Wally's original $5 trailer plans

[bredlo]

From the Airstream.com company history section:

Wally's innovative spirit drove him to build his own model. While he considered it primitive, his design forever changed the history of travel trailers. [He] wrote an article describing how to build his trailer for under $100 ...drawing an enthusiastic response from his readers. Wally began making a living selling sets of plans for five dollars each...

My questions are...
1. Does a copy of this article exist anywhere?
2. Are any of these on the road or in museums?
3. Has anyone attempted to build one in recent years?
4. How many zeros would you have to add to the original $100 to do it?

I guess the first one is really the only one that matters. If written as well as folklore would suggest, it should be easy to find similar enough products to toss one together with modest tools and experience.

From searching the site, it appears Doc Holman's 1935 Torpedo holds the title of oldest surviving example of an Airstream. If one could find this article, Holman's title may need to be amended to "physically oldest," not oldest design.

[bredlo]

Doc Holman's Torpedo: The current record holder. Kind of a "canned teardrop".

[87MH]

Does anyone know what the bar that angles down from under the propane tank is?

Almost looks as if it is a sway or WD bar, but does not appear to be hooked up to the hitch -- well, the hitch jack appears to be down also, so it could just be a prop shot.

Anyone know for sure?

[59toaster]

Originally Posted by 87MH

Does anyone know what the bar that angles down from unter the propane tank is?

Almost looks as if it is a sway or WD bar, but does not appear to be hooked up to the hitch -- well, the hitch jack appears to be down also, so it could just be a prop shot.

Anyone know for sure?

Looks like a Reese.............

OMG I JUST BRAIN FARTED!

Dual cam that's it! LOL

[Ken J]

I've seen that trailer - if I remember right - those are cam bars for sway control. Really cool trailer - interior is beautiful

Ken

[fireflyinva]

Also, to add to the above questions--if you make a repro, any chance of (special class perhaps?) getting WBCCI numbers for it?

Mary

[dscluchfc]

That is a Reese Dual Cam Hitch ...the Cam Bar portion of the hitch. The weight distribution bars with the saddles extend from the hitch head to the cam bar, and the saddles on the bar fit on top of the cam on the cam bar.
Still a great hitch!

[bredlo]

Then again, maybe ole' Doc Holman would've been just as happy buying a trailer instead of building one...

[59toaster]

Originally Posted by bredlo

Then again, maybe ole' Doc Holman would've been just as happy buying a trailer instead of building one...

Hahaha that's a good Chop!

[Ken J]

VERY good

[Stefrobrts]

Brad, you and your photoshop You crack me up! Biggest T@B I've ever seen, I think you're scale's a little off!

The question of seeing the original plans is a good one though. Surely someone must have a copy of them. At the very least shouldn't we be able to find the magazine article? Does anyone know what magazine it was?

[bredlo]

Originally Posted by Stefrobrts

Brad, you and your photoshop You crack me up! Biggest T@B I've ever seen, I think you're scale's a little off!

Nah, they're just a tiny little couple.

Originally Posted by Stefrobrts

The question of seeing the original plans is a good one though. Surely someone must have a copy of them. At the very least shouldn't we be able to find the magazine article? Does anyone know what magazine it was?

Now you're talkin'. I'm guessing either a historian with the VAC, an old WBCCI stalwart, or someone familiar with the archives at the mother ship in OH would know whether or not the article still exists. If they don't have it, you're right - at least a name would get me to the correct microfische reel at the library.

It's got to be out there somewhere. I can't believe no one's thought to look for it before me... too soon to say for sure, though.

[85MH325]

Originally Posted by bredlo

Nah, they're just a tiny little couple.



Now you're talkin'. I'm guessing either a historian with the VAC, an old WBCCI stalwart, or someone familiar with the archives at the mother ship in OH would know whether or not the article still exists. If they don't have it, you're right - at least a name would get me to the correct microfische reel at the library.

It's got to be out there somewhere. I can't believe no one's thought to look for it before me... too soon to say for sure, though.

I dunno, Brad... as I recall, the story goes that the original plans were so hoaky that no one was able to actually build a trailer from them... that's what started Byam on the road to building his own!

Roger

[bredlo]

I heard it slightly different, Rog.

I'd always read Byam was a publisher of a little craft magazine. One of the articles he published were trailer plans from some other guy. It was those, (according to the legend) that were so awful that Wally was fielding the complaints. He tried them, and sure enough, found areas for improvement. Only after building his own did he publish the first Airstream plans, which were the successful ones. The demand led him to ditch publishing and build trailers fulltime in his backyard.

At least that's the fable I heard.

[Ken J]

Does anybody know the name of the magazine that he published?

Ken

[bredlo]

It would've had to have been published between 1923 (the year he graduated from Stanford with a law degree) and 1936, the intro of the clipper. Narrowing it down further, I read that "his fledgling business" survived the stock market crash which was '29, and right after school he was a copywriter for the L.A. Times. I'd guess the magazine (and his article) would've been published somewhere between 1925 and 1928. Can't find a name though - everyone calls it a "do-it-yourself" magazine.

[bredlo]

Of course, if Wally hadn't gotten around to designing his kits until the late 1960's, we might all be towing trailers like this: