What makes Airstream such a legend?

[ipso_facto]

amfab

Good points, I feel the same way. Airstream is a classic. All of them are, old and new ones too will surely be classic whereas a SOB has no hope of becoming a classic. In 10-15 years, it's just a collection of old parts not worth anything considerable.

It seems to me the trend is to towards high-quality disposable products. I am not an expert on different years but Airstream seems to be excluded from this process.

[dmac]

"High quality disposable products" - how true!

Read about the "car of the year" in a magazine - it's features, shiny paint, how it's .2 sec faster than another car... It may break down regularly, blow its engine, the metal may rust, the interior parts may fall off in your hands... but it's the "car of the year"! A high quality disposable product.

Same with SOB trailers. They look pretty in the showroom. But the boxy shape tows poorly, the wood frame shakes apart, the staples that hold the fiberboard together pull out, and in 5-10 years they are permanently parked in a farmers back 40.

My Porsche 911 is 26 years old, and I fully expect it to still be driving around in another 25 years. My Beechcraft Bonanza was 50 years old when a hail storm totalled it. My Dad's Airstream was 26 years old when he passed away and it moved on to it's next owner. My Airstream is a few months old... I fully expect it to last 26+ years too.

Harleys are another story... I hate the things, but I'm in the minority!

[Action]

Beauty has always been in the eye of the beholder!

What may shine for one may hurt the eyes of another.

So subjective.

>>>>>>>>>>>Action

[Silvertwinkie]

Dmac,

What version of the Safari do you have?

Regards,

Eric

[qqq]

This "legend" aspect of AS's might be the reason mine will stay in the backyard for my enjoyment, but I will use a SOB on the road.
I am fed up to the brim by all those people invading my privacy as soon as I stop. I am fed up of conducting guided tours, and answering the same questions over and over again. Even when I leave the campsite I know people are hanging around and peep thru the windows...knock on the body & so on...I don't need this type of permanent conversation subject.
Am I the only one with opinion?

Hart

[Pick]

We have taken our Airstream to 6 different campgrounds, in 3 states this past year. Have NEVER run into people "invading" our privacy. Usually someone will pass by and make a nice comment or two. Never had anyone request a "tour". Only tour we gave was to the previous owners, whom we ran into at a local campground with their new Layton! qqq, maybe you should frequent Ohio, Indiana or Pennsylvania. People won't bother you there!

I will say that GM pickup trucks have made massive improvements in quality and reliability in the last 30 years. My first truck out of high school was a 1973 3/4 ton. Payments were only $97 a month for 3 years!!!! But the darn thing rusted out in the wheel wells in 18 months, and had oil leaks and low oil pressure by 70,000 miles. I was lucky to get 10 mpg stock. I put a lot of money into the engine with high performance racing components and got the freeway mileage up over 17. I ended up swapping the engine out to a 327, and finally got rid of the darn thing in 1977, with 97,000 miles on it. It was shot! In contrast my 1990 short bed had about the same mileage and was like new in appearance and performance. I see my current truck going to the 200K mark and beyond.

I see my Airstream lasting the rest of my life, if I choose to keep her that long. Having been in many of the newer model Airstreams, I can say, I really don't care for the newer interiors. I would like to have a 22 footer some day for touring the National Parks out West.

[jcanavera]

Originally posted by qqq
This "legend" aspect of AS's might be the reason mine will stay in the backyard for my enjoyment, but I will use a SOB on the road.
Am I the only one with opinion?

Hart

Wow, I don't know where you camp but other that some pleasant conversations with my camping neighbors, usually when I pull in, I haven't had this type of experience with my Safari.

The closest thing to your experience was when I owned a Hi-Lo. Folks used to come over to see how it went up and down and what the insides looked like, but it never was to excess or to the point where I dreaded talking to folks.

Jack

[dmac]

Eric - I have a 2003 Safari 25 LS 6-sleeper.

Pick - I agree about vehicle longevity today vs 20-30 years ago. I had a 1972 Jeep that was badly rusted when it was 4 years old. Back then 100,000 miles was the life of a car. Now we can go 200,000 miles with reasonable care. My earlier post was concerned with the emphasis of product comparisons on superficial features vs longevity.

Hart - I'm surprised by your experience. In the many years that my Dad owned his Airstream we had occasional positive comments by fellow campers, nothing invasive or annoying. I enjoy meeting people, so I hope my new trailer won't become annoying.

[Pahaska]

In 15 years of owning "unique" trailers, most recently the Airstream,I have only once anyone invade my privacy in any way.

The only person who ever looked into a window was some old codger from a big 5th-wheel, many years back when I had a Scamp 5th-wheel. He had his nose right up against the rear window, trying to see thru the tint I had applied. My wife happened to be sitting there reading, so she popped up in front of him and scared the wits out of him. He must have almost had a heart attack. She said she never saw an old goat scuttle away that fast.

On almost every trip now, someone will stop me out on the road (never yet in my site), and comment on how pretty the International is. I enjoy the interaction. Depending on the person and what I am doing at the moment, I often invite them in for a look inside. I have never found anyone to be pushy, nor have anyone asked to go inside without me offering first.

[pap]

qqq I can respect your attitude. What are you gonna do with it? a potting shed or a bath house by the pool?

I have never had mine in a campground yet but would not want visitors inside until plans (dreams perhaps) pan out. Except for the type of visitors who could advise on some project. If I get it where I hope to I guess I'll want to show it off a little to some.

If it became a nuisance perhaps a sign could be fashioned that said "Tours only on ___________".(holy days, leap years,third Tuesdays or whatever.
Or perhaps a sign saying "you show me your's first".Then never go look at theirs.

My favorite "We're Touring You Aren't"

How bout "Hey nosey the inside's cozy, but you'll just have to take our word for it" . or "Tours.?..Don't Ask!"

Or how bout telling them that you are ministers of some order and that all tours are preceded with a sermon and a prayer offering and a magazine purchase is necessary to enter the sanctuary.

[femuse]

I am fed up to the brim by all those people invading my privacy as soon as I stop

Without going as far as QQQ on that, I have to partially agree.

Around 1995, we went off the Interstate in WV (big error), to find cheap gas. (towing with van then)

As Mike was backing up the final feet to the pump, I was distracted by a well meaning onlooker, with the usual question :"I did not know they still made them,....blablabla....."

As a result, the ridiculously low metal gas station sign (all banged up form previous encounters), made more than an impression on our 1971 TW. This, I have to admit was the most ennoying of all the invasions of privacy we had to suffer.

We too, had to give tours to the trailer. Not too often, I suspect, thanks to our circonstances. The trailer is "attached" to the back of our vending tent, people realize we are working, and while answering a few questions is acceptable, giving a tour is a real imposition.
That does not of course prevent us from taking our trailer on the road. I think we may get a lot less questions now with a 1990.

[Silvertwinkie]

I had another profound thought about what make the Airstream such a legend.

People like you and me with every post we send off..........and on it goes....


On the subject of privacy, I can see how being questioned to death would be bothersome after awhile, but it's like a classic car, people can't help but want to look and talk about it I suppose.

Eric

[silverhawk]

Hi everyone; Even though i am very new to trailers or anything of the sort. I think I can give a good answer to this question. Airstreams are cuddly. Ya see one that you think is cute and ya just wanna go over and give it a hug. Maybe take it home with ya. How else could you explain some of the basket cases that have ended up in some of our's backyard. Then you have this URGE to put this humpdy dumpty back together again. The Airstream look, thier uniqueness is cause to a magnetic attraction that draws people in closer, (sometimes to close). Airstreams are a legend because they have traveled the ends of the Earth, and have pictures to back it up. So do we. How many of us can say that we really love any of the things that we possess? I would put money on it that a large mageority of all of us could say that about our Airstreams. Vintage keepers overwhelmingly, I would bet. I have been following this thread for a while so I thought I would add my two cents. All of you have covered subject well. With much more I will be expecting Silverhawk

[darin]

All these wonderful comments of adoration, just make me love my A/S even more. The pride keeps growing. In my opinion my trailer is a home, inside the materials, the solid feel, and the ease of sprucing it up with supplies from the Home Depot. Outside it commands notice, and just begs to be entered enshrouding you in the warmth and comforts of real wood and fine fabrics. Almost all the SOB's by comparison seem more like toys to be played with, broken and then discarded. An Airstream will always be a timeless, and worthy endeavor whose value will only increase with time.

Darin

[Navigator]

I think that the "legend" started way back with Wally's caravans to distant lands, and all the publicity surrounding them.
Shiny trailers being pulled by big expensive Suburbans didn't hurt either.
IMHO
Dick

[qqq]

No comfort or warmth of real wood in mine

Hart

[bredlo]

Can't put my finger on what it is that caught me, or even when I first encountered my first AS. I guess for me, they've just always existed.

I bought our '63 GT on the internet last month without having ever been inside one. SilverTwinkie graciously let me tour his before we went to pick it up, but I don't know what I'd have done if I realized then and there that I hated the thing!

I can say as a Macintosh user that I enjoy being part of a small, dedicated group of people that enjoy items of substance - well-thought out, well-designed, well-built things that are specific enough to become benchmarks for a whole category, but useful enough to fit a diverse set of needs.

I will admit this (and perhaps this will make me look like an attention-getter, but I don't think I am): my serious interest in Airstreams probably wouldn't have accelerated to the point of buying our Globe Trotter if everyone on the block had one in their driveway. There's something about the interaction (not quite the over-the-top stuff in QQQ's stories) that reinforces my enjoyment of it, and my admiration for a unique design that has survived the decades without becoming overdone, overused and overkill.

I also wouldn't have gotten bit by the aluminum bug if it weren't accessable to the common man. If you needed a Peterbilt to pull it, 3 different kinds of permits to work on it, and 6 zeroes in your bank account to enjoy it, it would lose all it's fun, and it's humble "attitude." It almost seems to exude humility as it sits, waiting quietly to take you someplace beautiful, doesn't it?

I think the mystique lies in a long history, a continued role in popular culture, a timeless design and simple construction.
Brad

[Action]

Brad,

Airstream does fit into a catagory that few manufacturers have survived. Harley Davidson, General Motors, Ford Motor Co, Honeywell to name some of the few.

Look at the car business. it used to be the big 4, I mean 3. Now we are down to 2.

It's tough to stay in business for nearly 70 years and still be American.

>>>>>>>>>>>>Action

[rfield54]

This is from a previous thread:


"I like the rounded design, especially the interior. After spending all of my indoor life in cubicles of varying sizes (houses, schools, work, etc, etc), it's a nice change for the mind, to be inside the "cornerless" space of an Airstream. In terms of Feng Shui, there's better energy flow with the absense of corners (corners trap dead air, etc)".

[Hans]

Now it is a year ago, since I posted this question in this forum. I thank you all very much for your very interesting answers.