2008 DWR Bambi 16' Now Shipping

[yukionna]

Originally Posted by Pahaska

Our local dealer just sold a 75th model to a lady who intends to put it on top of a building! Seems to me any old Airstream would have been a lot more cost effective for that use.

I hate to see a rare model go for that kind of use; to just sit there and deteriorate.

"Price doesn't matter" is so true in this case! It will probably cost her 2 to 3 times the cost of the trailer to have the trailer hoisted TO the top of the building!

[wheel interested]

Yeah but what a view from the panoramic windows! A campsite in heaven? An alternative penthouse suite for the city dweller?

[yukionna]

It will certainly be a conversation piece! And cool looking from the skyscraper next door!

[SmokelessJoe]

If, as AgZep suggests, design freaks (I admit to being one) are the target market for the DWR, they will also be among the first to note the sloppy “monitor centre” and the general lack of proportionality and/or originality.

This edition is more a case of decorating than of designing. It is not the bold departure that the CCD was.

It’s too bad that Airstream has no competition in this area and that the state of trailer building in America has fallen so low.

It wasn’t always like this. Today, at nearby Union, Ontario I saw a 1950 VAGABOND belonging to a visitor from Florida.



Stuart had had his birch-wood filled aluminum trailer re-painted in the original deep maroon. It looked like it had just come out of the long gone New Holland, Michigan factory.

1950 Vagabond.jpg Views: 134 Size: 137.9 KB ID: 38533" style="margin: 2px" />

The coach said STYLE from a block away.


Sergei

[AgZep]

Originally Posted by Craftsman2

Someone mentioned Leica, I use a Leica MP as my everyday shooter and you couldn't ask for a better designed and built camera. With the Design within Reach Airstream, I don't understand what your getting that really sets it apart from anything else that they offer other than the over sized and out of scale clock, a dangerous looking towel rack and clothes bag with their logo on it. What really makes this special edition unique?

Craftsman2,

You're missing my analogy. I have a Leica as well, a IIIf RDST for which I paid well under $300, including a very nice 50mm Summicron. Great camera, and certainly well worth the price. You are probably aware that there are a whole host of special edition Leicas, such as the "Anthracite" edition of your MP that was sold almost exclusively in Japan. A lot of those are functionally identical to the standard model upon which they're based, but may have an unusual color of leather or metal finish. That one little (functionally irrelevant) feature usually drives the price up ferociously.

You might look at the recent "Oskar Barnack Edition" that is meant to be a copy of the prototype Leica 35mm camera. They made 100 of them. Lacking slow shutter speeds and a rangefinder, it would not be a convenient picture taker, certainly no match for my IIIf. But you can't touch a Barnack for less than $2,500. I know I wouldn't trade eight IIIfs for one, but 100 people clearly disagree with me.

Airstreams are already the Leicas of the RV world. They're expensive, made in small numbers, and are generally traded from person to person over the course of decades. The DWR Bambi is really no diffent than an Anthracite MP or a Barnack. Little to no "improvement," but a good deal more expensive.

Now campadk is really onto something. There needs to be a Gar Wood Special Edition Airstream with an interior that looks like a Gar Wood speed boat from the 20s - all polished mahogany. It would weigh an extra 1,000 lbs, and probably cost an extra $50,000, but wouldn't that look splendid?

[jordandvm]

Originally Posted by CanoeStream

Anybody for a Taipei-to-Tibet Caravan? Sir Edmund Hilary has nothing on me!

I'm in.......only if I survive the Capetown to Cairo Caravan first..... and Airstream supplies all the trailers for the T to T Caravan! I can't afford to retrofit another 70's trailer! I'd also like to meet the Dali Lama (if he's on route)!

Sorry for getting off topic.......Canoe Stream made me do it with his post ?.

[wheel interested]

Originally Posted by yukionna

"Price doesn't matter" is so true in this case! It will probably cost her 2 to 3 times the cost of the trailer to have the trailer hoisted TO the top of the building!

Yeah but she saves on the cost of buying and maintaining a tow vehicle. Unless it is planned to be air lifted. Kind of like building an ark on dry land perhaps. Who knows what she has in mind. How tall is the building...will there be trailer sway?

[campadk]

Originally Posted by Pahaska

Our local dealer just sold a 75th model to a lady who intends to put it on top of a building! Seems to me any old Airstream would have been a lot more cost effective for that use.

I hate to see a rare model go for that kind of use; to just sit there and deteriorate.

Hey John,

Was that DemOntrond RV in Houston? If so that means we're down to 21 75ths
on dealers lots... 75th Locator

[Minnie's Mate]

Originally Posted by AgZep

Perhaps some of you were unaware that Design Within Reach is company that has been selling all kinds of designer objects, like very stylish modern chairs and tables, for quite a few years. This is not something dreamed up by Airstream alone all of a sudden.

DWR prices may seem high, but when you look at the cost of the truly exclusive prodcuts that really interest their customers, they don't seem out of line.

Yes I am aware who DWR is and the cheap knock-offs of the designer products they sell. They are a design studio in San Francisco and are quite adept at putting together budget high-brow designs.

We aren't a bunch of troglodytes here.

Originally Posted by Craftsman2

This trailer looks like you went shopping in Marshalls or Target.

BTW, Craftsman, when I was looking at the DWR Airstream I was thinking the exact same thing!

[craftsman]

AgZep... I'm with you 100%. The special edition Leicas are for the very insecure Leica collectors with more money than brains and they drive up the price of good user cameras. Love the 111f and 111G. This Airstream we're discussing is much like the special edition Leicas. Put someones signiture on it , make it in a different finish and charge double or more.There's nothing here that makes this unit special. You could take a standard 16' Airstream and $500.00 to Target and do better. You have to ask yourself if the people at Airstream think we're all idiots. My vote is for the Oscar Mayer (spelling)edition. All the controls can be shaped like hot dogs.You know what that would look like. That's what we're being offered anyway.

[Minnie's Mate]

Originally Posted by Craftsman2

My vote is for the Oscar Mayer (spelling)edition. All the controls can be shaped like hot dogs.You know what that would look like. That's what we're being offered anyway.

Well, all the main colors are already reddish-orange. Might as well call it the weener mobile.

[ljmiii]

Originally Posted by Craftsman2
This trailer looks like you went shopping in Marshalls or Target.

Originally Posted by Minnie's Mate

BTW, Craftsman, when I was looking at the DWR Airstream I was thinking the exact same thing!

I'm with Minnie's Mate on this one. The problem isn't that there is a DWR Airstream - its that it looks nothing like the high design goods that DWR sells. Instead, it looks like the result of a design TV show - "OK, you have two weeks and $2,000 per trailer to spend...GO!"

enjoy,
leo

PS Having said that, I sure most surfers would laugh at the Quiksilver Airstream. My Bambi really has very little to do with the products that Quiksilver sells and even less to do with the 'vibe' that is at the heart of Quiksilver's success. But that didn't keep the Quiksliver Airstream from being an outrageously successful product.

[KIMILI]

DWR is a reputable company, very well known and admired in the design world, that sells reproductions with original licensing - not knock-offs...and not cheap either...

That said...

The AS is featured on their front cover this month looks pretty neat!!

Although, besides the red awning, the Nelson clock and the Paul Smith ' Maharani' fabrics we were not impressed. We definitely expected more from a company like DWR and were somewhat dissapointed with the end result.

The Tom Dixon wire rack is beautiful but very obtrusive in a small AS, especially where they've put it!! Can you imagine how tight it's going to get there once you actually hang a couple of coats and hats??...

We're all for the design details but only if they work with the product!!

At least they've put some more thought in the outdoor chairs that come with it. The Tripolina chairs are not only comfortable but foldable and easy to store. A nice addition.

The hefty price tag is part of the package, some people just love seeing logos and brands posted all over their clothes or ...Airstreams
...was it really necessary to put the DWR logo on more than 5-6 locations??stove included???

You're better off buying a couple of design pieces yourself and decorating your own AS your way

PS
Leo, we love the quicksilver edition. My husband is working on making our dinette table look like yours.

[uwe]

I went down to a Design Within Reach store in Newport Beach, CA this weekend, since Didi and I are looking for some new dining room chairs. The Airstream is featured in their newest catalog, too. The items, colors and materials they have available are stunning. The Execution in the 16' Bambi are not, especially considering what "could have been done".
Looks like a desperate attempt by Airstream to bring out a new model. I think CCD and SE is great - Winick is excellent, but this one's a bit odd.
The price tag is just simply absurd. I am not afraid to spend money, but this is a little too extreme even for me.
But, that's just me...

[ljmiii]

Originally Posted by KIMILI

The Tom Dixon wire rack is beautiful but very obtrusive in a small AS, especially where they've put it!! Can you imagine how tight it's going to get there once you actually hang a couple of coats and hats??...

We're all for the design details but only if they work with the product!!

I couldn't have put it better myself. I love the Nelson clock - or would if they scaled it to the wall they put it on. I love the wire rack - but it is non-functional in its current location.

I shouldn't care as much as I do about this...but I've finally realized why. A DWR/Airstream co-branded trailer should have been spectacular. DWR specializes in reproductions of mid-century streamlined modern - a high design mix of metal, plywood, black, and bright color - that is perfect for an Airstream. What a lost opportunity.

[AgZep]

Minnie's Mate,

Calm down. I wasn't impuning your personal sense of style. I had sensed by the tone in many of the previous posts that people were blaming Airstream alone for what they perceive to be serious shortcomings of the DWR.

I rather doubt Airstream cooked up the unit and then went shopping for a name to put on it. If my name were on a product, I'd be sure it contained exactly what I wanted. So I'll bet DWR picked the mods, and had a big vote on the markup. I was just trying to express that, in my typical muddled way.

I do have a suggestion for those of you who think the DWR is not up to snuff: Don't buy one. If you don't like Classics, don't buy one of those either. And certainly steer clear of CCDs if they don't turn you on, or likewise Safaris. The beauty of the market is that it sends loud and clear signals to the manufacturers. These things will either succeed on their merits, or they will not.

But a few weeks from now, I expect to see a post here from an exstatic new DWR owner. They'll probably gush about how they love their cool new trailer, and they'll want to know all about how to live with an Airstream. I, for one, will welcome them.

As I keep saying over and over again, I may not think that unit is in line with my expectation of value (I have to admit that I do really dig the clock though), but I'm sure someone will.

I'm all in favor of Airstreams broadening the owner pool. In my experience, the one size that fits all generally doesn't fit anyone very well. So why not have a whole range of models and trims, so everyone can get just what they want?

Had the CCD line not existed, we probably would not have bought a new Airstream. It's pretty obvious that others (including a number of Airstream employees and dealers we've met) think they're some sort of abomination. Whatever. I still maintain that the DWR can only bring a few more people into the Airstream community, just the way the CCDs did.

If you've got ideas, why not take them to the factory? We did, about a year before we bought. And you know what? They implemented a few of our suggestions. Probably not solely because of us, but because they heard the same things from others. I just hope we keep our comments here on the constructive side, so as not to turn off the people that think DWRs are really sweet.

[Minnie's Mate]

Originally Posted by AgZep

If you've got ideas, why not take them to the factory?

Actually, I did. That's where they got the idea for the SE Safari.

[AgZep]

Originally Posted by Minnie's Mate

Actually, I did. That's where they got the idea for the SE Safari.

Sweet. Maybe there's hope for the Gar Wood Airstream after all.

[cyclebloke]

If anything, design should evoke emotion and it certainly seems to have done that here on this thread. As far as it not being different enough, or this or that, I'm not sure that's the point. How different can you make a 16 anyhow and still maintain it's functionality? It's short with great visibility, that's the big selling point.

The problem no one seems to address is that DWR has to work with what they have. Looking at their website they have two wire racks, they chose the shallowest. Same with the clock, they chose the one with smallest diameter. Kind of logical when you look at the reality of what they have to work with.

Personally, I have never found 2D photos to depict interiors well, so I'll reserve judgement until I see it, sit in it and experience it. Maybe I'll find the clock is a tad bit large, but since it's the first thing you see when you step in it might be the focal point everyone looks at and goes "cool". Who knows, maybe I'll want one in mine?

As for the price, there still seem to be a few 75th anniversary Bambi's on lots at greatly reduced prices. That leads me to the next question - who ever pays retail anyhow? Maybe we should talk about the reality of MSRP pricing? As the name implies it's simply a suggestion, reality is often very different:-)

Personally, I'm glad they did it, the 16's the coolest AS out there and it deserves some different decorating tweaks, because let's face it, that's how most new AS differ anyhow. Will it be enough for someone to say "that's cooler than the others, I'll take it" and pay the extra coin I have no clue? One thing is for sure, it's getting a lot of press and I'd say that's a good thing.

[Minnie's Mate]

Welcome to the forums cyclebloke. Always glad to hear from a new face on a controversial topic. You are right. The purpose of this design was to evoke a response and it certainly has, at least on this forum. I for one, don't object to what DWR did with their design and an Airstream, I just think it has a cheaper look in such a small space. Perhaps they should have applied their vision to a larger unit like the 22' so things would have been a little more in scale. With all the muted colors in the space, the red/orange comforter is in such contrast that it over powers the small space. Same with the clock. I actually like the clock quite a bit. Again, it just over powers the space. In my opinion, that takes away from the aesthetic that it could have had if the proportions had been in better balance. Everything looks forced and that is what makes it look like they went to Target and bought cheap imitations without regard to scale. Scale is an important part of good design and that is lacking in this project.

I applaud Airstream for once again thinking out of the box and attempting to go with a high-brow designer look. I can't think of any other American RV company that is doing that with production models. It makes me proud to own an Airstream, but I feel the execution just didn't make it in this exercise.

Again, welcome aboard and I hope to see many more post from you in the future.