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femuse · 04-29-2003, 08:20 PM

You can find pictures of a lot of those, some give a few specs.
Some are for sale at The Gallery at.....stationwagon.com

Hey, Chas, look what I found for you, nearly matches your trailer: The 1973 Chrysler

Is that anybody from the forum?

"As you can see from the picture, there is still a 1973 Town & Country station wagon being used to tow a trailer (in summer of 2002). The picture above was taken at the Outer Banks of N. Carolina, after towing a 4500 pound Airstream trailer from western Pennslyvania. This car experienced no problems on this trip until the alternator died in the driveway, 5 feet from where I wanted to park it when we got home! "

overlander64 · 04-29-2003, 08:50 PM

Greetings Chantal and Mike!

The 1970s Trade Wind and Chrysler Town & Country combination belongs to a member of the Vintage Airstream Club. I don't know that they are active on the forums, but I have seen their rig at a number of WBCCI International Rallys since 1999. It is truly a beautiful setup.

I am just hoping that my luck is as good with my '78 Argosy Minuet/1975 Cadillac Eldorado combination this summer. The Eldorado made its spring debut last weekend - - its first spring debut that didn't wind up with a AAA wrecker towing it home. A highly recommended local mechanic discovered that the shop that installed the new fuel tank had left debris in the tank that was being sucked into the fuel pickup only to wash out while the car was being towed in - - so every shop that examined it said it was a transient electrical problem that would be solved when the component finally failed.

Kevin

**Stefrobrts** · 04-29-2003, 08:57 PM

Tough one, Kevin, good thing someone figured that out. Be sure to get us a picture of that baby towing it's minuet. I can't wait to see them finally hooked up together.

As for vintage tow vehicles, when I bought my Caravel the owner also had a 68 ford pickup he was hoping I'd take as well. Apparently he bought it just to tow the Caravel back to a big AS get-together back in ND or NB a couple years ago, where he entered them as a matched set and won an honorable mention which he was very proud of. I passed on the pickup, I thought driving my 68 mustang was enough of an adventure, I figured I needed something a little easier on the nerves to tow my first trailer with!

overlander64 · 04-29-2003, 09:09 PM

Greetings Stephanie!

I remember the trailer that you now own and the matching tow vehicle. If my memory serves correct, it was likely the WBCCI International Rally in Sioux Falls, SD (or possibly the year prior in Bismarck, ND). I think that I may have some photos taken of the two together during the Vintage Open House. At present, however, they are among the lost in my seemingly never ending moving nightmare.

Your Caravel was quite a find. I know the previous owners had it in near showroom condition for the Vintage Open House.

Kevin

Chas · 04-29-2003, 10:06 PM

femuse,

As interesting as they are I think I will pass on the Chrysler tow wagons, never was much of a Mopar fan and surely not of the Chrysler "Brady Bunch" era cars. My dad had a 70's something Newport, I still remember him cursing it to this day. The worse thing about the post 72 cars is the emissions baloney, less than 200 horses out of a 440 cubic inch engine, pathetic! Heavy, heavy cars by themselves, then add a trailer?

Chas

trumpwer · 04-29-2003, 10:10 PM

NEXT YEAR ours will be 25, almost there.

ipso_facto · 04-29-2003, 11:42 PM

Thanks for posting. I love station wagons. And classic cars. Though never had a classic station wagon, just an old car (There is a difference between old and classic).

Ah, stationwagon.com. I test drove a few cars off that web site. A member was another station wagon fan. He had this 1978 Dodge something. I recall it had a 400 engine, and lots of emissions stuff around the carburator. I did test drive it and didn't like it at all. It was huge compared to my '74 B-body. Then looked at a '78 Ford. Didn't like that either.
I did end up getting a GM B-body from the 90's, with the small block V8. Too small to tow anything bigger than 4-5K, even with the 3.23 rear. Nice ride otherwise.

With Chrysler, full size C-body works best (Town and Country, Polara, Fury)

Yeah, they were good in that era, but hardly "good old days". It's the rust, and 14 mpg they typically got, and drum brakes and wind noise due to poor window seals. Now in addition to all the problems, parts are hard to find. Not like 10 years ago.
It is hard to find anything antique in good shape - and when you do, it is really expensive. To find something nice, you have to look at pre-'73 vehicles, before smog laws. They had considerably more horsepower. Then one has to upgrade it for towing - bigger radiator, larger brakes, aux. tranny cooler, at least 3.23 rear axle, extra leafs in springs, in short, lots of $.

The only huge difference in favor of old cars (IMO anyway) is that their engine bays were much more open. It was easier to get to parts. Even a non-mechanically inclined person like I changed lots of parts which bolted to the engine like the water pump. Spark plugs were easy unlike on new cars. Late 60's, early 70's cars and trucks are undoubtedly the easiest to work on.

59toaster · 04-30-2003, 07:23 AM

I had a 70 Suburban that I was going to restore. Bought it for $250. It sat for 6 months. Came to the realization I didn't have time for ANOTHER project (4x4 is non stop, house, 4x4 club, 70 Pontiac LeMans I'm restoring LOL) so I sold it for $500 LOL. Now I wish I still had it. That would be a good set up. 1970 Burb pulling a 1959 Caravanner.

I have half a mind to put a Hitch on my 70 Convertable LeMans for some nearby events. It has plenty of motor with the Big Block and the trailer should be under 4k ready for the road. Only down side is no A/C in the LeMans. So spring and fall only!

**Stefrobrts** · 04-30-2003, 07:59 AM

Mmmm, convertibles pulling airstreams, what could be more American :-)

Hey Kevin, if you find those pictures I'd sure like to see them! It was a yellow gold pickup he had to pull the Caravel, so if that's what you remember, you might have pics of my new baby. That would be cool. The PO showed me pictures of him towing the Caravel to Alaska last summer with his Dodge Ram truck, with his fishing boat winched up (still on it's trailer), and mounted over the cab! I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen the pictures! Little Caravel was just covered in road dirt - what a hard trip for such an old trailer, yet it's none the worse for wear. Ah, the wonders of Airstreams!

Silvertwinkie · 04-30-2003, 08:30 AM

Stop...I'm having Brady Bunch vacation flashbacks.....

Kevin, are you bringing the Eldo to the Midwest meet in June?

Eric

59toaster · 04-30-2003, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Stefrobrts
Mmmm, convertibles pulling airstreams, what could be more American :-)

Hey Kevin, if you find those pictures I'd sure like to see them! It was a yellow gold pickup he had to pull the Caravel, so if that's what you remember, you might have pics of my new baby. That would be cool. The PO showed me pictures of him towing the Caravel to Alaska last summer with his Dodge Ram truck, with his fishing boat winched up (still on it's trailer), and mounted over the cab! I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen the pictures! Little Caravel was just covered in road dirt - what a hard trip for such an old trailer, yet it's none the worse for wear. Ah, the wonders of Airstreams!

The AlCan hwy is BRUTAL.
My Buddy ran from Atlanta to Alaska last year with his SOB 5th wheel and brand new F250 Crew. Two windshields, one headlight, one Mirror, repaint the hood of the truck, grill. Two flats. One flat ripped the snot out of the fender, caused a leak and a Broke axle (maybe it was the spring) on the trailer.

Now my only problem with pulling the Airstream with convertible is the 2 year old red head of mine. I'll have to coat her with Zinc paint and tie a sumbrarro on her to keep her from getting fried LOL. I have a tarp that I put on the roll cage of my 4x4 to keep her in the shade so Mom and I can enjoy the sun up front.

COArgosy78 · 04-30-2003, 10:42 AM

Hey you guys, help me out!! I have a picture I want you to see on a new post I just did called "THE Argosy picture", but I can't get the image to post. It was sent to me in Adobe Acrobat 747KB, PDF format. I took it from my e-mail and sent it to MY DOCUMENTS in my computer. Then I posted a new thread and went down to attach file. Pushed "Browse" called up MY Documents and Open. Pushed browse again (seems like last time that sent the attachment) and waited. Nothing... It posted my thread, but no picture?? What did I do wrong?? Leigh

overlander64 · 04-30-2003, 01:40 PM

Greetings Eric!

RE: Midwest Forums Rally

My plan is to bring the '75 Cadillac with the '64 Overlander at this point. It is a bit more weight than I would ideally like to tow with the Eldorado, but it is just barely within the factory trailer towing specifications (by leaving out some of my excess rally paraphenalia, I should be able to save about 200 pounds in the trailer).

I still have a glimmer of hope that the Minuet will be ready for the Rally, but I am not terribly confident that its interior restoration will be finished in time. Even if the interior restoration is finished, it will be a question of time before the rally to drive to Kentucky to pick up the trailer (about a 12 hour drive without the trailer, and the return trip will be about 15 to 16 with the trailer).

Greetings Leigh!

RE: Photo in Acrobat Reader Document

I am not certain that this will work, but it is worth a try.

1. Open the Acrobat Reader document scroll to the picture
a. Right Click on the Picture (assuming Windows) and select "Save to File"
b. Rename and save to a directory that you can access from your photo editor.
c. Open the photo in your photo editing software and verify that it fits the necessary size constraints.

The same process should work with a Macintosh computer, but I think it will either be an "Apple"-click; "Option"-click; or a "Control"-click.

Kevin

InsideOut · 04-30-2003, 04:01 PM

Here it is Leigh...and here's what I did:

1. Opened it up using the Adobe .pdf reader program.
2. "Save As" a new file type, chosing the .jpeg file type.
3. Then I opened it up in my photo editing program (Paint Shop Pro) and reduced the size down to about 25% of the original size, 478x619 pixels.
4. Then uploaded it as normal....no problem!

Good luck next time...hopefully this helps ~

Shari

COArgosy78 · 05-01-2003, 08:53 AM

Hey Shari - Again, thanks a million for the time, trouble and instructions!! I will study and conquer!!

Hope everyone enjoys this little piece of "Americana" Later, Leigh

PS Makes me wish we had a "Flower Power" symbol to attach to these posts!!!

Silvertwinkie · 05-01-2003, 11:46 AM

Very nice.... is that a Gremlin?

Last one I saw realtime was when I was in gradeschool back in the 70's.

What a blast from the past.

Eric

COArgosy78 · 05-01-2003, 03:22 PM

Actually, Eric - I believe that little jewel is a Pacer. The car of my dreams in 72. Had to laugh when the AS tech e-mailed the pic to me as it brought back vivid memories of my serious efforts to acquire one (via the PARENTS) and their serious efforts to refuse my requests. Thank the Lord they won!!! Not sure how I feel about our wonderful 22' Argosy being paired with it back then??? Given choices I think I would rather they had paired it with the Metropolitan (like on those wonderful dishes I've seen). Leigh

trumpwer · 05-01-2003, 04:18 PM

You know I had one of those little cars. It was a 72 ( I think) drove it for 5 years then sold it to my dad. He drove it for about 12 or 13 years before it cratered. Took that little car places no car should have been. It never let me down. I drove it in blizzards and never got stuck. One Christmas, it was the only one of 6 or 7 cars that would start when it was about 40 below and it wasn't plugged in. (Engine heater)

COArgosy78 · 05-02-2003, 08:08 AM

Hey Trumpwer - Like I said, back in 72 I was a BIG admirerer (smitten). I find it interesting that I don't see any around now?? Where have all the Pacers gone.....gone to ????? everyone. Leigh

Chas · 05-02-2003, 08:29 AM

I don't think they were that bad of a car, much better than say a Vega or a Pinto. We had an AMC Hornet (similar to a Pacer) when I was growing up, dad taught us all to drive (4 kids) with it and let me tell you it had it's fair share of abuse and held up well. As far as the Pacer's competition, spontaneous combusting Pinto anyone? How about a Vega engine?

Chas