[a/s] New Airstream(s) owner

["Wally Dragich" <wdragich@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello Group

I just wanted to say hello and that I have enjoyed reading the newsgroup 
mail.

My name is Wally Dragich and my wife's is Isabel. We live in Oakville 
Ontario Canada (near Toronto) and we have been researching the purchase of 
an A/S for over 6 months and we have wanted one for years and years (we are 
48 & 47 yrs. old). I remember in the early 80's I was driving in Toronto and 
spotted a very small A/S - 15 or 16 ft.. It had a FOR SALE sign and I 
chatted to the lady who was selling it. It was in great shape and the lady 
was selling it for around $900 (CDN). Not knowing much about A/S at that 
time,I passed on it and have always regretted not buying it. After that, we 
got a tent trailer from Isabel's sister and had some great times camping 
through Florida and into Texas.

Over the last couple of month we have searched out many trailers, even in 
the USA - as far as PA and some in New York. I was surprised how 
unscrupulous some people were in lieing about the condition of their A/S to 
make you drive 100's of miles for nothing. We almost bought one on Ebay a 
couple of time, but felt that you need to see an A/S before you buy.

One time we drove for hours in Ontario to see what was advertised as a 1970 
Airstream by a 70 year old deer farmer in the country. It looked like a 
1940's or 50's A/S (rib ends) with a great interior. We were so impressed 
that we put a deposit on it.

The next day, I phoned an A/S dealer in Ontario and it turned out to be a 
Canadian A/S look-alike called Travelux. The company went out of business 
years ago. There are no parts available, it tows like a "pig" and was worth 
about one half of an A/S. We were mortified and put a stop payment on our 
deposit cheque that morning. After, we called the seller and told him he was 
falsely advertising his trailer, but his excuse was that "someone" told him 
it was a Canadian Airstream. I also noticed that in a recent copy of RV 
Trader, he had not changed his AD and was still trying to scam someone.

So that was the winding path that led to our final purchase(s).

We ended up buying our first A/S earlier this month from a very nice man and 
his family in Guelph Ontario. They had used it mostly at a near-by 
provincial park.

It is a 1965 Overlander - International. We are technically the 3rd owners.

We called Paul (the seller) from an AD that had only the picture of the A/S. 
The publisher had not included the description or price of the trailer. You 
can imagine my suspicion, since by now I thought all used Airstream sellers 
were scoundrels - and worse! Paul assured me that it was a great trailer and 
after the let-down of the Travelux incident, we were anxious to get a good 
trailer.

We called Paul the same morning the we had cancelled the Travelux deposit 
cheque. Someone had made an appointment to see the trailer (it seems that 
every seller always has someone else also looking at your trailer).

We ended up driving up that evening looking at the A/S with a flashlight! 
Everything Paul claimed was true. Great interior - original wood everywhere, 
new floor, new fridge, new bathroom, an oven that had never been used and 
the best of all --- original owners manual, and all original manuals and 
sheets for all the mechanicals and electrics. What a find - we bought it 
that night; by flashlight!

The exterior is great for a 1965. A few scratches and some small dents on 
the lower "banana" portion of the skin.

We found a great RV park with lake, giant slide, and 100 new serviced lots, 
only 30 minutes from were we live! It costs only $1250 per season and $100 
for over winter storage. They also have daily and weekly sites for any one 
of you wanting to visit and the site is less than 1 hour from down-town 
Toronto. Paul is kind enough to tow our new Airstream to it's new home, 
since we don't have a hitch yet.

Then something strange happened!! We were planning how to lay out our new RV 
site at the park. The owner told us that we were allowed to put a shed on 
our lot and to treat our lot like home.

Well what kind of shed would look good with an Airstream I asked my wife. 
Something better than a wooden box-- Maybe something aluminum?

Then I said - how about an Airstream cut in half! - Not a good idea.

Isabel said - how about another full Airstream?

I suppose, we had been afflicted with a new form of obsessive compulsive 
illness - the need to keep buying more Airstreams, since we have been doing 
it for 6 months and hated to give it up!!

So earlier this week we bought our second Airstream - a 1970 Overlander 26' 
International - the same trailer, 5 years newer!

Now we will have 2 A/S trailers on our lot - one to stay and one to tow.

If anyone is interested, I will tell you about the 1970 later.

Also, I have ordered a bunch of polishing stuff from Airmark Tools including 
their special belly buffer and polishing compound. I can tell you our 
progress on polishing if anyone wants to know or has any advice for me.

My future posts won't be as long winded!


I can assure you that otherwise, we are perfectly normal people and look 
forward to having fun with our new Airstream(s).

Wally