Model suggestions wanted

[55AS]

After camping in our restored Bambi II for a year we are ready for something slightly larger. I am constrained on size due to garage and tow vehicle limitations to something 22 ft or less (and under 9 ft high).
Prefer a model with either a dedicated bed or at least one that allows movement through the trailer when it is open.
Needs to be vintage (pre 1970). Looking at Safari, Globetrotter, Caravanner...
Suggestions?

[FCloud9]

We love our Flying Cloud 20' FB with front bed, separate dinette which converts to comfortably lounge with pillows for watching movies, spacious galley kitchen with adequate counter space and storage and nice size full bathroom. After our first summer season, just reorganized storage and now gained two empty cabinets. Plus there is a huge under bed storage area.
We are so happy with our choice.

[Ahab]

Our 22' SS has even more room and storage than the 20' FC. We leave the dinette made up as a bed and use folding TV tables when necessary.

[55AS]

Great responses so far but looking for info on vintage models. Thanks!

[Skatiero]

The caravanner would suit your needs perfectly, with that permanent rear bed and 22 foot length. The floorplan is very spacious!

[ALUMINUMINUM]

My model suggestion within your constraints is '67/'68 GT, Safari.


The '67.'68 Safari and Globe Trotter are light and narrow enough to be towed as comfortably as your Bambi.


The full bath in the '67/'68 is well worth consideration. There are no inaccessible water lines, you can easily reach the backs all the plumbing fixtures with both hands, the tub is big enough to bathe in. I'm six feet and have a clear inch over my head when showering. The toilet is flanged to the black tank in a conventional and serviceable method. Why this rear bath configuration was abandoned for 1969 is, well, the Airstream Way??? We left the bath in the GT near perfectly original.


The late sixties were the last real wood (ash or mahogany) years before the interior transitioned into plastic coated wood.


The front gaucho in original configuration does not invade door entry when deployed as a bed. Usage of that space can be improved to become bedroom/lounge/storage, and the GT's side gaucho removed for a dinette. Mattress shown is 54" wide.


The '68 has the most evolved series of the Corning/Philips window which is not as troublesome as some repute.


The '68 has an improved entry door hinge and no fiberglass insulation in the underbelly to house rodents and moisture. I cannot speak for others, but I found the sprayed foam to be wholly intact and secure in mine. I know not if it is a carcinogen.


I had no reason to paint the interior walls, as the original vinyl cleaned up like new. Could it be that the dreaded vinyl in the seventies that becomes sticky is a different grade? The cream/beige colored grass-weave embossed vinyl in my '68 is attractive and pleasing to the touch.


The '67 has a much better battery location and does not have the ridiculously absurd “Central Control”. I'll spare the elaboration of its unnecessary-ness. I relocated my battery and tossed the Central Control, Univolt and breaker panel. With the Univolt gone, there's space for a 6gal above floor grey tank servicing both sinks that can be easily valved to flush the black tank.


There is some concern about the aluminum wiring, but mine has been no issue. I inspected it all and found no signs of degradation. Nothing was burnt or loose. Kaiser supplied the wire which is fine until it is over-heated. None of the original switches or outlets have any evidence of being the more expensive rated AlCu. I added one 120V 20A copper circuit for the fridge and microwave and electric space heating, and another for the dual fuel electronic ignition water heater. If I had needed to un-skin the interior, I would have changed it all out to marine grade wiring.


A worthy note here, is that the aluminum wiring in circa '68 Airstreams was not caused by the urban myth of “Bullets for Vietnam”. It was wholly caused by the greed of the copper industrialists because they refused pay the striking, sick and poor, copper union miners the same wage and benefit as their affiliated iron/steel union miners. The strike was only eight months, the strikers lost. In order to defer the truthful cause of the perceived diminished copper supply, the copper industrialists initiated and perpetuated their still embraced, blame the Vietnam War lie. There was never a shortage of copper, the price increased, Airstream went cheap.


If you'll overlook one's tendency to best like what they have, I'll say that '67/'68 is a sweet-spot for old trailers, as they are sensible and easy to restore/remodel.


I'd not consider the '69 and newer. The sentences that follow within this paragraph are intentionally left blank.


It's been fun and easy to fix up the 1968 GT. We kept it camp-able all along the way...

[64airstream]

We've got a 64 Safari (22 ft) and had converted the dinette into a sofa coffee table that converts into a full sized bed. It's in the front and allows us each access from our own side. We found that when we travel, we set it up as a bed the first night then keep it that way the rest of the trip. So this year we put in a new Euro-top mattress and leave it in bed configuration all the time. We added a small drop table on the curb side for those rare times when weather forces us inside for a meal. The gaucho makes a nice sofa and the full size rear bath is an asset. 64airstream.com has some more shots, but it hasn't been updated for quite some time.

We think your plan to go up to a 22 ft makes a lot of sense. Good luck.

Roy and Marie

[64airstream]

Lost the photo...

[Airlovr]

Wow!!! Love the kitchen!!! The vent-a-hood is hott!!!!!
Very cool!!!


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[55AS]

The pics look great. Just sell me yours and save me a lot of work :-)

[idroba]

[QUOTE=ALUMINUMINUM;1539319]My model suggestion within your constraints is '67/'68 GT, Safari.


The '67.'68 Safari and Globe Trotter are light and narrow enough to be towed as comfortably as your Bambi.


I would agree that the '67 and '68 Airstreams were some of the best ever made, both in plan an execution. I had a '68 17' Caravel and a '68 22 or 23' and both were exceptional, and very "classic" as Airstreams.

[55AS]

I love the idea of a dedicated bed space forward of the door and the 68 GT looks perfect. I looked at a 64 GT and the area is smaller. Anyone know what model year was the first to have enough space for a dedicated bed forward of the door?

[64airstream]

BTex,

Sometimes it depends more on the model floor plan. Ours is a 64 Safari with the dinette option. In that model A/S put in a larger (wider) curb side window and pushed the door and curb side galley aft. To put a full bed in with access from both sides, we had to then shorten the gaucho about 6-8 inches, so we could move the street side refrigerator rearward by that amount.

We're about to start on our 68 Overlander which has the smaller (narrow) window on the curb side. It's going to be more challenging, but I'm envisioning a curved rounded foot of the bed and moving the street side galley rearward about 4 inches to improve the walkthrough area on each corner. We still won't have as much clearance as the Safari allows. For a full size bed mounted lengthwise, you need about 7 ft from front wall to the first "hard to move" cabinet or appliance. As with football and most of life, every additional inch helps. How tall you are can also impact wether the shorter mattress (they're not all exactly the same length) will work for you.

To figure out the "hard to move" item, it might also help to look for where the appliances that have to penetrate the exterior walls are located. Moving a furnace, refrigerator vent or water fill penetration is doable, but a bit more work. The street side water fill was the limit for the Safari because it limited the distance we could move the refrigerator aft. For the Overlander it will be the furnace vents.

If you mount the bed sideways across the coach like Aluminuminum did, you may even be able to fit a queen and still have enough room to comfortably get in the door and move about. You also get to climb over each other to get up at night, which is a good thing, (at least for as long as it remains a good thing.)

I don't remember the different floor plan options for the different year GTs, but I think most had no window forward of the door, limiting the distance available. Take a tape with you when you shop around.

Our webpage, 64airstream.com has a few photos under "Renovating", but the page hasn't been updated since we put in a larger two way refrigerator. (That change took up a few inches that used to allow us to have an electric fireplace. I'm working on rectifying that now, with a little inspiration and ribbing from Whirlism.)

Hope this helps, good luck with your plans,

Roy and Marie

[55AS]

Tks!!

[ALUMINUMINUM]

Quote 64airstream...
“If you mount the bed sideways across the coach like Aluminuminum did, you may even be able to fit a queen and still have enough room to comfortably get in the door and move about. You also get to climb over each other to get up at night, which is a good thing, (at least for as long as it remains a good thing.) “




Yes, and yes, I wholly agree... In the song-lyrics of Taj Mahal, “Throw your big leg over me mama I might not feel this good again”

After much research and mattress store consultations, we bought off eBay a Serta brand California King sleeping/memory foam laminate composite which we cut to size with a bread knife. Sewed up a zippered inner lining and an upholstery grade zippered outer cover. The two covers can slide against each other minimizing wrinkles and facilitate laundering. Then all of the seasonal bedding goes on, or not. With a variety of pillows and bolsters, it's a great lounge area for the two of us. 4” total thickness is firm enough for seating and soft enough for sleeping, and lightweight.


The water tank and pump nests in shower-pan vinyl flashed up the walls to contain any catastrophic mishap. The dinette replacing the side gaucho provides seating or workspace with feet under the table or facing the aisle.


We removed the original interior and re-sawed every bit of the original ash solid and plywood into the “new” interior and site-built cabinets. Added two sheets of better than “Baltic” grade 1/2” birch plywood, one sheet counter-top specific particle board, some Formica, fluted aluminum edge band, and some cut-offs from my scrap bin. The engineered, glued and pin-nailed, Canadian Maple kitchen area floor spans from wheelhouse to wheelhouse giving plenty of toe kick. The 22” x 25” corner drain sink allows out of sight containment of the under plumbing, and offers a good sized flat wet-work space.
We employed removable and washable Ikea sliding tubs instead of drawers. For example, the red tub contains everything to cook outdoors. Carry it out quietly in the morning and set up contents at picnic table, awaken the sleeping beauty with her coffee... The seven removable drawer/tubs with infinite extension, are working really well. The secret fixed drawer, above “electro del centro” is reachable without stepping inside.


We putzed around, enjoying the re-build puzzle for a couple years. The illusion and actuality of more space was always in focus. Ami is Japanese and very efficient in small spaces. I have a 50 year background in no-trace ultralight backpacking. Our trailer fits us like an Armani suit. It has no standard measures of the building trade.


We used my CAD program to design it. Cardboard Aided Design is the only way to go. You gotta be in there feeling it, not seated at a computer screen. A 30” aisle may look great on screen, but in actuality you find that Godzilla can tuck in her tail and pirouette in 27”. 3” is a lot of space in a little trailer. I'm 6' and she's 5' 2”. If you want to know how difficult it is for a 5' 2” person to safely cut carrots on a 36” high counter-top, You'll discover the the danger by adding 10” to the industry standard 36” height. It's very tiring and cumbersome to operate your arms, shoulders and elbows at a 46” work height. All our work and seating surfaces are a couple to a few inches lower than builder specs. She is delighted, and it doesn't inconvenience me at all. After we had finalized our cardboard and masking tape spatial findings, I made a rough sketch on graph paper to record it..


The 1964 “door in door” GTs were shorter in the bow and didn't have the side-lite forward of door.


The “20 foot” Globe Trotter is actually 20' 11” long. Inside, from the front glass window to the rear glass window is 17 feet.


If you like the Globe trotter's size, '67 & '68 have my vote because of the bath. Same for the Safari. If you can tow the additional 500 pounds, the Safari has two more foot-lengths.

[64airstream]

Aluminuminum,

Beautiful cabinetry work and I can readily align with your CAD program. I may employ your program for our next project (unless I have to sign some extensive license agreement...)

Thanks for sharing,

Roy

[Airlovr]

Absolutely stunning work!!! Beautiful craftsmanship!!!!


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[TanCanMan]

Hey BambiTex

A lot of good suggestions so far. Will offer another that is a little outside the box; Argosy Minuet 6.0 - abouot 19 feet. They are very light weight and the only "all aluminum" A/S trailer, floor is aluminum composit instead of wood. They will typically have a dinnet or gaucho under the front pano windows that can be left as a bed with a second gaucho along the side. Mine has the dinnet that makes a double bed, - kind of small for two but it works. Let me know if you would like to see one, I'm in Katy. Can't beat the weight and large windows in a small trailer. Granted, it isn't silver and not sure what qualifies as "vintage" but it is 37 years old and going strong! Good luck.

[55AS]

Looks like I may have a buyer for the Bambi so I am stepping up my search. Current leading candidates are a 66 Safari and a 58 Flying Cloud. Obviously price and condition are variables but are there opinions on the relative merits of these two models?
Tks!

[ALUMINUMINUM]

Like you say, depends on condition. In the end, the cost of either '58 or '66 could be the same. If you want to camp, I'd pay the premium for good condition up front rather than fussing with years of deep restoration issues.


Most vintage snobs have a favorite, but their reasoning may not parallel yours. I'm thoroughly enamored with my '68, but as my vintage snobbery deepens, I could be easily dissuaded by a '54 Whale Tail or a '47 Curtis... Well, that's “My” fantasy... The Boss will never let go of “Her” '68GT.


Happy Hunting...