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Post by schweetcruisers on Jun 10, 2014 18:10:28 GMT -8
John, All these old trailers are usually trailers are pieces of c@#p when you buy them. It’s the esthetics that draws you to them. It’s simple to me, The Shasta’s look cool, there is no denying that. I'm sure every one of these things have certain problems, like if you go to airforumns I sure they complain about the belly pan and rivets. I know Scotty's have tons of leaks and the walls are 3/4" plywood. pick your trailer...pick your problems!
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soup
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Post by soup on Jun 11, 2014 0:44:07 GMT -8
John, All these old trailers are usually pieces of junk when you buy them. It’s the esthetics that draws you to them. It’s simple to me, The Shasta’s look cool, there is no denying that. Totally! Just take a look at smccusk's avatar. Looks like it's doing 60mph without even a tow vehicle attached!
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chametzoo
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Post by chametzoo on Jun 11, 2014 10:24:58 GMT -8
It's all about the wings. Really. Because they are the worst built, the weakest, the thinnest walls, with the most flaws. It's the wings, the name, the myth, the legend. That's it. I think Soup is on to something here… the sad fact about these canned hams, is that in their hey day, they were so popular and built in such numbers (cheaply!), that they were not meant to even last more than a few years. The nature of their construction and materials, simply doesn't allow them to stand up to weather and moisture for very long, without lots of maintenance and shelter from the elements when not in use. It's not just Shastas. This is what Wally Byam and the Airstream movement was all about: Aircraft frames and aerodynamic shape… a reflection of their time and the influence of innovators in all things structural like Buckminster Fuller… and massed produced yet! So if you believed their advertising and Byam's pronouncements, there was more material and conceptual integrity to the product. Not just tiny tacked on wings and a lightning bolt stripe. But I guess we'll have to hear from the vintage Airstream owners to know if those silver bullets held up any better in the real world ;-)
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John Palmer
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Post by John Palmer on Jun 11, 2014 11:51:53 GMT -8
It's all about the wings. Really. Because they are the worst built, the weakest, the thinnest walls, with the most flaws. It's the wings, the name, the myth, the legend. That's it. I think Soup is on to something here… the sad fact about these canned hams, is that in their hey day, they were so popular and built in such numbers (cheaply!), that they were not meant to even last more than a few years. The nature of their construction and materials, simply doesn't allow them to stand up to weather and moisture for very long, without lots of maintenance and shelter from the elements when not in use. It's not just Shastas. This is what Wally Byam and the Airstream movement was all about: Aircraft frames and aerodynamic shape… a reflection of their time and the influence of innovators in all things structural like Buckminster Fuller… and massed produced yet! So if you believed their advertising and Byam's pronouncements, there was more material and conceptual integrity to the product. Not just tiny tacked on wings and a lightning bolt stripe. But I guess we'll have to hear from the vintage Airstream owners to know if those silver bullets held up any better in the real world ;-) It's a popular myth, but "ONLY a MYTH" that riveted skin trailer construction like was used on Spartans, Boles Aero, Silver Streak's, Streamline's, or yes even Airstream's, over the years is any better than your typical stick and tin trailer construction. It's just different. The "riveted owners" talk about them as being "aluminum trailer's", BUT they are still just built "on a plywood floor". The only thing that connects the aluminum framework and aluminum skin to the steel frame is "rusted" #8 by 3/4" screws into the rotten plywood. Water condensation, sinks, toilets, showers, windows, vents, and seals all leaked water into the plywood over sixty years and it rots out the floor just like on a "stick and tin" trailer. It's NOT easy (or cheap) to replace an entire floor in a riveted skin trailer, and repair the damage to the skin caused over the years.
I'm currently rebuilding a 23' 1953 Silver Streak and I have replaced "1500 rivets just on the outside so far", and it not done yet. Hundreds more rivets on the inside have been replaced, all due to corrosion and the shear forces of the trailer being towed with the body being loose from the frame due to the rotted plywood flooring.
It's all about corporate marketing, and product brand image, but it's seldom based on real world facts.
Riveted trailers were sold as a "premium constructed brand" at a higher price point. Shasta's were sold as the "cheapest brand trailer on the lot". Yet they both have a strong following of owners that has lasted decades. I guess there is "more than one way to skin a cat". Sorry Vikx, LOL.
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ladywendolyn
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Post by ladywendolyn on Jun 11, 2014 12:12:24 GMT -8
My Canadian Glendale has wings too... It might be the only one around like that, but I have decided to start my own cult to celebrate:))
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chametzoo
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Post by chametzoo on Jun 11, 2014 12:31:52 GMT -8
But I guess we'll have to hear from the vintage Airstream owners to know if those silver bullets held up any better in the real world ;-)
It's all about corporate marketing, and product brand image, but it's seldom based on real world facts.
Yup…. there's plenty of myth and legend to go around ;-) It would be an interesting experiment, to put an Airstream and a Shasta of same condition, out in a field somewhere, uncovered and exposed to equal weather, elements, etc. and come back 20 years later and see what condition each is in. As John is suggesting, each one would probably be collapsing in its own unique way!
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John Palmer
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Post by John Palmer on Jun 11, 2014 18:00:08 GMT -8
It's all about corporate marketing, and product brand image, but it's seldom based on real world facts.
Yup…. there's plenty of myth and legend to go around ;-) It would be an interesting experiment, to put an Airstream and a Shasta of same condition, out in a field somewhere, uncovered and exposed to equal weather, elements, etc. and come back 20 years later and see what condition each is in. As John is suggesting, each one would probably be collapsing in its own unique way!A better survey would be to ask all the spiders, lizards, mice, rats, snakes, and other small critter's that inhabit any trailer left in a field which brand is more comfortable?
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SusieQ
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Post by SusieQ on Jun 11, 2014 18:26:30 GMT -8
I imagine there was a "Shasta Cult" during Shasta's early years. It was probably middle class families who couldn't afford Airstreams, who had a desire to camp with their families but lived on a budget and needed something affordable and economical. Some of the same reasons we have chosen or found them to fit our needs. Plus, they have wings.
Of course, they didn't have the media we have now. As they are being resurrected, more restored trailers are appearing and people see them for the first time, think they are awesome (because they are) and want one. Demand and supply has shot the prices up to ridiculous amounts. Soon the fields will be empty.
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chametzoo
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Post by chametzoo on Jun 11, 2014 19:16:31 GMT -8
A better survey would be to ask all the spiders, lizards, mice, rats, snakes, and other small critter's that inhabit any trailer left in a field which brand is more comfortable? I think WE are among the spiders, lizards, mice, rats, snakes, and critters that inhabit these old trailers!! Too funny….
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nccamper
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Post by nccamper on Jun 11, 2014 19:32:30 GMT -8
We own a 1962 Forester and a 1962 Shasta. The Forester weighs twice as much for a reason. It's better made. But there is something about the Shasta. The designers had a flare for softer, rounder, more elegant lines. I've spent enough time working in the creative department of an ad agency to know what sells. Sex sells.
Shasta is sex.
Forester is sturdy.
When people visit us, they look at both campers side by side and walk over to the Shasta.
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Hamlet
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Post by Hamlet on Jun 11, 2014 19:32:37 GMT -8
When we found Hamlet, we had no clue as to vintage trailers. My hubby didn't have any experience with them, and the only trailer experience I had was a one-wheeler my dad built when I was five. Now THAT was a classic!
Anyway, we were former backpackers/wilderness guides, one of us (me) couldn't carry heavy packs around or sleep on the ground any longer, but we still loved camping and traveling. We had bought a BMW X-3 to tow an old runabout we found on Craigslist and restored, so we wanted a trailer that was small enough to fit into the garage and light enough for the X-3 to pull easily. We hated the look of all the cold newer trailers. Found our little canned ham one day on E-Bay for $350. Bought it sight unseen and traveled from SW to NE Washington to pick it up. We didn't know a thing about old trailers, it was missing its wings, the kitchen upper cabinets, the stove, and the roof was caved in from heavy snow. It was a rotten mess. But it was exactly the size we wanted, and we love the challenge of taking something that is old and broken down and giving it a new life.
We fell in love with it gradually, restored it painstakingly, and I have the privilege of staying in our little Hamlet three or four nights a week while I work 150 miles from home. I've been at it for a year now, have weathered rain, wind, snow, and some pretty chilly weather, and am looking forward to another year of the same before I"m ready to "retire" from a job I adore. Ten feet is plenty of room for me. Sometimes my hubby gets to join me, sometimes I have dinner guests. We have a little bathroom with a shower, so I can be self contained when I want or need to. To get all that in a new trailer, we would have had to spend upwards of $15,000 and would get something that weighed in at another 1000 pounds.
Hamlet has his wings now. His birch glows, the oven makes great chicken and chocolate chip cookies, the table seats four for dinner or cards, and the bed (even though I have to take down the table after I have guests) is more comfortable than the one we have at home. I think if I'd seen a different tiny trailer, I'd have been fine with that, but it was a Shasta, so that's what we got.
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Post by vikx on Jun 11, 2014 21:58:10 GMT -8
"more than one way to skin a cat"
As long as it's a Cat-o-Lac Deville....
My favorites are the 50s hams with the old grey aircraft aluminum. I do like all trailers and think Shastas have a certain something. Since there are 4 here, there better be. LOL. AND: Sundance and Butch Cassidy never had Wings. Sigh.
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bmxovich
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Post by bmxovich on Jun 12, 2014 4:52:02 GMT -8
They are iconic, the proportions are easy on the eye, they just have the right look. The wings are an added bonus! They were built on the cheap, no arguments there, but are so easy to work on, repair and rebuild. Airstreams compared to Shasta's are a PAIN to work on, and having owned several of them, yes, the floors are a week point. But I will say none out of the three we've owned had any leaks other than from plumbing issues. Lucky perhaps.
We'll probly own another Caravel when the right one pops up, but will always have a Shasta in the garage. Or two, or three...
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kathleenc
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Post by kathleenc on Jun 12, 2014 5:32:21 GMT -8
I don't think the walls of our Spartan were attached to any plywood - pretty sure it started out as all steel and aluminum.
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John Palmer
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Post by John Palmer on Jun 12, 2014 8:20:59 GMT -8
I don't think the walls of our Spartan were attached to any plywood - pretty sure it started out as all steel and aluminum.
Thank you Kathleen for the correction on your Spartan.
In my effort to embellish, I over stated the facts! LOL
But "where's your FRAME"? It's MISSING!
Your Spartan, looks like my Silver Streak did a few weeks ago, but now I have a new floor.
None of this is hard, but it's amazing how much time it actually takes to rebuild any of these trailer's.
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