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View Poll Results: What do you think of the Airstream Model X?
Love it! 15 37.50%
Hate it! 3 7.50%
I expected something different from Airstream 4 10.00%
I don't know what to think 18 45.00%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 40. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 06-08-2021, 09:11 AM   #1
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New "rugged" Interstate Model X Spotted

Here are some photos of the new Interstate Model X spotted at the Airstream dealer in Naperville, Illinois on 6/7/2021.

What do you think?
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Old 06-08-2021, 10:31 AM   #2
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Could you provide an Airstream link for this please, I can't find it on the company site.

Did you take a picture of the sticker price?



Like $200,000.00 plus?



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Old 06-08-2021, 10:33 AM   #3
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I have not been able to find anything on this van and the store wasn’t open when I was there. Not sure if it is a concept vehicle or in the production cycle. No pricing listed anywhere on it.
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Old 06-08-2021, 12:37 PM   #4
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OK, this thread just got my danged attention to a degree that very few things do.

Number one, this appears to be a genuine leak of an Interstate model under production consideration, rather than someone's DIY fantasy of what they might want their personal Interstate to look like. It looks real.

Number two, I am so interested in this concept that I just applied to Airstream for a loaner - I offered for LB_3 and I to serve as short-term Ambassadors to test one out, to put it through it's paces under our demands of off-grid performance.

I'm not going to repeat my full pitch to Airstream in this post, but here's an excerpt, to give you an idea of where I'm coming from:

There is probably nobody else on earth who has pushed the Interstate to the limits that we already have, while working in our private DIY capacity. A natural outgrowth of that effort would be for us to test the capacity of an analogous enhanced Interstate that Airstream itself produces.
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Old 06-08-2021, 12:47 PM   #5
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Hi

So what's in the pictures?

There's definitely an odd hitch / gizmo on the back end.

Hard to be sure, but I'd bet there's a lift kit on it.

Departure angle seems to be helped out by the rise at the tail.

Some sort of roof rack, but no obvious (ladder) way to get up there.

Awning looks more like a manual deploy version.

Is that 22' long ???

Fixed running board on drivers side, maybe on passenger side as well.

and on and on ....

Bob
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Old 06-08-2021, 01:22 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by InterBlog View Post
. . . Number two, I am so interested in this concept that I just applied to Airstream for a loaner - I offered for LB_3 and I to serve as short-term Ambassadors to test one out, to put it through it's paces under our demands of off-grid performance. . . [/I]
Good luck - but where is your YouTube channel, Instagram and Facebook page?
Seems those are the entry tickets today to become a brand ambassador.

Agree this looks like a something Airstream would do - they might as well join all the other builders doing these "Overland" rigs that are so popular now.
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Old 06-08-2021, 02:09 PM   #7
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Hi

One thing the overland folks seem to be in love with are cassette toilets. I don't see an obvious "exit door" for a cassette on this MH.

Bob
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Old 06-08-2021, 02:20 PM   #8
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Hi

One thing the overland folks seem to be in love with are cassette toilets. I don't see an obvious "exit door" for a cassette on this MH.

Bob
It just has the standard macerator door on drivers side. It is Airstream's version of Overlanding. It's like all the owners of tricked out Jeeps and 4x4 pickups that never go off-road. It's just a style choice.
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Old 06-08-2021, 02:37 PM   #9
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Hi

Rumor has it that there will be a press release at 10AM on the 10th. I'd bet at least a full bottle of beer that we'll see some YouTube video's released very soon after that.

Bob
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Old 06-09-2021, 07:25 AM   #10
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Talking

Quote:
Originally Posted by Boxster1971 View Post
Good luck - but where is your YouTube channel, Instagram and Facebook page?....
That works against us. We are real people with lives and professional careers, not seeking to waste our time developing as long-term influencers (although FWIW, I do have an IG page).

What potentially works FOR us is our influencer-defying authenticity - our technical presence, WBCCI presence, age, Interstate track record, and beguiling loaner project proposal (my extra-photogenic off-grid land in the Canadian wilderness and the extreme off-grid cross-continent trek required to get there).

Airstream has inexplicably focused on younger, hipper Ambassadors. Fine - but those are not the people buying most of their product, especially not the newer Interstates, which are only purchased by the exceptionally well-heeled, which are almost exclusively older successful retirees. Where are the weight-lifting, boundary-pushing middle-agers in Airstream's portfolio? At least Winnebago got that part right, in hiring the fiftysomething FitRV couple. Airstream is absent from that playing field.

I do not give a rat's posterior whether or not we get any response from Airstream on my inquiry. In this context, it was just too tempting to pass up on general principle. I filled out their contact form yesterday as I was eating lunch. No time wasted.

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Old 06-09-2021, 08:39 AM   #11
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Hi

If you look at how the car companies do this ( Ford and the Bronco is a good example ), they have "company" vehicles long before they have "civilian" vehicles. Unless you are a company employe (somehow dealers get into that category) or accompanied by one ... you don't get to touch the steering wheel.

I'd bet these MH's fall into the same category.

Bob
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Old 06-09-2021, 09:12 AM   #12
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I would love to see a more rugged offering personally. I was always a fan of the Vanagons and Eurovans. Creature comforts, but without as many of the luxuries that could get damaged. I still believe the Airstream name adds resale value, and mystique, and that while they have their faults they still build nice campers when looking at the industry overall. The interstate looks sharp, makes road tripping very easy, but I stress out that one of my toddlers (Or Me!) will press the door close button while the screen is out, etc. A more rugged simplified interior as an option would appeal to some.
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Old 06-09-2021, 10:01 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by Sawmiller View Post
I would love to see a more rugged offering personally. I was always a fan of the Vanagons and Eurovans. Creature comforts, but without as many of the luxuries that could get damaged. I still believe the Airstream name adds resale value, and mystique, and that while they have their faults they still build nice campers when looking at the industry overall. The interstate looks sharp, makes road tripping very easy, but I stress out that one of my toddlers (Or Me!) will press the door close button while the screen is out, etc. A more rugged simplified interior as an option would appeal to some.
Hi

If the "X" is a connection with the Basecamp X models, I suspect the interior will get some of the same features. Which and what .... who knows. Bench seats in back vs the power sofa ???

Bob
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Old 06-09-2021, 10:11 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by InterBlog View Post
That works against us. We are real people with lives and professional careers, not seeking to waste our time developing as long-term influencers (although FWIW, I do have an IG page).

......
Airstream has inexplicably focused on younger, hipper Ambassadors. Fine - but those are not the people buying most of their product, especially not the newer Interstates, which are only purchased by the exceptionally well-heeled, which are almost exclusively older successful retirees.

.........

Hi

If you hop on YouTube and start looking at other brands, there are "young folks" buying similar class B's at near the same sort of price. If I was putting money into the AS marketing budget, I'd say that's an un-tapped market for them. You don't market to the customers you already have, you go after the ones you don't have ....

They could use a bit more corporate focus (not just marketing ) on the "kid" market.

Bob
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Old 06-09-2021, 01:32 PM   #15
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What they need to focus on is a KISS model. Forget the fancy electronics, internal WIFI and expensive and complex systems. Dump the Interstate and build it on a 4WD Ford Transit gas chassis, and build it with as few moving parts and as little complexity as possible in the RV systems. Moving parts break. Make it a 1995-simple (but quality) interior and tried-and-true simple RV systems that can be diagonosed and repaired by the owner on the road without a trip to the shop, price it under $100k, and they wouldn't be able to build them fast enough to meet the demand.
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Old 06-09-2021, 02:03 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by 85MH325 View Post
What they need to focus on is a KISS model. Forget the fancy electronics, internal WIFI and expensive and complex systems. Dump the Interstate and build it on a 4WD Ford Transit gas chassis, and build it with as few moving parts and as little complexity as possible in the RV systems. Moving parts break. Make it a 1995-simple (but quality) interior and tried-and-true simple RV systems that can be diagonosed and repaired by the owner on the road without a trip to the shop, price it under $100k, and they wouldn't be able to build them fast enough to meet the demand.
Hi

So simply a box with beds and no appliances or A/C to clutter things up .... Put it on a Chinese truck chassis so there aren't any complicated parts involved, like automatic transmissions or power brakes. None of this USB outlet or "connectivity" stuff that nobody ever uses anyway.

Bob
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Old 06-09-2021, 02:19 PM   #17
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I predict Airstream will build a million of them and make a small fortune. Seriously.


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Old 06-09-2021, 02:22 PM   #18
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Thumbs up

After all, that is Thor's primary corporate purpose . . .

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Old 06-09-2021, 07:04 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 85MH325 View Post
What they need to focus on is a KISS model. Forget the fancy electronics, internal WIFI and expensive and complex systems. Dump the Interstate and build it on a 4WD Ford Transit gas chassis, and build it with as few moving parts and as little complexity as possible in the RV systems. Moving parts break. Make it a 1995-simple (but quality) interior and tried-and-true simple RV systems that can be diagonosed and repaired by the owner on the road without a trip to the shop, price it under $100k, and they wouldn't be able to build them fast enough to meet the demand.
They can't build enough to meet demand now.
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Old 06-09-2021, 07:08 PM   #20
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Hi

Seriously, there are multiple divisions within Thor. Various parts of the company make this. Other parts make that.Some of them do make Ford based MH's. Telling one chunk of the company to stop doing what they are doing and put the other chunk out of business instead ..... not how it's normally done.

Bob
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