Any value ideas? 1964 Airstream Overlander (I think)

[Lucas James]

Hi all,

I'm considering purchasing this Airstream. Any ideas on an 'as-is' value? Also, cost of restoration, and after restoration value? I have been searching, but haven't had much luck so far.

[Belegedhel]

Welcome to the Forums!

Current value depends a lot on the amount of work that has been done already. I can see that the current owner appears to have stripped the floors and splashed a lot of white paint around, but the question is, are the floors and frame all solid, or do you need to start with a shell-off. If things are solid and correctly repaired, then the current value might be somewhere around $10k. If this is just an aborted project, and there is a shell-off in the future, then I would say...less...Maybe $3-5k, bearing in mind that it is a seller's market and I have no idea what the Pandemic surcharge is these days.

Cost to refurbish? All depends on who does the work, and how fancy you want to get. It is like asking "what does a house cost?" If you do it yourself, and keep it practical, then maybe $10-20k. If you have someone else do the work, then $60-120k.

Value afterwards? Well again, it depends on how nice it turns out, but the one thing most people who have refurbished trailers will attest to is that this is not an investment (ie., you will not make money on the deal). So if you want to fix up a trailer for yourself to use, and you want to have an idea of whether you are just pouring money down the drain, then go for it, but don't expect to invest $10k and make $30k. If you are just looking to flip it...well, I'll spare you my opinions of the trailer flippers.

Speaking of flippers, based on the superficial fix-up that has already happened, and the fact that there appears to be a lot full of rotting trailer carcasses in your pictures, I would guess you are buying from a flipper, so expect the price tag to be closer to $10k just because they already paid $5k from the original owner, and they want to get their ROI for their white paint and new wheels (which you will give away eventually). Don't expect any repairs, and expect a bunch of stories about how solid it is, and you only need to do a few superficial spruce-ups to "make it your own." Don't be fooled! Get educated as to what "good" looks like. Read through some of the "Full Monty" threads on these forums and get an idea of what it takes to bring a 70 year old trailer back to life. It is a lot more than some white paint, I guarantee you.

good luck!

[B. Cole]

Well, for pushing 60 yrs old, there's a lot worse out there, lot younger than that.Its got that vintage look going for it.
Depends on how fast you want it on the road.If you want to just yank it home, make a yard whale out of it while playing with it,you know..
It's missing parts,has lot of junk parts in it, and leaking, but a lot of these brand news ones are in same boat...
Also depends what your tolerance for pain is
Looks like owner is a collector, and wants it gone.
$3,500 ??

[Hittenstiehl]

Lucas,

Belegedhel answered you very well.

You will never make money on a restoration like that unless you do it all yourself and you do not charge for your time. Lots of learning curves.

The all over white paint is not doing that any favors and they are not very good photographs.

If you are buying it for you and your family to fix up and camp then by all means.

It's is a seller's market right now and some folks have money to burn so don't let us disuade you if you're looking for something fun to do.

I've seen much worse just haven't bought it.

[JRF0st3r]

Hey neighbor, members are giving sound advice as usual. Also look at the Model Specific tab for experience with your potential acquisition. We have put over $30K in our little trailer but no regrets since it is for our own use, not an investment for profit purposes.

A local source for evaluation or repair is Hoss Cameron in Rogers (479) 644-8167‬. If you are buying from him, I believe he would shoot straight about current condition and what is needed.

[AlbertF]

It needs new axles, wheels, and probably tires. It’s been stripped before someone started to recreate the interior. It’s not a usable trailer. It’s one step above salvage the way it sits. It could make a great restoration project, but it needs tens of thousands of dollars and many hours to make it beautiful.

Start low, and only if you really want to do a restoration.

[DavidsonOverlander]

For a point of comparison, I have the same trailer in mostly original condition. The gaucho was replaced with a dinette that converts into a bed, and the counters were redone, but the rest of the interior has mostly just been cleaned up. The axles and hitch coupler were replaced about 15 years ago and it has a Zip Dee awning that's about the same age. The floor has not been replaced, but should be. Some of the plumbing is okay, some was damaged by freezing when we got it and we never repaired it. There is no doubt rust on the frame that also needs to be dealt with. There's no furnace and no air conditioner. I think the fridge works, it's not the original, but one that came out of a '76 Argosy.

We travelled in this trailer with our four kids to the Florida Keys, Myrtle Beach, PEI and Alaska, as well as a number of shorter trips. It's about 10 years since we last used it, but we kept it because I thought I might get around to doing a full renovation. Now we're probably going to sell it.

I'm thinking it might be worth about CDN$12,000 (~US$9300). That might sound like a lot, but demand is definitely up and Canadians can't easily access trailers in the US right now. Also, we live near Toronto and less than a day's drive from at least 12 million people, so it's a big market.

We're not ready to sell just yet, it's still snowed-in and needs to be emptied and cleaned up.