Vincent Price narrated a mini-series about the Airstream.Since 1984, NASA has used a modified Airstream (known as the Astrovan) to transport shuttle crews to the launch pad.The phone calls were brief and my e-mail replies just two words: “No deal”. I’ve had seven emails and three phone calls from America offering me deals on the latest models, such as a 2019 Flying Cloud 19CB with a price tag of $68,209 USD, and a 2019 Globe Trotter 27FB for a mere $110,384 USD. Getting togetherīefore I started to write about this distinguished brand, I skimmed through many Airstream websites to bone up on the subject. Joseph and Ying Ku live in Christchurch and regularly tour the South Island in their magnificent, 2013 20-foot Flying Cloud, which Joseph chose from one of three that were on sale by the grandson of the founder of New Zealand’s oldest auction house, Dunbar Sloane. I am just pleased they are saved and serving a purpose.”īut if you’re camping in the South Island, you might well come across a magnificent Airstream that is being used for its original purpose.
Instead of being used for recreational purposes, a lot of Airstreams in this country are converted into food and coffee carts or other uses they were not intended for.
"Buyers have to have deep pockets because shipping costs are horrendous. I think we imported about 30 before we gave it away last year. For 10 years, we travelled all over America seeking out Airstream models and bringing them home to sell. “We don’t like confined spaces, so for us, the attraction was the thrill of the chase. “It seemed it pre-ordained that the couple would start importing Airstreams to New Zealand. “I was already importing classic cars into New Zealand and my wife, Jill, and I were also running or caravan rental company,” he says. It was hardly surprising then, that when he first came across a classic American icon, a 1977, 31F, Sovereign Airstream with an aluminium body as polished as silver, it was love at first sight. Steve Norman has always had a love of classic American cars and hot-rods and a strong attraction to polish and chrome. In Hawke’s Bay, I came across another couple who shared Grant and Joanne’s passion. Thor Industries has broadened its range of products and, as one of the world’s largest RV manufacturers, employs more than 800 people. Today, Airstream trailers are still manufactured at the Jackson Centre, Ohio, US. In 1980, the company producing this iconic piece of Americana was rescued by a Kiwi businessman, the late Wade Thomson who, with American, Peter Orthwein, founded Thor Industries who still produce Airstream caravans today.īy then, the brand had a long history and a revered line of products. Over the years, the Airstream brand flourished even after Wally died in 1962, but the company continued to turn out more and more sophisticated models until in the 1970s when an economic downturn threatened its existence.Īnd now comes an interesting New Zealand link. This Airstream was revolutionary: the steel-framed dinette converted into a bed the galley was enclosed it had its own water supply, electric lights, insulation, and ‘air-conditioning’ using dry ice. And then in 1937, came the now legendary, ‘Clipper’ an ovoid-shaped, aluminium-clad trailer based on the design of early trans-Atlantic passenger plane, the PanAm Clipper. In 1921, he built a rudimentary trailer in his Los Angeles backyard and began experimenting by adding a chemical toilet, gas stove, a water pump, and an ice chest.ĭesigning and manufacturing travel trailers took over his life and he called his innovative products Airstreams, claiming they travelled like a stream of air. “Adventure is where you find it,” he once said, “any place, every place, except at home in a rocking chair.” Retro Espresso at the Auckland International AirportĪmerican Wally Byam was an educated man and an inveterate traveller.
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