VCT Magazine #38 (Digital Download)
Inside of this issue:
- 1948 Universal (on the cover)
- Palmers 1948 Spartan
- The Mystery Trailer - Less of a Mystery?
- Flying Miz Daisy - 1952 Aljo
- Towing Small
- Alumapalooza 9
- Campin in the Cumberland
- Eggs on the Hiawassee River
- A Stop on the Lincoln Highway
- Trailerfest - Stuck in the 60's
- Another Adventure - 1967 Red Dale
- 5 Space Saving Ideas
- Lucille the 1963 Mobile Scout
- Campers Bread Recipe
- USA Rally Calendar
Since the Pismo Beach rally in mid May, we have been at home catching up on projects. Not a common occurrence for someone in the trailer/camping/travel business. We are fortunate to be traveling many weeks of the year and more often than not we are usually away from home at least a couple of weekends a month at rallies and other events. (Check out some of our destinations here) We love it, but with so much time away, I don’t get as much “shop time” as I would like to work on trailers.
We started in the hobby a dozen years ago doing restorations. After we flipped our first Lo Liner we thought we were going to be rich! We ended up restoring and flipping a handful of Lo Liners that first year. With each one we learned that it always takes longer and costs more to revive a trailer than you think it's going to. With each subsequent project, we also raised the price as we became more conscious of how many hours we had invested. At that time, we were selling trailers for about half of what a trailer of that caliber would bring today!
Over the years our business has changed dramatically. I restore my own trailers and occasionally I find one I can bring back to life and eventually sell. The magazine, books and rallies we host are now the core of our business. When the right opportunity comes along, I still like to get dirty and rescue and restore trailers. Right now I am doing a beautiful 1948 Columbia trailer that we found in a barn in Arizona. Being stored in a barn in a dry climate for most of it’s more than seven decades, it was protected from getting any water damage. Over the years it had been used as a guest house by the family. Its interior finishes show some light wear and it needs some cosmetic attention to bring it back to life. We also found this incredible 1946 Schult Luxury Liner in a barn 40 miles from our house!
My personal taste in trailers has also changed over the previous decade. The Lo Liners we did when we started, had a tasteful “50’s Diner” feel. Some of the interiors were painted to make the interior paneling all match when we could not duplicate the original materials. They were super clean and very bright and airy when we were finished with them. Now, I prefer older, well preserved trailers. Late 40’s to early 50’s models that don’t need a total rebuild. Patina tells a story and I would rather have a well preserved trailer with some history, than a brand new one. Like most of our projects, the Columbia seemed like it would be a quick and easy restoration. With about 16 hours invested so far in just restoring the original flooring material, this one too will take longer than I expected. Hopefully, the next owner will appreciate the time we took to “restore” the trailer while preserving its past.
If you need help with your restoration project, check out www.VCTBootCamp.com
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