All your pictures didn't load the first time I looked. All I saw was the VIN badge. It looks like you've got a '57 Overlander - built towards the end of that production year.
With its 6835 serial number, I agree with the GreatOrangeGourd -- its a late 1957 26' Overlander. Nice looking trailer with a lot of potential. The long tube on the streetside body is to store either an awning or a flexible rubber hose to connect the toilet to a sewer drain in a campground.
__________________
Fred Coldwell, WBCCI #1510, AIR #2675
Denver, Colorado - WBCCI Unit 24
Charter Associate Member FCU
Airstream Life "Old Aluminum Adventures"
Greetings Marvin-
What you have is the holly grail! It is a custom ordered 1957 Overlander. It was built in the Norwalk, CA plant but the models hit the market late so some states registered them as 1958. The first sure sign of your unit being a custom order is the twin axels. All previous models had single axels and tandems were offered for the first time as an option in 1957. As for the interior I would need more photos showing the whole layout including the stove, sink and icebox. That horrible white tube on the road-side is a real sin. Someone mounted it as a sewer hose holder meaning more holes in the skin. I was just in Vermont over the weekend and found the same model but with added custom windows on both the curb and road sides. The whole interior was gutted and the floor chopped out in peices. If the owner will ever call me back it could be mine. The serial number wasn't too much earlier than yours so it could be possible that at one point in time the two units knew eachother! Great find. Take good care of it.
You should take a look at my "Ultimate Monty" Thread- Yours is in GREAT shape!
A late 50's airstream? That's definately worth restoring!
As for the tow vehicle- I feel your pain... I am trying to figure out how I am going to tow my 30' Sovereign with a motorcycle now, once I get it restored.
Marvin;
Restore it! You got all the help here in the forums to help you along. When I bought mine,,, it was being used as a storage shed and had been gutted out and had nothing but shelves inside. Its has been a lot of work but very rewarding. It's almost done and I am already using it for camping. Good luck in your decission.
Ernie
'58 Traveler, 18ft
While having maintenance done on my Safari two weeks ago I walked thru a similar vintage rear-bath Overlander at Fogdall's in Cedar Falls, IA. I'm not at my computer and having trouble pulling up the links. Try here or here? See page 3 of the used inventory list. I'm not making out the thumbnail the best, but is that 2 axles? It had all original cabinetry in fairly worn shape and a few other issues but was fairly intact.
Any-hoo -- the price of $4950 is rather too high. But enjoy your bargain!
The first sure sign of your unit being a custom order is the twin axels. All previous models had single axels and tandems were offered for the first time as an option in 1957.
I thought it was in 1956 that Airstream first offered a tandem as a "standard option" on a 26' Cruiser/Overlander. In any case, I know that I have personally seen a couple such units from 1956, but never one from 1955 or prior, except for an obviously custom 1952 25' Cruiser with tandem axles that came up for sale several months ago. That 1952 unit is now the subject of the "Vintage Lightning" Airstream Life Magazine restoration project.
Personally, I think the tandem makes a trailer that length much more desirable. In addition to the towing benefits and "blowout" redundancy, trailers that length just look better as tandems.
__________________ Joe
Vintage Airstream Club Historian WBCCI/VAC #5533
'55 22' Safari / '63 28' Ambassador / '94 28' Excella
Hey, I also wanted to ask you guys, there is a long hollow cylinder with an opening/closing end cap on the side of the trailer, this I'm sure is a dumb question, but what is it?
It is a storage container for either awning poles or flagpoles.
Thanks everyone, you guys are really getting me excited about my Airstream! Thinking back to when my brother owned this trailer, I remember him throwing the old toilet out and putting in a new plastic one. This was before my interest in the trailer of course. I sure wish I had that toilet back!
You gotta restore that one! It would be a beauty. If you can't or don't want to do it someone here will.
I agree!
__________________
Computers manufactured by companies such as IBM, Compaq and millions of others are by far the most popular with about 70 million machines in use worldwide. Macintosh fans note that cockroaches are far more numerous than humans and that numbers alone do not denote a higher life form. -NY Times 11/91
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