Ever heard of an M-Systems travel trailer?

[PetervB]

My brother-in-law has this abandoned trailer, it looks kind of interesting. It must have been quite beautiful inside with the wood interior. can't tell what metal its made of; not rusting but the rivet heads are rusting. see the pics

The name plate says it was made in Mississippi

[bfr]

Google got this:

"M-Systems were made in Vicksburg, Miss. F. L. Cappert
bought the company from the Bonelli family and then Cappert went
on to make Magnolia Moblie Homes and his son is still in business in Vicksburg, Miss."

[Silverhobby]

Nice looking trailer. The M-Systems was an unusual unit. Somewhere on my computer at home I have another exterior picture of one.

[MaryS]

I grew up in a M System trailer. My folks bought it in 1952 in Kentucky and sold it in 1955 in West Texas. Dad pulled it with a '52 Packard. We moved every 6 months so it was the perfect home. And yes, it was beautiful when new.

[Dave Park]

The M-System factory is mentioned on page 153 of "The Long Long Trailer"

[BIGED52]

Originally Posted by MaryS

I grew up in a M System trailer. My folks bought it in 1952 in Kentucky and sold it in 1955 in West Texas. Dad pulled it with a '52 Packard. We moved every 6 months so it was the perfect home. And yes, it was beautiful when new.

I wonder if this could be the same trailer that your dad sold back then? My folks had both a '48 and a 52' Packard. Ed

[CanoeStream]

Atlas Mobile Home Museum has a brochure for 1949 "M-System" 33-footer that looks similar but has one more side window than the one you picture. So, the one your brother found is shorter?

Atlas Mobile Home Museum also portrays examples from 1954, 1955 & 1956 -- they look distinctly different.

Always great to get reports about our vintage kin!

[Ganaraska]

That is a real unusual trailer. Sure to cause a sensation at any vintage trailer gathering.

[oh2bcarefree]

That trailer definitely deserves to be restored. It's awesome! So where does your brother live and what's he going to do with it?

[DryHeat56]

Originally Posted by PetervB

My brother-in-law has this abandoned trailer, it looks kind of interesting. It must have been quite beautiful inside with the wood interior. can't tell what metal its made of; not rusting but the rivet heads are rusting. see the pics

The name plate says it was made in Mississippi

I ran across this thread and I found the exterior shot quite interesting. My brother has a 1951 34ft Vagabond that looks much like this M-Systems unit. The inside of the Vagabond also looks much like some of the interior pics of the M unit. Not sure how the M unit was constructed, but my brother's Vagabond was constructed with pipe framing and aluminum painted skin. The M unit would make a very elegant coach with enough time and money. My brother acquired the Vagabond back a couple of year's ago when he was in the vintage trailer business.

Tim

[48_liner]

Just found out that the trailer we are currently restoring is an M-Systems coach. We have no markings on the trailer but at a vintage camp last weekend we spotted another. There are so many details that are the same. When we got home I checked the panel by the rear door and there are matching screw holes where the manufacturer's plate would have been.

Anyone have any more info on these traielrs?

[desertair27]

I know this an old thread but I just saw one of these the other day.
Pretty cool looking, if anyone has anymore info on these it sure would be nice to hear.
Seems to be metal construction,not sure if its aluminum or steel.

[desertair27]

More pictures!

[PetervB]

Sorry to take so long to answer, the thread seemed dead.. My brother in law has it near Mason TX. The trailer is sitting abandoned and he has no plans to use or restore it. Anyone seriously interested would get a cheap deal!

[desertair27]

Any luck getting info on these trailers? I've googled the name and there's not a lot of info available.

[Aage]

If it was steel, wouldn't there be rust streaks somewhere?

I vote for aloonimum.

[HiHoAgRV]

IIRC the company still exists under a different name. They still make manufactured homes on HWY 61 on the south side of Vicksburg.

[MaryS]

I grew up in an M Systems trailer. I am attaching a picture with my Mom standing at the door. This was taken in 1955 in Durango, Co. I also found an ad on EBay last year. It was probably from Life magazine.

[PetervB]

One of the earlier posts mentioned aluminum coated steel. I did a magnet test on the trailer 2 years ago and I think the magnet stuck...
There are patents going back to 1956 describing ways to manufacture AL coated steel using various alloys and heat treats. So, I think that is what was used. I'm now curious as to what rivets were used, they must be AL or there would be rust streaks at the rivet heads.

[desertair27]

The only rust I noticed was the upper trim piece on the trailer I was looking at. The skin that was bare sure looked like aluminum.
I did notice the wet bath was all galvanized sheet metal and looked original.
Weird!

Mike!