Pismo Beach is really beautiful scenery - in fact the whole central California coast is beautiful - one of my favorite places to visit. If you intend to go, reserve early - I don't think that RV park is very big.......if it's the one I'm thinking about. Right on the water.
Fantastic advice, we're certainly trying to make the most of these fun experiences. To wit: we hauled the Airstream out to Ohio this past weekend, and it's now sitting next to a second trailer we picked up in the past couple weeks: a '57 22 foot 'Custom'. Both are gutted and in poor shape inside. They'll be used to create our ideal trailer using the best parts of each one. While purists would likely throw me off a bridge at the thought of "Frankensteining" these together, I've done my time curating a pristine, museum-original '62 GlobeTrotter. We didn't touch that one, and were proud of our restraint. So this time, we were careful not to choose candidates that we'd somehow be "ruining". Thus, we'll be able to have our version of an ideal 50's Airstream: the perfect window sizes, our favorite layout, full queen bed in the rear - the rub rails, unique clearance and tail lights, and double-front mini windows off the '54. All installed into the 1957 body which has a better placement of interior ribs. Meanwhile, the '54 will receive the leftover parts and the sold off - complete, but not quite original - for someone else to use. It will fool all but the most expert Airstream historians, though. Ultimately, the main reason I don't feel guilty about it is that it will be still be used for camping. As God intended. Not chopped in half and used as a desk for some hipster dot com CEO... and not used as a falafel stand for drunk kids of on a Friday night. Just Camping.
Many of the Tin Can Tourists events are pre-reg and sold out and one goes on a waiting list. If someone doesn't renew for the following year at this years event, or soon after, the spot goes to the next on the list. The one we are at is ram jam full and we were fortunate to get in to it at the start. One we are at the latter part of June is the same. It is down near KK's so I'll let him know when we are heading that way. The age group in TCT is all over the map with lots of folks with kids finding vintage as fun, a way to reset kids values, and also not quite as expensive as buying new and watching the depreciation game go on. And then there are those with vintage whose kids join them by getting one, then grandkids come along. A very big lots of fun family oriented event. Being in your 30's and 40's and appreciating vintage things gives you a head start on your peers when they start to realize how much fun you and others like you are having. What you are doing to your Airstreams is pretty much what we and our friends have been doing since day one. We don't particularly care how the factory did it if we feel it could or needs to be done a different way. We use our stuff and it needs to functionally work for us, not how someone in a factory thought it should. They provide the canvas in our view for us to then generate the final picture. I looked for years for a 57 caravaner or safari and could not find one so went with the 51. You are fortunate to have found what you have. When you are done tailoring it to your needs you should get years of enjoyment out of it. CAT - it happens to be a short period of "high humidity" outside so this is a great time to catch up on the forums. I'm enjoying the quiet time, the wife and fur kid are both still snoozing, there are folks with umbrellas strolling from awning to awning visiting but I'll just wait until that blue sky to the west moves in and then I can go out and play. As I sit at my table I look out at a 67 Plymouth wagon in front of its 67 Airstream Caravel and I can't help but think what a wonderful little world we live in. Oh yeah, Bred - one of the fellows here was saying he is going to install all the mechanicals from a 05 Dodge truck, hemi etc, in to one of 7 1950 Spartan buses that is being converted in to a late model motorhome. He's promissed pictures once the project starts in the spring of '13.
Well said. I'm enjoying planning on how to incorporate some of the original details (the work of art Bargman H20-2 handle, the curve-topped medicine cabinet) while planning a modern, minimalist scheme for the new cabinetry and hopefully hidden appliances. Should be a fun blend. Holy cow, if you happened to grab his email address, please make sure to pester him - that project needs to be documented, preferably in realtime with copious amounts of photography!
Interesting suggestion, MotoMike. Never heard of 'em before, but looked at a couple YouTube videos just now. Sorta noisy (at least in the '64 Ford Ranchero vid) but looks sturdy as hell - I bet it'd pull great up mountain passes.
Hey guys, Just spotted this on Des Moines' Craigslist. Wish I needed another, this one looks fantastic - especially in that cream color - woah. $3K more than we paid, but that Hemi may be worth it. I popped it on the "for sale" section too, with photos for posterity. http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=191938#post191938
Took the T&C out to Fox Valley Hot Rods in Barrington, IL today. 15 miles made it the furthest ride I've taken thus far, believe it or not. It ran like a champ - temp gauge didn't budge, even as we soared past 90ยบ today. My wife Melissa followed behind, shot a few shaky video clips, and remarked at how well I kept up with traffic. Fox Valley will install coil springs I provided off a '53 New Yorker sedan, restore the rear leafs and give it a basic tune up. Also ordered new glass for four cracked windows (more of an eyesore than an immediate necessity, but they were bugging me) Finally, we're thinking about a set of Portawall white walls to make the car look a bit less "hearse-y". The Desoto roof rack mini-project is moving along as well; contacted a friend with experience in mold-making and casting, and sent a few photos and drawings to give him a sense of the dimensions before mailing the parts to him. He'll eventually provide me with wax casts of the six pieces, which I can then gently bend to account for the wagon's flatter roofline before casting. I may then sell the original rack, to recoup some of my investment.
Thanks. The unwashed masses all have their own opinions, but so far my favorite is the brother-in-law who repeatedly asks, "How's that Ghostbuster-mobile?"
It certainly wasn't as cute as his sister's first impression: "Ohmygosh, so cool! You bought my PT Cruiser's grandpa!!!"
Spent a little time in Photoshop today (I didn't have a profile shot of ours, so I used a similar T&C found on Google). Thinking up possible paint options for way down the road: if you can't tell on your computer screen, I kept our roof black and did the body in a warm, very dark gray. At night it would probably read as all black, which is sort of nifty -- like 2 paint schemes for the price of one. Also mocked up how the Desoto roof rack will look. Also wanted to see what an old windshield visor looked like on there... I always admired their practicality and proportions. Looks a bit like a hat brim, instead of a bald head. Left the wide white walls on there from the original photo - I think the whole package looks awfully refined, myself. Got the "dark top 2 tone" idea from a '50 Newport I saw online. Thought it looked especially nice.
