Sort of like walking into a cave. I don't do that very well. I like my trailers to be light and airy; especially since they're such a confining space to begin with. If you find one that's solid, it won't have the resale of the Airstreams simply because the demand isn't as high; but they're a solid trailer, and they're every bit, if not more durable.

Roger

maxandgeorgia · 02-14-2005, 06:06 PM

Thanks, Roger. I couldn't tell by peeking in the window if this one is a dark cave or not, probably so. As you may know from some of my posts, I'm hoping to find (not too expensively) a 20-23' trailer that we can use for quick weekends, for some of the grown kids to use for family camps, or for us to pull to NFS camp sites that are too small for Gypsy (30'). One of my retirement dreams is to pull the west coast highway south to north or vice-versa, overnighting in those delicious little tuckaway sites that overlook the ocean. Max shakes his head at the idea of long distance travel in such a little trailer, but I think that would be a big part of the adventure: less is more and all that! We met a couple at Many Glacier last summer who spend every summer in their little Caravel, just bare essentials, and having a ball together. Now, that's just my cuppa tea! Thanks, Roger and Leefields, for your responses.