The other day a friend of mine, Trudy, called me and said her uncle was visiting with his vintage trailer and asked if I would like to see it.
Charles is retired and travels around a fair amount with his wife Virginia to vintage trailer shows and since he has retired he plays Santa Clause at many events as he has the right look for the part.
I drove down to their house to see the trailer and wow it is a beauty! A 14 foot Scotsman built in 1966 and weighs in around 1,000 pounds. Charles took two years restoring this trailer and has done an excellent job. Located in Fresno, he did the restoration there. The details are phenomenal and the paint job is outstanding. He was towing it with a six cylinder Jeep on this trip, but when he takes it to shows he tows it with a sixties Chevy pickup with the same color scheme.
The trailer has been completely redone on the inside. The only original appliance is the stovetop but he has added an icebox to match. The bed in the back is kept down full time though it can be raised up and put into a coach. There used to be bunk above the bed but he converted it to storage. He has an air conditioner under the table to keep the place cool. Lots of cool little vintage nostalgia is in the trailer. A picture of his father-in-law with their new trailer back in the early 1900s is on the wall.
The one thing this little trailer is missing is a bathroom, so full time living might be a little difficult. Charles and his wife have been on the road for the last four weeks and lived in it the whole time, so I know it is possible for living long term.
Charles will be coming back in a couple of weeks to a Vintage Trailer show in Petaluma and I hope to get down and see many more classics. Hopefully this will inspire you to see vintage trailers as a tiny house option.
Wow, what a beauty
I just liked their page on facebook last night and i was so impressed at what people have done with these vintage trailers. I would love to see more posts about them, as I think it might be a good option for a lot of us. I think as long as they can be winterized, and can have a decent bathroom, I could definitely think of them as a possibility for myself.
What a beauty! I love it. Love the blue stove and fridge.
Just superb work.
A great job Charles – well done on restoring this little beauty. Hope you have many happy days in it.
What a beauty! Excellent job on the restoration.
Fabulous job, Charles! You have a great eye for colors and I believe you’ve set the bar quite high…I rent vintage trailers and absolutely love them!! Two more to work on over the winter..what fun!
Best,
Pamela
Cowgirl Cabins
Very nice! Thanks for all the photos, too.
Our 31-year-old daughter is currently living in an old Prowler in our back yard. Our neighbors found it abandoned by the side of the road and brought it home (he collects old cars and trailers), but decided not to keep it. Unfortunately, it leaks, so we’ve got it under the carport where our ’56 Chevy is supposed to be. Our daughter painted the inside, and had someone build a new countertop and shelves where one of the bench seats used to be. She, too, converted an overhead bunk into storage, and the bathroom into a closet/pantry. It’s the perfect place for her while she’s studying her natural healing and nutritional therapy courses. Once she’s done with the trailer, we have plans to recondition it to make it road-worthy, and it can be a guest room as well, which we’ve never had.
i know these folks – they’re wonderful people 🙂 they had the trailer professionally restored; didn’t do it themselves. sure is a beautiful unit.
Sherry!
You absolutely don’t know these folks!!!
They ARE wonderful people! In fact very close family!
But they did do 99% of this restoration! I happened to witness it from start to finish! Charles has done MANY vehicles (boats, motorcycles, his own daily drivers, etc.) over the years…. for himself and many others! He even had an Amphicar back in the 60’s! Though he is a retired professional mechanic (and a great one I might add), this Scotsman WAS NOT restored anyplace other than his garage! He even removed the axle and placed it on dollies to get it in his garage!
Wow, what a great trailer. I love that it could be restored to be virtually better than new. It’s all to often in our throwaway society such treasures would have been scrapped. Congratulations on such a great project.
Looks so great! Was wanting to like them on FB like the other person commented, but who do I like?
Just beautiful!!! And what a wonderful sight it must be to see “Santa” in his leisure shirt tootling along in his pickup towing this beauty with his dear wife (Yes, Virginia-there IS a Santa Claus (sorry, I just had to say it! 🙂 -) beside him!!
Excellent workmanship by a true handy man. I thought 1000# relatively light for that vintage. Folks don’t need to have much to live they just think they do. Blessings and happy travels!
When I was a kid I always wanted my folks to buy one of these. Once I was old enough, they didn’t make them like this anymore so I stopped looking. I wish I had the knowhow to restore one of these bit I’m all thumbs.
Nice job!
Love it! I live in a 25 foot trailer and love it. They can be winterized pretty easily andmake excellent inexpensive homes.
You get coal in your stocking if you are unable to spell Santa’s last name correctly!
How cute is that!
I am a nearly 32-year-old woman who has been living in a ’68 14-foot Shasta travel trailer for two months out in Wyoming. My trailer’s tiny “bathroom” is currently my closet. Surprisingly, I’ve not had much of a problem with reliance on a nearby outhouse or regular bathroom as my only options. I have a very small space heater I use occasionally, but I typically have very comfortable temperature with great ventilation. I will be living in the Shasta for another month or so and I have to say that I think I could do this long-term. I have only had one issue where we had rains that lasted a week solid (just north of the flooding in Colorado) and some water did find its way in the rear window, but I think I can fix that as I did secure all other weak spots before the adventure began.
So, I’m just here to say it CAN be done. This living arrangement has been one of the best I have found myself in, yet. I’m living rent-free and wouldn’t have this trip any other way than in my Shasta. The only downside is that I have to admit I’m a *little* afraid of the dark and adventuring out at night at my campsite all alone triggers memories of old horror movies and whodunnit shows. :]
Go for it!
I am oh, so jealous. PERHAPS i will down-size even more AND have some class to boot. Fun stuff, Twacie. Thanks. CU soon. Love, Judi
I knew you would be famous some day!!! Loved the article!!! I will send it on!