Airstream Fever

We have caught Airstream Fever!

I'm not sure what happened but one day we were idly browsing pictures of retro caravans for design inspiration for our current caravan and then somehow a picture of a vintage Airstream trailer (caravan to us kiwis) infected us with Airstream Fever over the interweb!

And we have just purchased a 1960 Airstream Trade Wind from Ohio!!

Perhaps a little backstory is in order...

Our first moment of actually contemplating buying one was stumbling across the www.airstreamnz.co.nz website and seeing a '78 Excella listed for $7500 US. It just seemed like a bargain, so after a few days contemplating we thought we would send an email enquiring about shipping costs to NZ...

We got a response from Steve and Jill from Airstream NZ (an awesome couple who helped us a lot, more about them later) advising shipping from LA would be approx $18K....EEK!!! 

Oh well, we thought, maybe it's not a viable option to import from US.....or maybe we can find one already in NZ?  What about Trade Me?  Nothing on TradeMe that day, but a few days later I searched again and voila! One '60 Globe Trotter! And in Auckland too.

It needed complete restoration and smaller than we wanted (only 19' length incl towbar, 16' actual body length) but we decided to have a look anyway...and it was amazing to see one in all its aluminium glory (despite clearly needing a lot of work!). 

So on the way home, Ken and I are excited about possibilities and later that night I'm whipping up a potential new floor plan in Photoshop to see if we can make the space work for us.  

Original Globe Trotter Floor Plan

 

Proposed Globe Trotter Floor Plan

I know it's a little hard to see the details, but the main thing we were trying to establish was whether we potentially had enough room for a permanent double bed, 2 bunks for our girls, kitchen, permanent couch & table and a toilet shower cubicle. 

We have learnt from the experience of camping in our current caravan that we are soooo over making and unmaking the dining table/bed, so permanent bed is a must.  Scale and layout of floor plan only approximate at this stage and we were hoping we would still be able to fit in storage somewhere with some clever designs!

However it did need complete restoration and the price tag was around $20-23K, a very reasonable price for this model in this part of the world, but we would also probably need to spend another $10K to make it useable now....hmmm 

Maybe importing one was still an option, we at least needed to price up a few to compare costs of buying local vs importing to NZ. And being the documentation nerd I am, I could create a comparison spreadsheet with pictures and breakdown of costs etc for each Airstream we were considering and a Wish List to keep us on track.

Airstream Wish List

ESSENTIALS

• Weight less than 3500 lbs (1591 kgs)
• Good size 24-26'
• Exterior in good condition
• Structurally and mechanically sound
• Floor in good condition
• Able to use now or with minor costs
• Clear title

NICE TO HAVE

• 50/60's retro model, preferably with 13p end caps
• Interior can be original or modern
• Sleeping for 4: 1 double and 2 bunks (or singles)
• Functional toilet
• Polished exterior
• Partially refurbished/restored
• Solar power panels / 12V electrics

MODELS THAT ARE WITHIN WEIGHT CONSTRAINTS

• 1952-53 Cruiser 25'
• 1954 Romany Cruiser 26'
• 1955-60 Overlander 26'
• 1960-64 Trade Wind 26'

So we started the hunt for Airstreams - mainly online, but we also contacted Steve & Jill from Airstream NZ (who just happened to be in the LA area at the time) to keep an eye out for us.  One quite limiting factor was the tow rating on Ken's SRT8 Jeep, which had a limit of 3500 lbs (1591 kgs) - so that meant only the earlier models would be light enough (but still big enough) - but we preferred the style of the 50s and early 60s models anyway.  And there were 7 contenders that were up for consideration - 6 from the US and 1 (the Globe Trotter) from NZ.

We also sent off a few enquiries regarding shipping to NZ. Airstreams are too big to fit in a container, so the best option was the RO/RO (roll on roll off) service. First quote for LA to Tauranga came back at just under $12k NZ (incl customs etc) so beter than we initially heard, if we bought an Airstream close to LA then overland transport wouldnt be too much. Frustratingly, every contender in the California region was snapped up quickly by local buyers.

After an amazingly restored (but over our budget) '58 Overlander slipped through our fingers by just a couple of hours, I was feeling dejected about spending so much time hunting and frustrated by not being able to act quickly enough. I decided I needed a break from the hunt.  And then Ken said "what about this one?"  I looked at the pics and knew it was the one for us.  The couches, beds and curtains were red and it had a black & white checkered floor. Anyone who has seen the inside of our house knows we are a bit crazy about red - red couches, rugs, lamp shades etc - so this was visually beckoning! And the checkered floor was like a sign from the universe - just the day before when we were musing about latest interior design ideas and Ken suggested a checkered floor! So in my mind, the universe was providing us the Airstream we had asked for! And it met all of the 'Essentials' list and some of the 'Nice to have'...BONUS!  No mucking around with this one, we sent an email straight away.

The only disadvantage seemed to be the location....how much was it gonna cost to transport from Ohio to the port in LA?  About $4K! Crazy....but hang on is that our only option? Is there a port on the East Coast of the States?  Why yes there is!  Baltimore is only 500 miles away so the overland transport would be about $1200US/$1500NZ (much better!) and even better than that, the shipping cost was even better too at around $8K!!! A saving of about $10K on what was initially advised! This was just falling in place incredibly easily.

More emails with Billy (the seller) for additional pics and advice from Steve and Jill.  We also decided to enlist the help of Mark 'The Airstream Guy' www.airstreamguy.com for his professional opinion and he also had a local contact, Ace, to facilitate the sale and drive it to Baltimore for us.

By now Easter is upon us, and I have planned a caravan getaway to Hahei in the Coromandel for 6 days.  Fortunately we still have cell reception so we can keep things progressing while also having an amazing holiday! Here is a pic of Ken at our camp site spot negotiating a better cash price with Billy. We paid a deposit via PayPal and celebrated with cocktails that night! Also our wedding anniversary :)

Fast forward through lots of emails, phone calls and documents through to midnight Sunday morning (Saturday 8am in Ohio) and Ace our pickup agent (what a great guy!) collected our Trade Wind and drove it 500 miles to Baltimore for us. Here's a couple of pics he sent us of the journey - having lunch at the White Castle and overnight at his house in Pennsylvania (his AS Caravel behind ours).

So the boat leaves this coming Monday 30th of April and is due in NZ in 50 days time on 24th of June!  We can't believe it is actually happening!  We decided (well mainly me) to document this journey as way of sharing this adventure with family, friends and fellow Airstreamers but also to keep ourselves accountable as we document the restoration/renovation process.  We are hoping to use it as is initially, while making plans for future renovation.

How exciting is that?!?!