All Airstreams are manufactured in the town of Jackson Center, Ohio. The town is located smack dab in the middle of some of America’s most beautiful farmland.
In front of the factory is parked a row of vintage Airstreams. The selection here varies, but it’s always interesting.
In front of the Airstreams? On this sunny day in early July, there was a line of American flags. As well as a few pink flamingos.
Here’s a snapshot of one pink flamingo we spotted keeping an eye on the vintage trailers…
Pink flamingo keeping watch in Jackson Center...
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As I recall… the pink flamingo was a symbol the old’ies in airstream club… had as a display of the free sprit of travel associated with airstream people… today out west they call ’em snowbirds… moving where the weather is always good… well if you call FL weather good…
Soooo.. what you going to do at Airstream ?? grin…
New trailer ?? keep one hand on your wallet… and the other restraining Kristie on getting a bigger one…
We were told today that Airstream may not be sold in Calif any more.. as they won’t meet the new Calif environmental efficency directive. i.e they can’t meet the new energy act (insulation) being pushed by fleetwood industries. Have not checked it out yet but we did get our new 25 ft toyhauler… and its over being fitted with a new set of innards…the way the X wants… first thing we noticed was it had more room… and better bath… of course the on board water cooled 6kw gen set is nice…quiet as a mouse… uses the heat for co-gen items… more elect than gas… appliances. New more high tech advanced engineering. Have to wait till we get it on the road to see the gas mileage. One thing for sure.. this new baby has a heck of a frame under it… probably took the steel from 12 junked honda’s to build just the undercarrage.
Okay, I read a little about the pink flamingo history. Turns out that its origins go back to the 1920s when Florida was the hottest real estate & vacation destination in the USA. People brought back flamingo products to showcase that they had visited Florida…. it was almost a status symbol! The plastic lawn flamingos really caught on in the 1950s. Somewhere along the line, Airstreamers adopted them as kitchy fun symbols too.
No new Airstream for us at the moment. However, we’re having her serviced tomorrow — got a couple of water leaks and our bathroom lights have gone out. We have traveled over 30,000 miles with this trailer the past three years, so a few problems are to be expected.
Your toy hauler sounds nice. I am especially impressed by the water cooled generator! You will enjoy that feature.
It’s hard fpor me to believe that Airstreams might not be sold in California. But these days, who knows? I guess anything is possible!
Ya… sorry to hear that SHE has a couple of water leaks… OH you mean the trailer… (ouch X that hurt ) grin…
Yep if you made the trip in the AS to FL then you had to have one of them pink things poked in the yard where ever you parked your trailer.. One for each time you went to FL as I recall… being told.
Ahhhh well the problem seems to be the insulation factor for some of the RV’s … Things have come a long way today and heaven help you if you waist energy even camping. So the industry has started to tighten up … (this means.. knock the other guy out so your product sells and his doesn’t)
However, its all in our best interest too… as when you get into the really cold weather… and the heater comes on… more effecent means less cost to maintain the environment inside the coach. So in a way they are forcing the industry to improve which means operational cost savings to the uesers’.
The Airstream has the typical Alu skin on the outside riveted to a Alu bulkhead or bow which then is riveted to the inside Alu skin. In between these two skins then AS puts fiberglass insulation. But, as anyone who has ever taken one into the cold weather can tell you that the Alu conducts the cold right inside/ heat out through the shell real well.
While Alu is not cheap it is a metal that conducts the heat quite good. (something you don’t want in hot or cold weather if your living inside. )
I was suprised to see that the TH actually has a heat effecency rating… when asked how it compaired to the same size AS… I almost fell over when the manufacture said its 270% more thermal effecent. (No wonder they don’t have a big blowtourch heater in the TH.
Setting the AS side by side with the TH in engineering test, I was told, that the AS took almost 3 times as much propane to keep it at the same inside temp when the outside was 32 than the TH did.
And it seems it goes the other way too when your running the AC to keep it cool inside.
So with that in mind.. and the way the government wants to protect you from … what ever… it seems they may not allow AS be sold in the environmentalist state of Calif. for your own good… go figure…
I wonder if that is why they closed the west coast plant.. too… knowing that Calif was going to set housing standards they couldn’t meet with the current design. If you look they were playing around with other materials some time back.. (squairstreams, non-metal skins, etc…) but, closed the plants and move all to where they are now. I know the owners of the AS through the years were losing money on them so I read.
Still one of the lightest pulling trailers around for their size though. However, that being said, I am afraid that technology has passed them by. ( I know that some who have owned them in the past said that they re-engineeered the new ones to keep from bending the frame… placing the bathroom/water/ tank/weight over the wheel trucks and not a moment so far back to keep the trailer frame weight down so it can be towed by a smaller vehicle. .
Some of the AS pictures we have seen from the trips up north that came back.. needed a lot of metal rework at the factory … and of course the other manufactures are quick to point out the weakness’
I am sure that AS counters these points with others from owners… and contenual engineering improvements are going on at AS.
Yep it got to the point that ours is just getting old and worn out. (we have had the water heater replaced 3 times, heater and AC 2x, Refrig, one axel, some of the flooring that rotted (Due to water leaks in the plastic factory fittings) , propane tanks and regulator, lots of lights…(outside ones are now LED for the vehicle) awning 3x and the hull stripped and re-clear coated… dents, dings.. etc… Like a car/truck it comes a time to decide if its better to get new…. than fix. They do wear out as time catches up with ’em as technology has some good stuff to temp you with… such as the co-gen set. .. and get this… thermal heated floor… wow….
Our new one is done… on the way back now to the Left Coast for some down time… and then out to pick up our new baby… from the factory. Dog is real excited about his new …built in dog house (yep we had a place built infor him too) … X designed it… . geeezzzz… is that rich… if he doesn’t like it… we will give it to a CAT…. I can hear him growling already… grin…
GMAs, moving forward, Airstream will probably have to make some tough decisions.
For example, would you consider buying an Airstream travel trailer that’s not made of aluminum? There are plenty of other lightweight material choices out there, and there’s no doubt that Airstream has researched those options. But would a non-aluminum Airstream still be an Airstream? There are certain core components of the brand… When you start changing a long existent and popular formula, you are inviting controversy and trouble (remember New Coke?).
All in all I like the “old school” approach of Airstream, but they may be forced to make changes… kind of like when Porsche switched from air-cooled engines to water-cooled. The purists screamed bloody murder, but sales boomed.
I would also say that some of the “old school” benefits of Airstream design still apply today: they are the easiest travel trailers to tow, and the aluminum ensures exterior longevity. Plus, they still look cool. 😀
Indeed… I know that Streamline, avion and Silver Streak all tried to improve the quality of the trailers they made. Streamline I always thought was the better trailer of the BIG 4.. but avion was way to heavy when they went to real wood.. nice for looks and life… but hell to pay for towing. (speaking of which so is the new TH but then again its designed to almost haul a car inside as well as a travel trailer) AS has come out with their TH…did you see it… a toy hauler 34 footer… I would have thought you could have done a blog on the new engineering concept trailers AS is working on… hmmmm
Screaming… well you should have heard the old AS pure’est scream when AS came out with the squair stream concept trailer… they actually were ban from attending the rallys’ … as I recall… but, I also know that AS is not content with the old guard… baumbers’ as I call ’em… as these old folks don’t have much appeal to the new’bies… younger sets… who don’t drink or smoke and play cards as a highlight of their travel enjoyment. AS actually sent out a query about should a new group be formed… and that too was met with a lot of name calling and whineing… from the oldies who wanted it to stay the same…
AS has tried to keep up with the current trends… with the new bambi and some of the other light weight concepts… however the construction engineering still is back in the ’30’s .
Yes I think you will see the AS change just a little… for the better… as they will be forced into improvements.. and I think it will sell… (or they will be forced out by the industry) …. keeping the same shape but with better quality over all… the outside still can be alu… (problems with alu is now expensive, its soft and dents easy… as well as it corrodes… new fiberglass is cheaper, can be molded into shape and is more resistant… while having about the same life as Alu) … it is the insulation and interior that will become more environmental frendly and have better effecency… as a bonded wall pack… all of this however, will come at a cost… mainly a little more weight… and loss in mileage for the tow vehicles… but, in the end… it should make it a better more markable sales item… because it meets the current politically correct thinking.
I agree… for its day the AS was the easiest trailer to tow… but the public want more… usefulness… and the current AS design just can’t meet it… and the current market reflects that.
These are pretty tough business strategy questions that I can’t answer… but with regard to the current market and Airstream?
Well, the current market for ALL RVs is flat. The RV industry has been hit hard by the recession, perhaps moreso than ANY other industry in the United States. It’s been a triple whammy — banking/credit crisis, higher fuel prices, economic turmoil — orders throughout the industry are down 67% from last year. And last year wasn’t great either!
With that said, I still believe Airstream could dramatically improve its positioning within the RV industry. One of the key issues is marketing. We get asked all the time: “Are they still making those things?” If the buying public doesn’t even realize that your product is still being produced, then you have a problem.
Look at Porsche — they are quite expensive for what they deliver in terms of performance and functionality. Yet people will happily pay for ’em. Why? Because they deliver a unique ownership experience with a unique history, heritage, and enthusiast community. What Airstream has in terms of brand equity cannot be duplicated or replicated — it is a unique icon like Porsche and Harley Davidson. But to enjoy similar success, it needs to put that brand & product on PAGE ONE with some killer marketing and publicity.
I agree with you about the WBCCI club situation. The club has historically been important to Airstream, but its numbers have faded in recent years. To reverse the trend, a new approach — or at least some fresh thinking — will be required.
In a sense I am (believe it or not) brand agnostic, but we are happy Airstreamers. When we decided to get a towable RV, Airstream offered an ownership experience that others did not. And its towing abilities suited our needs.
There will probably come a time when we outgrow our current Airstream. In the future, I could see us getting a larger Airstream, or even (gasp!) moving to a Class A Tiffin. It all depends on factors that are, at the moment, hidden from my crystal ball. 🙂
Bingo… you are feeling the message… AS needs to not only improve.. but Advertise… and that should probably have been the approch … tacfully .. you should have discussed with mr Huttle… matter of fact you may want to open dialoge with him and express exactly what you wrote above… and see if they want to sponsor your on shows and touring… to imporve the questions you cited. (get the camera out and do a blog on.. why own a airstream… and what it does/mean for people who do.. testomonal ??…. interlaced with public questions…(get Huttle to answer the questions provide the graphs and test data…and send it to him for distrubition …. ) Of course while you were their I assume you did a piece on… THIS IS AIRSTREAM TODAY… showing how one is made… quality assurance… detail.. people making them… or something like a news reel take
You repersent the new generation of AS’ers.. and as such have the appeal to the group… AS should pick up on that and go with the promo… not just for you but for them and their product… look at the fun you have .. places you show them that they can take THEIR unit too…. that kind of thing…
So sorry if we set you up above…… but, you state exactly why they should promote you and sponsor you at rallys, shows and the like… YOU ARE THE NEW VOICE OF AIRSTREAM TRAILERS… YOU ARE THE REASION WHY OTHERS MAY ENJOY THE ADVENTURES ONE CAN HAVE WITH a product made by airstream… indeed it sells… and you need to sell them on what you do for ’em… so they can sponsor you for ’em… They should be hosting adventures you are /were on with the trailer as promo’s for the fun , adventure and friendship that wally was promoting in the old geezers… grin…
Can you drive up to the factory and order an Airstream your way (Ala Burger King) or d you have to go to an Airstream authorized dealer?
Ray
Ray, that’s a great question. My honest answer should be, “I don’t know”… but my impression is that when buying NEW you need to buy through a dealer. I don’t think the factory sells the NEW trailers directly to consumers.
With that said, I know that the service center occasionally refurbishes and sells pre-owned Airstreams. The service center at Airstream is really fascinating. They can refurbish / restore any Airstream that’s ever been built (almost 80 years worth)!