Fans of Airstream Interstate
 

First produced by Airstream in 2003 (See Airstream Timeline), the Airstream Interstate just gets better and better. This luxurious Class B Touring Coach is a viable alternative to buying a truck/SUV and trailer combination, especially with today's economy and congested highways. It is a fuel efficient way to travel the country (22/mpg) and it can park in any parking lot or campsite.

Its fans just keep going and growing!

Whether you own one or not, whether you are passionate or just interested in learning more about the Airstream Interstate, you are invited to share notes and pictures here. But please keep the discussion pleasant and positive and avoid arguing about "gas vs diesel", "Mercedes vs Chevy", "foreign vs American made", and "Is it really an Airstream?", etc.

Read about more "Fans of the Airstream Interstate", History Safari Express, Airstream Life Online Community.

"Not your granddad's Airstream"
 

Last month CNN interviewer Peter Valdes-Dapena visited Colonial Airstream in New Jersey, America's largest Airstream dealer, and talked to Bob Wheeler, President and CEO of Airstream, Inc., "about how his classic American company is keeping up."

Two minutes into the video, Peter continues his interview inside the Airstream Interstate.

See Money.cnn.com video, "Not your granddad's Airstream", 02-24-11.

We called our VW camper "The Ultimate Touring Machine", and found nothing better for seeing the country. Camper vans are fantastic. Easy to drive, easy to park, agile, comfortable, and easy on fuel.

Doug K

We really love these units. Pleasure-way camping vans are made here in our city, and we've drooled over them too. You can't beat the maneuverability. Would love to have one.

We saw one on KC at the auto show. You had to wait in line to see it! Very nice!

We have had ours 4 years in April and have put 90,000 miles on it. It is perfect for the two of us, now plus one sweet dog. :)

We wanted to travel and see the country, love to drive the back roads and peruse old towns. It is great for travel with grandkids as well, with a potty and frig so handy.

The only way to go, in our opinion. :)


Maggie

Very sweet dog!

We had good weather yesterday so the Interstate got the exterior cleaned & waxed. I'm not quite ready to de-winterize yet but you can feel that spring is close.

Begin to interest me in the the Interstate that 'll stay in USA for my future different annual trips there, so I've noticed that the last models don't propose you, no more, the luxurious wood & Aluminum interiors seen on a '07 .... So bad as they looked more finished than the Onyx or cream finitions of the last products....
Even the past exterior colors were better in two tones than the simple white or silver....

Spring!
 

Hey Ben, Do you want to come up and give mine the treatment too? It's 5 deg. here this morning! We remain hopeful though as it's been getting above freezing during the day.:clap:

Great responses and pictures so far!

It's also fun reading about other camper vans.

Kindly note that my request at the beginning of this thread to keep the discussion pleasant and positive is not intended to prevent the discussion of problems or concerns (such as those seen in other threads in this Sprinter and B-van Forum).

Concerns and experiences related to the Airstream Interstate Sprinter, both good and bad, should certainly be part of this discussion... as well as the solutions and remedies!

Everyone is invited to share information on what you like or dislike about the Airstream Interstate and, if you own one, how you use it.

Happy Spring and Happy Camping!:)

Thanks, she is very much so. :)

This pic was taken our second day out in January's freezing temperatures. She kept coming up front to look out the window, kind of like "where ARE we GOING?" I'm sure to her it seemed we were driving forever. She seemed to figure out that Doug was propelling us along, so focused her attention on exactly what HE was doing for a bit----and I snapped the picture. :)


Maggie

We're definitely fans! If we weren't now planning to spend much more time on the road, the Interstate would be tops on our list. We had so much fun in our 1984 Vanagon Westfalia (sold to friends last fall) - the places we went and the people we met surely fostered our love of traveling the open road and lead us to where we are today. Great gas mileage and the ability to camp almost anywhere will be missed.

A couple pics

Baja Mexico
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_J...0/DCP_2166.JPG

U.P. of Michigan
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_J...0/DSC01559.JPG

Silvergate,

You did a most excellent job of conveying our conversation, congratulations. Purchasing our Interstate is the best decision we have ever made. We are already planning our next adventure fuel prices notwithstanding.

avid

Thanks avid for your comment. It was a pleasure meeting and interviewing you and your wife and a good experience for me in writing up the article, "Fans of the Airstream Interstate" on the Airstream Life Online Community web page.

Looking forward to seeing you again when you are in the Southern California area.

-- Bill

Hey Wayne, Think Spring!

https://www.airforums.com/attachments...9a575cd070.jpg

https://www.airforums.com/attachments...e95ffe49ce.jpg

From St. Augustine last summer.

Place to store ?
 

Hi the Interstate community....

is there enought places to store what you use outside, as chairs , table...BBQ ?
May be under the twin beds or the Lounge ?

Not my combo, but owned by a nice gal from NY....spotted in PEI New England Unit meet.

I'd say see has it figured out.

In general, the Sprinter chassis is limited in storage because the unibody structure. Mercedes will not allow the converters to cut into the structure without approval. Chevy & Ford which are body on frame have a ton of flexibility and thus a lot more storage.

No real storage under the lounge although we manage 4 folding camp chairs, telescopic ladder, and some small miscellaneous stuff, (which has to be rearranged when the lounge gets folded flat). In our Chevy Based RT 200V we also had 2 folding bikes, EZ-up canopy, family tent, and room to spare.

The Sprinter has a huge advantage in headroom and although somewhat narrower than the Ford/Chevy it feels much larger for close to the same footprint. The other difference was 4-7mpg improvement over our Chevy with the 5.7L Vortec.