the Airstream Difference

[Big Dee]

I was at a manufactuers huge RV show two weekends ago. Wow, was it huge. Acre upon acre of RVs. I could not believe how many were there. I spent the first four hours going from one SOB to another. Some were nice, most were unappealing.

Then, by accident or design, the Airstreams were last. One look from the outside and you KNEW this was a different coach. One step inside the Cassic and I was there for hours dreaming!

There is simply NO COMPARISON in quality, design and construction. This difference I always knew but it was made so evident after spending hours in the other SOBs then seeing the AS. Well I did get caught up in the show and traded for a 30' Classic.


As I was sitting for hours in the Classic watching people, the following occurred to me:

There seems to be three kinds of people at RV shows. The first stick their heads in an Airstream, look at the price and then scoot away saying "Why would anybody pay THAT price when that 5th wheel was so nice and cheaper?"

The second kind looks at the AS with envy as they sit in it. They admire it but "we always liked them but we will stick with our brand."

The third group just "knows" what an AS means and it means a lot! They don't even entertain thoughts of another SOB, that's simply out of the question. I had some long, fun conversations with this group! So much fun that I finally decided to join WBCCI!

[Photobitstream]

This is my slow time of year, so I'm spending a couple of hours each day researching RVs to live in full-time in two or three years. After a horrible experience with a budget brand, I'm concentrating on high-end RVs: Sunline, Alfa, Sunnybrook, Horizons, etc.

Some of them offer five-year warranties, and have excellent feedback from long-time owners. However, as John Madden says, there is always a "Yeahbut." The yeahbut in this case is: they all look freakin' alike Square boxes with flat ceilings, boring interiors, swoopy graphics, ad infinitum.

My current Overlander will remain with me as my mobile office, but when my wife hits the road with me we'll need something larger. The biggest decision we'll have to make is whether to buy a new Airstream or get an older one to remodel.

My art deco meets the dawn of the space age design theme would look out of place in one of the ubiquitous square boxes. I'm thinking 34-foot CCD.

[Big Dee]

Go with the 34' CCD! (well, i'm biased)

I did see some nice SOB's (Teton Homes). The feature I liked best was the island in the kitchen and so much space. But I wonder how many problems the SOBs have with their massive multiple slides down the road. Must be a big ticket service item!

[joshua32064]

I may have not seen it yet, but did Airstream announce a new 34' International CCD?

[Photobitstream]

Originally posted by joshua32064
I may have not seen it yet, but did Airstream announce a new 34' International CCD?

Nope. Just dreaming.

[85MH325]

On a serious note, if you can live without the soaring ceiling, four slideouts, and multiple grand staircases of the 40' fivers out there, the 34' Airstreams are pretty cool. That said; if you plan to park the thing somewhere and leave it, the extra room that the generic white box fivers offer is incredible. If you plan to move the thing regularly, there's no contest; the Airstream beats 'em all for towability, gas mileage, and of course STYLE.

And a comment regarding the 34' CCD idea: The CCD interiors are a little too stark for me, but also I find that some of the Airstream Classic interiors with earth tones and the honey oak begin to feel a little... 'close'... after a while. One of things I found really interesting about the one we found is that it has white leather upholstery trim and a light blue-green carpet and drapes. While I'm definately not a fan of light blue-green interiors normally, the colors in ours are well balanced with the white, and just cool enough to balance the warm oak. It's an interesting combination that I thought wouldn't have worked very well, but it works in ours. That may be something you want to investigate...

Roger