Question Industry quality?

[widdershins]

My parents had a 1949 Airstream, purchased for $100... a bunch of elbow grease on my dads part and that trailer functioned without issue for about 30 years. Sold to a nice young couple in 2006, if I recall for about $18k. After that they purchased a '78 Airstream and used that up until 2021, no real issues with that either. I think there are some manufacturers that used to really pay attention to detail. Now that Thor owns Airstream, I'm sure the quality will suffer.

 

[Knobs]

....Now that Thor owns Airstream...

Thor was formed when Wade THompson and Peter ORthwein purchased Airstream from Beatrice Foods in 1980.

 

[widdershins]

Thor was formed when Wade THompson and Peter ORthwein purchased Airstream from Beatrice Foods in 1980.

Maybe that explain why my dad never owned a newer Airstream... ;-)

 

[sourdough]

Off subject, Some old stuff was built very well. My wife likes nostalgia and has old signs and stuff about the property. We have on the property a 195929' park model, Boles Arrow purchased for $600 in 2003 from original owner. It was to be a lodging for a sable worker on a horse property that never happened and it sat in Ojai,Ca. it whole life. It is in remarkable unrestored condition, other than our resealing/coating the orig. roof. It is not a travel trailer/RV and built more like a house. We don't use the working appliances or have sewer, water or gas hooked up. 110 power for lights is it. Front(room) has a roll top desk and wife uses it as her office. IMHO an RV would not have fared as well.

 

[TheLooks]

Thanks Joe! I have an Alpinelite 84'. I have never heard bad about the trailers made in those early years. The quality of my structure is exceptional, both build and fit, and this I say for a rig, what?, 38 years old!
What was analyzed as the company's demise was the switch of trailer frames. Although they corrected their mistake when it became an issue, the damage to the brand was the downfall.

I was looking at an 84 Alpinelite yesterday. The guy wanted to know what I would charge to make it "usable". I should have taken pictures....while we were going back and forth about what usable meant, he let out that Camping World had told him $8000. I told him to tow it to them. He told me homeless people would love to live in it.....I asked if he was planning to rent to homeless people....Overall the thing was still straight and mostly there. But it had seen no love in a long time.