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DISCOVERIES
Campers still taking a shine to Airstreams
By Nathan Cobb, Globe Correspondent, 9/13/2003
WINDHAM, N. H. -- Wayne and Linda Moore hear it when they pull up at a
gas pump or roll into a roadside rest area, the inevitable question posed by
a fellow motorist who often has to squint because he's so dazzled by shining
aluminum:
''Do they still make those things?''
Actually, yes and no. Yes, because Airstream Inc. still cranks out
travel trailers, just as it has since the 1930s. No, because the Airstream
that the Moores regularly haul in and out of their spacious backyard here in
southern New Hampshire is a meticulously restored 1966 Trade Wind: 24 feet
and 4,200 pounds of classic and award-winning mobile Americana. Nicknamed
TWLY -- for Trade Wind Land Yacht -- it won the best-in-show trophy for
vintage trailers last year at the mammoth annual international Airstream
rally in Rapid City, S. D.
''This has definitely become our hobby,'' Wayne Moore, a 50-year-old
consulting facilities planner, says as he sits at the Formica-top dinette
inside the gleaming silver bullet, in which he and his wife have invested
almost $11,000 and 1,200 hours of labor. ''And it's a hobby we can take
along with us.''
Vintage Airstream trailers -- officially defined as units at least 25
years old -- have become the treasured possessions of a subculture within a
subculture. The 1,200-vehicle Vintage Airstream Club, which started with
about 100 enthusiasts a decade ago, is an ''intraclub'' of the 9,000-unit
Wally Byam Caravan Club International, named for the late, beret-wearing
Airstream founder who has been elevated to sainthood among loyal and
parochial Airstream owners. These devotees of older rigs have their own
esoteric newsletter, attend reverent rallies, regularly form their own
rolling caravans, and doggedly surf the Net for parts. They speak lovingly o
f Clippers, Globe Trotters, and Cruisers (Cruisettes, too).
And they expound endlessly on Airstream history, pointing out, for
example, that gas refrigerators arrived in the 1950s, 12-volt electrical
systems in the '60s, and microwave ovens in the '70s.
''For one thing, it's cheaper to buy and fix up an Airstream than to
buy a new one,'' says Bard Fuller, a 52-year-old dentist in Southington,
Conn., who owns the 1965 Trade Wind that his parents bought 38 years ago.
''But there's also pride in saving something that would have otherwise gone
into the trash.''
Meanwhile, there's just something about an Airstream, at least as far
as their faithful owners are concerned. ''It's an object of its time, but it
also has a timelessness that keeps the imagination alive,'' says Bryan
Burkhart, a 39-year-old San Francisco graphic designer who owns a 1962
Flying Cloud and has written a book about the Airstream phenomenon. ''But it
isn't just a style. An Airstream makes use of every square foot, and in that
way it's the extension of a campsite. It gives you exactly what you need,
without towing a huge trailer with a couch and a La-Z-Boy inside.''
A few of these road warriors, like the Moores, do their own
restorations. Others pay one of a handful of professionals to do it for
them. Many prefer a simple, low-cost fix-up. In any case, they'd rather
resuscitate an old trailer than buy a new one packed with modern geegaws.
But because such oldies require tender loving care, their owners are often
younger than the folks who typically buy spiffy new Airstreams. ''Owners of
the newer trailers tend to be retired,'' says Tom Howarth, 44, an acoustic
research scientist for the Navy who is stationed in Newport, R. I., and
calculates that he has spent more than 1,000 nights in his 1953 Flying
Cloud. ''We're more of a mixed group, with people in their 30s up to their
80s. There are a lot of us who are attracted by the design, and there are
people who like the idea of designing what they want. And, yes, the
relatively low cost brings a lot of people in.''
These days, new Airstream trailers fetch between $30,000 and $80,000.
Used models range from a few hundred dollars for a heap to more than $20,000
for a fully restored icon. Over the past two weeks, more than 25 pre-1978
units ranging in price from $1,175 to $8,600 were sold via eBay. According
to Airstream Inc., about 60 percent of the trailers it has made are still on
the road.
The Moores found TWLY, ice-encrusted and requiring a broom to keep its
door closed, on a New Hampshire farm in early 1999. Linda Moore, originally
skeptical, championed the $1,400 purchase as the next step in a history of
family camping. (The couple has two sons, now grown.) ''Initially I thought
we'd buy a shiny new one,'' she says. ''But when I saw this one I said,
`This is cool.' Despite the smell.''
But if the odor of critters had to be removed, so did everything else.
The fixer-upper needed a gutting. Wayne did the hardware (new plumbing and
wiring, restored wood cabinets, and on and on) while Linda made the software
(pillows, curtains, etc.). It was 15 months before the couple could hook up
their Dodge Durango and head south to an Airstream rally in Washington, D.
C. Along the way, the trailer's front window blew in. The unit still
requires tinkering, and even if the Moores were to sell it at what Wayne
says would be their bottom price of $20,000, and thereby turn a $9,000
profit, they'd earn roughly $7.50 per hour for the time they took to bring
it back to life.
The Moores spend about two weekends a month in TWLY, usually joining
other Airstream owners and eschewing such modern RV amenities as TV and
stereo. ''We'd rather be outside,'' Linda Moore says of the absence of such
luxuries. ''That's why we have this thing.'' Since resurrecting their
aluminum-clad cocoon, the couple has purchased 11 other Airstreams that they
think they'll restore as a business.
And they still get those questions along the highway, which is just
fine.
''We might buy a new trailer some day,'' says Linda, who not long ago
wouldn't have considered such a step. ''But even if we did, we'd always have
an old one.''
''Discoveries'' appears on alternate Saturdays. Ideas for subject
matter -- unusual people, places, events, etc. -- are welcome. Nathan Cobb
can be reached at cobb@globe.com or 617-929-7266.
This story ran on page C1 of the Boston Globe on 9/13/2003.
) Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.