New to forum, interested in vintage Airstream motorhomes

[Russtle]

My wife and I are retired and currently have a trailer (Keystone) we purchased in 2001. On one of our trips I hurt my back and my wife won't drive the truck/trailer. We got home but it was very difficult. She says she would drive a motorhome and since we've admired a couple of '80's vintage Airstreams we've seen in our travels, we're interested in "moving up!" I'm fairly handy but only a mediocre mechanic. Any information and advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Condoluminum]

Welcome to the Forums! Sorry about the back.. Many of us have bonked the back at some point in life.. Hope yours gets better..

As for Airstream motorhomes, there are two separate generations.. The Vintage units were built in the 80's to early 90's in lengths from 20' out to 34' using various chassis and aluminum bodies. In the mid-90's Airstream started building larger boxy style motorhomes, up to and including diesel pushers.

There are sub-forums here for messages about motorhomes, and a number are listed in the classifieds from time to time.. Any motor vehicle that is 15 to 20+ years old is going to have potential "issues", and most happy owners are either mechanically handy or have a good and trusted mechanic. IN addition to Airstream brand, Airstream also made Argosy motorhomes, with similar bodies and painted exteriors (including a few steel shell pieces..). These are generally less expensive, have less elegant intereiors, but share similar running gear.

It's hard to define a "fair price" for an older motorhome, as some have been thoroughly restored, with new mechanicals and flooring and lumbing and fabrics, etc, while others may have been sitting in a barn for 15 years and need lots of work.. Patience and a knowledgeable friend would go a long way in finding a good one...

[moosetags]

Welcome to the Forums. We're glad to have you with us. There's lots of good Airstream information here. The Classic silver Airstream Mohos are really cool.

[wascobob]

Welcome Russtle---My wife and I are the proud owners of a 1988 Classic 290 Airstream motorhome that we enjoy whenever possible. If you make the move to one I am sure you will enjoy it as much as we do ours. They do attract a lot of attention while traveling.

You may want to look at Fred's Airstream Motorhome Class A Archives to see which models you may be interested in. Be patient when shopping there is good and bad stuff out there. (airstreammotorhomes.com)

-------Good Luck--Bob

[carnegie1935]

My husband and I were getting older and no longer wanted the job of setting up our trailer so I finally said yes to a Motorhome that he had his eye on for about 3 years. We asked the owner if it was for sale and he was getting ready to put it on ebay the next week. Suddenly we were the proud owners of an 83 classic motorhome. It had been basically stored for 3 years, everything worked. It has a deisel engine which was what we wanted. We have loved it . We put all new tires and loaded up to try it out on a trip to ARK. It has been great fun to travel in. We also lived full time in it for 6 months. I can drive and back it into a space. I couldn't back the trailer. I won't tell you that we haven't had any problems with it. It is a mature lady of 24 years so some things just wear out and some problems were created by modifications of the previous owner. My husband was a great deisel mechanic and understood electrical matters. We were able to fix everything ourselves so just an out lay of money for parts. My husband was in bad health so I did most of the work under his supervision and guidence. Great fun great memories. I lost my travel partner in August after a very hard fought battle to get better. I haven't been any where yet alone in the MH. I have reservations for an Airstream Rally in Dec. at Borne Tx. I plan to go to Okla next spring and spend a couple of weeks visiting cousins then if all goes well I hope to take it to Montana to see my daughter in the summer of 2008. I am 72 years young. Go for the silver. I don't think that you will be sorry. We sure have not looked back. My MH and my hair are the same color. Silver rules.

Kay