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Jabba · 03-04-2010, 12:29 PM

David,

Thank you for sharing more pics. I saw the shower head and went "Ah Hah". That is different from the other ones I have seen. I am not so sure on being able to find one like that. Are the water connections under the streetside bed? The electric water heater on ours works VERY well. We can turn it off at night and still have hot water in the morning.

dlx25225 · 03-07-2010, 11:57 AM

The water connections are streetside. Your CV is in way better condition than ours. The original hot water heater with its cloth covered electric cord is still there. However I would not feel safe with any of the electric wiring in the trailer............... David

dlx25225 · 03-17-2010, 07:42 PM

I re-read your question. Sorry my answer was incomplete. The water connection is under the bed on the streetside as is the water heater. David

Sugarfoot · 03-20-2010, 10:39 PM

Jabba, I've drooled over the pics of your rig on Dial's site long before I found my 30' SOTR, and still continue to drool. You have a wonderful trailer. The brochure you found on eBay, one I've never seen before, is a dead ringer. Congrats on such a cool find! It's like being validated to find the model and exact layout of one's early trailer in print on Airstream sales literature.

CanoeStream, your collection of info is fascinating. There are so many mysteries to these older coaches. I wonder if we will ever find all the answers? Was the CV a transition trailer between those like wkerfoot's and A-Merry-Can's '54 Liners and the the SOTRs? or were they concurrently built at some point?

Just curious, Jabba and dix25225, are your trailers each Ohio trailers? I would guess this to be true if an O precedes your S/N. David, thanks for posting your photos. It's always a treat to compare these older 30 footers.

Short563 · 07-16-2010, 10:54 PM

I especially like these 30 footers from the 1950's. Do you any of you have any suggestions about how to locate one that is for sale? My go it find a fixer upper that I can restore.

wkerfoot · 07-16-2010, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Short563

I especially like these 30 footers from the 1950's. Do you any of you have any suggestions about how to locate one that is for sale? My go it find a fixer upper that I can restore.

Watch ebay. craigs list, Tin Can Tourists classifieds, Vintage Airstream List and VAC classifieds. There was a 1954 Liner on Ebay a while back and I found my Double Door Liner on the VAL.

Bill

Short563 · 07-17-2010, 02:23 PM

Thank you for your help Bill! Already spotted a 1962 SOTR for $3200.

Aage · 07-18-2010, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Short563

Thank you for your help Bill! Already spotted a 1962 SOTR for $3200.

Say, that's a nice one, it still has its jalousie windows on the side they show. Wish they hadn't taken out the interior panels, and blue isn't really my colour, but it does look nice.

StevieB · 11-02-2017, 05:11 AM

Well, It has been seven (7) years since a post has been "posted" on the Commodore Vanderbilt. The torch has been passed by Jason, and we are now the caretakers of this time capsule. We were just wondering if ever another one has surfaced, ..... anywhere. As far as we have been able to search, this is the only one known in existence. The search is on.

66Overlander · 11-02-2017, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StevieB

Well, It has been seven (7) years since a post has been "posted" on the Commodore Vanderbilt. The torch has been passed by Jason, and we are now the caretakers of this time capsule. We were just wondering if ever another one has surfaced, ..... anywhere. As far as we have been able to search, this is the only one known in existence. The search is on.

Hi Stevie B,
I never got a chance to see the Commodore Vanderbilt when Jason owned it, although I communicated with him via email a long time ago.

I am also from Michigan and would love to see it some day. From the photos, it definitely looks like you got a very rare Airstream in amazing condition.

To address your question, at the current time I know of only one other surviving 30' Commodore Vanderbilt, although some may still be waiting to be rediscovered. Higher in this thread, a man named David from North Carolina (user name "dlx25225") says he has a Commodore Vanderbilt S/N O-5075.

We do not currently know how many were actually produced, but Ohio built 30-footers were from about serial number O-5032 thru about O-5064 (differing from previous claims of O-5043 thru O-5075), so you may have the last 1955 30-footer built, out of about 32 total. Airstream did not keep exact records of model year serial number breakpoints back then, so I am making my best guesses on the starting and ending S/Ns. How many of the 32 were Commodore Vanderbilts vs. other models (Liner, Salon Liner, Sovereign of the Road) is unknown, but probably very few.

What I can tell you is that I am aware that at least a third Commodore Vanderbilt that was built, but from photo evidence it has obvious small differences from yours. That other Commodore Vanderbilt was the Airstream that Wally Byam personally used on the 1955 Mexico and 1955 Eastern Canada Caravans, so your Commodore is in good company.

BTW, your Commodore was delivered on 9-9-1955 to Warner Trailer Sales in Pontiac, Michigan. Wally's was earlier, delivered in December 1954. I will opine that David's Commodore is probably actually a 1956 trailer because of it's higher S/N and delivery date some time after 11-23-55.

StevieB · 11-03-2017, 05:45 AM

Joe,
Thanks for the reply and the additional info. From the pictures posted in the past, it appears that David's 0-0075 has quite a different layout than ours. Ours matches up with the 1955 Airstream Commodore Vanderbilt Sales Flyer to a "T." Also, while going through it yesterday, I found tags on both of the original twin Airstream Mattresses which have a deliver date of 9/2/1955 which matches up with your 9/9/55 delivery to Warner Trailer Sales in Pontiac, MI.
Should you ever wish to take an up close and personal look, an open invitation is yours. Please PM me and we will set a date and time.
Regards,
StevieB

66Overlander · 11-03-2017, 08:32 AM

Yeah, upon a deeper look, David's trailer looks like it might just be a standard Sovereign of the Road from the floor plan and bath room, so maybe I shouldn't have counted it. Tough to be sure, because I do not believe most Airstreams had model name badges in 1955 and floor plans were still being tweaked regularly by Airstream.

Your Airstream was obviously Ohio built and the brochure that matches it's floor plans was issued by Ohio I'm sure.

The Commodore Vanderbilt brochure on the Airstream company web site shows a different floor plan than yours - a rear bedroom:
https://www.airstream.com/wp-content...0ebff457d1.pdf

From various detail, I can tell that was a California built trailer, so we can be sure that at least one trailer that Airstream considered a Commodore Vanderbilt was built in California, but it had obvious differences from yours.

I am attaching three of the best photos I have of Wally's Commodore Vanderbilt on the 1955 Mexico Caravan (credited to Life magazine). You can see Wally in one or two of the photos, and his dog ("Chica" I think). The window configuration matches your trailer and this trailer was definitely built in Ohio.

You can see one of Wally's personal modifications on his Commodore, dual electrical inputs, one for 110V AC and one for 12V DC, which he has connected to a generator in the trunk of his car. I've seen that detail on photos of other of Wally's personal trailer's, but never on a standard production Airstream. Obviously, a new thing he was testing that never made it to production.

StevieB · 11-12-2017, 06:37 PM

Joe,
By chance do you have the address for Warner Trailer Sales in Pontiac, Michigan?
Thanks,
StevieB

66Overlander · 11-12-2017, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StevieB

Joe,
By chance do you have the address for Warner Trailer Sales in Pontiac, Michigan?
Thanks,
StevieB

Hi Stevie,
Our first Airstream (a 1966 Overlander) was sold by Cal Warner to Lorrie's parents (we bought it back many years later). Lorrie's mom has pointed out the location of the sales lot to us. It was on W. Huron St. (M-59), on the north side of the road, at least as of 1966

EDIT: Found an address as a certified Airstream Service Center in 1966:

Warner Trailer Sales, Inc.
3098 W. Huron Street
Pontiac, MI 48054

mountaindent · 03-18-2018, 06:15 PM

Were you guys in Hiawassee, Ga this weekend? I briefly toured a Commodore Vanderbilt this weekend during an open house event at the Mountain Air Airstream gathering. Nice people and a wonderful model of Airstream.

StevieB · 03-19-2018, 10:20 AM

Yes, that was us. It was very nice meeting you too!!!

Lumatic · 03-19-2018, 10:54 AM

Re: Post 32
For trivia mavens. The kayak looking boat in the photo I believe is a Klepper. It is similar to a Fol-bot which I did have. They both have models which are dissassembled for travel and they reassembled for use.

Baby Zeppelin · 03-19-2018, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lumatic

Re: Post 32
For trivia mavens. The kayak looking boat in the photo I believe is a Klepper. It is similar to a Fol-bot which I did have. They both have models which are dissassembled for travel and they reassembled for use.

Yes, that is a Klepper. You can tell by the little pennant emblem sewn onto the rear deck canvas.

I have one that my father bought in Germany in 1968. Except for the hull material getting kind of tatty it still works fine. New ones cost upwards of $3000 now, I think my dad paid the equivalent of a bit over $100 back then.