Hi CB:
Well, from your description it sounds like your grubby n' trashed '64
trailer was nowhere near museum quality when you got it, and you had no
intention of using it as a travel trailer anyway. But there are
Airstreams out there are that have been wonderfully preserved over the
years and are museum quality today. Some of us don't need a competition
to keep them that way. With careful screening of purchasers, we know
they will stay that way and remain in the right hands.
And yes, there is an annual concours Vintage Airstream competition at
the International each year for those who need additional motivation to
keep their nice trailers original or simply have the pride to enjoy
preserving and showing off their vintage gems.
Since you are a commercial end user, you might think twice about
trashing all that "useless crap" you take out the door. One man's junk
is another man's treasure, and you could likely sell much of that crap
for more than the garbage man will give you for it.
How "mobile" will your coffee shop be when completed? Will it stay
in a fixed location or travel around to different locations weekly?
Fred C.
> Just my two cents- I'm unaware of any Airstream museums or concours type
> competitions which justify a 'museum quality restoration', and IMHO even an
> Airstream is only a travel trailer; getting these things to where they can be
> used is more important than having a 'historically correct' unit, wouldn't you
> say? Sure, it's nice to have one that's just like it was when it came off the
> line, but if rain and rats and Uncle Larry's bad habits have trashed the
> existing stuff, I don't see where taking a bunch of useless crap out the door
> is any kind of sin. I'm in the ( painfully slow) process of emptying a 64
> TradeWind, retiling the floor, and installing a bunch of high quality
> restaurant items to use it as a mobile coffee shop, and my feeling is that it
> will be more useful than the grubby husk of a trailer it was when I got it.
> CB Rollins