[VAL] Road & Track article

["Bob Patterson" <bpatt@xxxxxxxx>]

Here's a R&T article from a 2004 issue.

Neat Airstreams

Travel trailers aren't R&T's standard fare either, but we sure saw some
neat ones recently at a Newport Beach gathering of them.

The classic trailers are called "canned hams," in obvious reference to
their rounded side view and slab sides. These typically are wood framed
with plywood exteriors and artful paneling inside.

My favorites, though, are the Airstreams. Wally Byam did more than market a
distinctive trailer; he founded a streamlined, aluminum monocoque way of
life. Byam's first trailer, essentially a canned ham, appeared as
do-it-yourself plans in a 1934 article in Popular Mechanics. A year later,
he took over the faltering trailer manufacturing business of William Hawley
Bowlus (who had conceived the shape of what would become the Airstream). In
1936, the first Airstream Clipper was offered, its design and construction
not dramatically different from today's icon. Then, as now, dual shells of
riveted aluminum are bolted and riveted to a welded steel chassis. Within
the two shells are insulation and all the electrical wiring. The design is
a true monocoque, its aluminum shell part of the load-bearing structure.

In honor of Byam, who died in 1962, there's a Wally Byam Caravan Club
International, with some 21,000 trailers registered. I used to think that
the numbers emblazoned up front signified the trailer's vintage, but WBCCI
member Herb Richter (No. 2672) set me straight.

"They're actually member numbers," he said. "so when we see another one on
the highway, we can look up in the registry and know who it is."

Herb also told me about the joys - and labors! - of Airstream ownership.
"It takes a couple hundred hours to restore a mirror finish," he said, "and
part of this is in your oldest clothes as you wash the surface down with an
acid solution, then polish it with successively fine abrasives. What's
worse, my wife Pat says it's like the Golden Gate Bridge: By the time you
finish at one end, it's time to start at the other."

I for one am glad that people care - and that Airstreams are still in
production. They're neat, the trailers and their enthusiasts. For more
information, wire into <http://www.airstream.com/>www.airstream.com; see
also <http://www.vintageairstream.com/>www.vintageairstream.com.