RV REVIEW REVIEW AND PHOTOS BY HOWARD J ELMER
2021 Airstream 30FB Flying Cloud Bunk
ended suddenly idle manufacturing plants created an opportunity. Plus, aluminum was cheap and plentiful. Byam built a sleek, riveted aluminum lightweight body and outfitted it with all the conveniences that he could stuff into that shell. This trailer caught on right away and Airstreams have been built much the same way ever since. Today an Airstream is much more than just the shape and the riveted aluminum body. Over time, it has gone from an ultra-modern design to what today we would call a “Cult Classic.” In fact, Airstreams today are in a class by themselves, yet as whole they have come to represent RVing as a lifestyle and the freedom that is associated with it. This is pretty heady stuff for any brand. And for Airstream I can see that this legacy is both an advantage and a burden. If you compare an Airstream trailer to other current RV offerings, you’ll be struck at how expensive they are. But when you dig into that price difference, you’ll find three key reasons for it. One, the build quality of an Airstream is second to none. Two, the resale value is the highest in the segment. And three, people will pay for what they want, and for many the Airstream is the only trailer that will scratch that itch.
Even people who know nothing about RVs know what an Airstream is. That’s the power of an icon. But to really understand how Airstream became that icon, you do need to know some of its history. It all starts with Wally Byam, creator of Airstream, a self- made man who enjoyed the freedom of camping and the open road—just not the sleeping on the ground part. His first trailer was a home-built tent contraption on a Ford Model T chassis—he soon replaced that leaky tent with a teardrop-shaped hard shell—then added a stove and an ice chest. Wally’s trailer soon gained admirers and this attention convinced him that this was a promising business. That was in 1929 and Wally started building trailers in his backyard; however, it would take another 10 years before the mass-produced aluminum-bodied trailers we know as Airstreams today came into being. The shift in thinking came after Byam had finished a stint working for Curtiss-Wright, an aircraft manufacturer during World War II. The use of aluminum and sleek aerodynamic aircraft design rubbed off on Wally—and as the war
RV REVIEW
COAST TO COAST SPRING MAGAZINE 2021
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