The History Of Airstream: Iconic Travel Trailers Chart Success On The Open Road
This is the second post in a two-part history of Airstream. Click here to read the earlier post.
If you’re planning to drive a recreational vehicle to a national park, lake, or other getaway this summer, you won’t be alone. RV wholesale shipments this year will increase for the ninth straight year following 2017 shipments that totaled roughly 505,000 (up 17.2 percent from 2016) and 2016 shipments hitting nearly 430,700 (up 15.1 percent), according to the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association. Sales this year will undoubtedly include trailers from Airstream, the Jackson Center, Ohio-based maker of silver-aluminum, bullet-shaped travel trailers and touring coaches since the early 1930s.
That said, while Airstream reportedly has 150,000-plus trailers on American roads presently, the company stood on shakier ground in the early 1960s after its founder and spiritual leader Wally Byam passed away. In this second of two posts detailing Airstream’s history, we look at the company following Byam’s death on through today.
A Major Redesign
Airstream itself notes that the years following the death of Byam, who began constructing trailers in his Los Angeles backyard in 1929, were dotted with change. Building on his work, however, Airstream persevered, initially under the leadership of Art Costello, who was named president after Byam’s death despite competition from Andy Charles, another early high-ranking Airstream employee.
Apart from Byam’s death, two other major events in the 1960s helped shape Airstream’s trajectory and bring notoriety to the company. The first was a major revamping of its trailer design for the first time in 30 years. The effort resulted in a more streamlined appearance that featured rounded trailer edges and an additional foot in length and 4 inches in width. Along with some luxurious touches, the design created a more distinct bullet shape and marked a “bit step on the path from Wally’s first trailer to the one you see on the road today,” according to Airstream.
The second event was the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing. Worried that American astronauts might contract various diseases upon touching the moon’s surface, NASA commissioned Airstream to construct a Mobile Quarantine Facility for Apollo 11’s crewmembers upon their return to Earth to monitor their health. A now well-known photo shows then President Richard Nixon speaking to Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins from outside the trailer. The event would help forge a relationship that saw NASA using Airstream’s “Astrovan” beginning in 1984 to transport astronauts from crew quarters to the launch pad.
A Fuel Crisis Brings Change
Change continued to impact Airstream in the 1970s in what proved to be a difficult decade for the manufacturer. One challenge was the nationwide gas shortage, which hampered recreational vehicle sales. For Airstream, the gas crisis led it to close its California operations in 1978 and consolidate them with its Jackson Center operations.
Prior to this, though, Airstream would deviate from its iconic silver-aluminum trailer exterior with 1973’s Argosy, a 20- or 24-foot (6.1- or 7.3-meter) midlevel trailer that Airstream executives reportedly developed to avoid relying on one product to draw revenue. The Argosy notably used a different aluminum type, which Airstream ended up painting.
As Airstream now concedes, the innovation didn’t draw rave reviews and the Argosy sold only modestly. Though Airstream discontinued the model in 1979, it notes that the trailer did demonstrate Airstream’s willingness to “try something new.”
Thor To The Rescue
In the 1980s, Airstream underwent arguably its greatest change so far when Thor Industries acquired the company. Founded in 1980 by Wade Thompson and Peter Orthwein (previous owners of Hi-Lo Trailers), Thor Industries returned Airstream to profitability within a year. Thor itself went public in 1984 and today it owns a family of RV-related subsidiaries that includes Bison Coach, CrossRoads, Dutchmen, Heartland RV, Highland Ridge, Jayco, Keystone RV, Startcraft RV, Thor Motor Coach, and Venture RV.
Before the 1980s ended, Airstream would release an Argosy fifth wheel model and later, in 1989, launch the Land Yacht. Constructed of laminated fiberglass, the Class A motorhome featured rear endcaps “so innovative, a design patent was granted for them.” A particularly attractive feature that Family Motor Coaching pointed out was the Land Yacht’s keyless door entry system with five-button keypad.
Meet The Nest
Just as it had done in 1969, Airstream introduced a major change to its trailer design again in 1994. These changes included significant interior revisions and about 5.5 more inches in width. Along with redesigns impacting trailer profile, structure, and shape, the changes created a “bigger, more comfortable trailer while maintaining performance,” according to Airstream.
The 1990s also found Airstream appealing to a younger traveler demographic with the Safari, a model 20 percent lighter than traditional trailers and 20 percent less expensive than previous Airstream models. Towable with lighter vehicles, the Safari was a hit. In fact, Airstream states before long, half of its sales were Safaris.
With the 2000s came the 50th anniversary of the Wally Byam Caravan Club International in 2005 and Airstream’s own 75th anniversary in 2006. Notably, Airstream claims that 65 percent of the trailers it had constructed since Byam’s first trailer were still in use in 2006.
Today, Airstream’s products include the high-end Atlas, a $216,000 touring coach produced in partnership with Mercedes-Benz, and the Nest. The latter is a $45,000 compact, light-weight model launched this year that sleeps two, is SUV-towable, and sports a two-tone fiberglass construction and automotive styling that “doesn’t look like anything we’ve made before,” Airstream states. Importantly, while the Nest stands apart from Airstream’s traditional trailers, it also shares the same soul, careful craftsmanship, and spirit of wanderlust as its forefathers, Airstream states.
Find Your Own Airstream
You’ll find a wide range of used Aistream RVs for sale on RVUniverse.com, including Basecamp, Flying Cloud, Sport, and many other models.