1959 AirStream Overlander

[Yotaforce]

Fresh resto with a "vintage" theme.

New floor and black and white VCT checker tile, restored original cabinets, furnishings, appliances including the original gas fridge. New PEX plumbing throughout. New Viper red wheels, moons, and new wide white trailer tires. New polished aluminum propane tanks. All of the ORIGINAL paperwork and manuals that came with the trailer in 59. Second owner.
Asking $21,500 obo. Located in Rutherfordton, NC.
Before:

After:

 

[geologist]

Stunning!

 

[adamsredlines]

Thats badass man

 

[colt zantop]

very sweet! good luck with your sale!

 

[54FordPanel]

Is that yours? Did you do the work?

There's gotta be a thread about restoring that!

 

[Jarhead0408]

I saw the first pic without realizing it was a before pic and thought "Man, your nuts!" But after seeing the 2nd pic, kudos to you man, that's some NICE work, Really hope you find a good owner for it. Only thing I like better is the double axled ones.

 

[Yotaforce]

Is that yours? Did you do the work?

There's gotta be a thread about restoring that!

Yes, I did, but sorry, no thread. Lol. I have hundreds of pics during.

This one is a 24', and MOST of them over 17' WERE double axle, but that is another reason this one is more rare.

 

[SweetD]

Absolutely WOW! What a beauty, GREAT job! Good luck!

Dave

 

[cajunfirehawk]

How was the metal repaired, and how was it polished to that mirror shine??? awesome!

 

[fastbroshi]

<--- Starts Neanderthal chant - pics...pics....PICS...PICS

 

[jayoldschool]

It's aluminum. Just keep rubbing until you see your smile

Nice work, btw.

 

[DFW-LSX]

Its. So. Pretty.

 

[e30bradley]

this thread is going to be bumped 100 times lol.
Very nice restoration. If I had the money I'd buy it in a heartbeat..

 

[Yotaforce]

How was the metal repaired, and how was it polished to that mirror shine??? awesome!

I had to strip the damaged panels off the frame (which is also aluminum) and straighten the frame back into position or replace the members that were cracked or torn. The whole thing is basically built like an airplane. Aluminum skins inside and out, a TON of rivets, and normal fiberglass insulation in between.
The exterior rivets are a trick. Each rivet new costs $.25 each, and you use a tool called a "rivet shaver" that will grind down the rivet to simulate an original buck rivet, yet give the added strength of a modern tri-split rivet.
The polishing is a real chore. Most resto shops that deal with AS's will charge about $150-185 per foot to polish one, and that's if it's atleast clean and no real staining. I polished this one in about a month (had to work at night under lights because you cannot polish in warm sunshine).

The original owner had passed away and left it to his son, who really had no idea what to do with it, especially after the tree had fallen on it. The owner had actually kept ALL of the original paperwork in a file, which is awesome.

I'm just ready to rebuild one into a personal camping "man-cave" type camper. I wanted to build this one as an updated camper, but it was so original, I could not change it. I would like to find a "gutted" vintage A.S. and build it completely custom inside.

 

[iajonesy]

My cousin,Patty, has a Bambi model that I would love to get ahold of. It's in very nice shape inside and out and would look cool done like the op's.

Mike

 

[ckadams00]

LOL I thought you were asking $25 K before I saw the "after" photos and I thought . . ."really?!"

What a great resto you did - congrats.

 

[472scout]

Home run!!!!

 

[camarotoolman]

The " pickers" from history channel wanted to give my buddy Mike $8500 for his Air stream!

 

[rfc86]

Nice job.

 

[coolreed]

Awesome.

 

[54FordPanel]

How did you get it so straight? I can see pushing out the roof from the inside, but you couldn't hammer/dolly it to get it metal-finished straight just working from one side.....could you?

 

[Yotaforce]

Had to replace the skins on the top and on the inside top.

It's not just plain sheet aluminum either. It's basically a military grade sheet that is manufactured to resist corrosion and staining. Pretty expensive stuff at $600 for a 4x12 sheet, and I used three of them.

 

[1973]

Great job! I think tent on the widows would make it really pop. I have a friend that is trying to sell an air stream argus, do you think getting the paint off would be worth the effort?

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Beautiful trailer, but no need for the before pics.

 

[JohnFreeman]

Thanks for the BEFORE pics!

Awesome work!

 

[Justanoldguy]

Damn, that is just "beautiful"

 

[Darrin88]

Amazing

 

[e30bradley]

The " pickers" from history channel wanted to give my buddy Mike $8500 for his Air stream!

I saw that episode. His is unrestored if I remember correctly.. It had most of the original stuff though. but they buy to resell. 25k doesn't sound bad for this. Especially since a new one costs more than that and isn't as cool .

 

[Yotaforce]

Great job! I think tent on the widows would make it really pop. I have a friend that is trying to sell an air stream argus, do you think getting the paint off would be worth the effort?

I have heard of a few people trying to strip the paint off of an Argosy, but honestly, the best bet for them is to just sand it and refinish it. If I remember right, the earlier ones had steel panels front and rear (domed) and the later ones had fiberglass molded domes.

Beautiful trailer, but no need for the before pics.

If it wasn't so "destroyed", then I would've gone without the before pics,, but since it was a MAJOR restore, I had to post them to show what all went into this job.

I saw that episode. His is unrestored if I remember correctly.. It had most of the original stuff though. but they buy to resell. 25k doesn't sound bad for this. Especially since a new one costs more than that and isn't as cool .

I have looked at a few new ones about this size and it seems they can go from about $55k-70k. There are alot of particular options you can have that vary the price. Kind of like the vintage A.S.'s. You will never see two exactly alike. Back then, the dealer could and would add or modify options on the lot to your liking.

Price is negotiable. We would like to see someone enjoy this camper this summer.
If it's not sold soon, we plan to take it to some Rod Runs and try the Street Rod crowd.

 

[iancoletx]

In terms of cool factor per dollar.. it doesn't get a lot better than this. Good luck with sale man.

 

[Yotaforce]

Time for a push to the top. I'm getting a few hits from over seas, but I would really like to sell this camper "in country". I guess over seas is fine as long as I have the money in my hand first.

C'mon America, buy this! Let's keep it "real"! Lol

 

[Yotaforce]

New price of $21,500!!!!!

 

[mbatarga]

Be cautious about those "overseas" buyers. Only accept wired funds. Cashier, money orders, whatever - can be forged or placed against a fictitious bank.

 

[Yotaforce]

I would only sell overseas if I have verified funds "in hand" and cleared by the bank, BEFORE delivering it to a shipping port of course.
These AS's seem to be more popular in New Zealand, Australia, and Britain.

 

[Justanoldguy]

Works both ways you know.
Us guys overseas need to know the vehicle actually exists
and you are the true owner before we send money.
It's not all one way you know.

 

[Yotaforce]

Yeah, I understand that. Tough issue to overcome now days with all the scams out there. It's a shame really. If I had a choice between trying to deal overseas or keep it simple and sell it here, of course I would sell here. Atleast there is more of a chance of being able to meet/show it in person and verify everything. I would have to lay the risk upon the overseas customer rather than ship a $20k camper and end up empty handed.

 

[Yotaforce]

Buy me!!!
I know someone on here has an old truck riding on wide whites that LOVES to go camping! Lol.

 

[Yotaforce]

Willing to entertain offers.

 

[Yotaforce]

Pulling it down the road get's people honking, waving, thumbs up, and alot of phone pics.
We pulled into a rest stop with it and we were stuck for about an hour from all of the "spectators" googling all over it. Lol.
I could only imagine the attention this thing would get a at a major car show event!

 

[Yotaforce]

To the top^^^^^

Offers?