A lot of today's RVers started their camping "careers" in one of the tiny single-axle trailers built during the late 1940s, '50s and '60s. Due to the efforts of Fifties Trailers Inc., RVers can now relive a bit of those early, simpler days in a brand-new Twister 1950s-style reproduction trailer.
The company is headed up by Gerry and Rod Hagelund, and they've combined their love for restoring vintage automobiles and camping and applied their special talents to manufacturing what is arguably the most interesting new/old trailer on the RV market. The duo has remained as true as possible to the original classic design and materials used in the era's trailers while including upgraded appliances and components that meet today's strict code standards.
The 15-foot Twister can also be hauled by many of today's downsized vehicles, or it can be towed by antique cars or trucks with modest engines. It weighs approximately 1,800 pounds wet, and with a 2,370-pound gross vehicle weight rating (gvwr) it has approximately 570 pounds of cargo capacity.
The Hagelund brothers had been interested in camping and old cars for many years and rebuilt a couple of vintage trailers to tow behind their classic cars. Friends started bringing them other old trailers to be rebuilt, so the brothers perceived a possible market for a quality-built 1950s-style reproduction trailer. They looked at what typically failed on the early trailers, such as roof leaks, damaged walls and the like, and rolled these details into the construction equation. The result is the Twister, the first of its kind in today's modern RV industry.
A steel frame with modern leaf-spring suspension and electric-brake running gear is the basis for the Twister. The walls and roof are wood-framed, with polystyrene insulation throughout. A company was located to produce the classic-style rolled and fluted aluminum exterior skin, and the roof and front and rear walls are covered with a single 22-foot-long piece of aluminum. According to Rod Hagelund, "No seams means no leaks."
Automotive-style paint is applied to the exterior and is available in four standard finishes -- green, blue, red and yellow -- as well as many custom-color combinations, such as flames, to match those on a custom-painted tow vehicle.
Samples of the original-equipment windows with the top hinges and notched adjustment support arms were disassembled and used as patterns for a company which then fabricated all new parts for the Twisters. The entry door and storage compartment doors are handbuilt, just as on the original trailers, as is the wood-framed screen door. It's an expensive technique but necessary to maintain the unit's historic accuracy. Generic-looking stainless-steel taillights and bumblebee-hive marker lamps along with Baby Moon hubcaps and black or wide white-sidewall tires further enhance the trailer's look of exterior authenticity.
Inside, the Twister has a familiar old floorplan pulled directly from its predecessors. Packed into its 6-foot 6-inch-wide, 13-foot-long rounded body, which totals 15 feet 6 inches including the coupler, are a 54x76-inch full-size bed aft, a front-end dinette that folds down into a 40x76-inch bed, a streetside galley with three-burner stove and sink plus a curbside wardrobe with refrigerator and storage drawers.
"No plastic, particle board or cheap materials are used in a Twister" explains company literature. The interior is sheathed in birch or maple veneer 1/8-inch plywood and the cabinets are built with hardwood framing and birch or maple-veneer plywood exteriors. All hardware is vintage-style, as is the curtain and upholstery fabric, which is reproduced following the original vintage patterns. Those familiar with the old trailers will recognize the gold-fleck Formica-style countertops, metal edging and the original-finish "Battleship" style vinyl flooring.
A look inside the Twister is a step back in time. From the curved-wood ceiling, fastened with small round-headed escutcheon pins, to the simple cabinets and throwback-patterned curtains and cracked ice vinyl upholstery, the Twister brings back memories of childhood camping and other adventures. It's lacking the distinct smell of a propane-fired lamp as used in many early trailers, but the natural-finish hand-rubbed Danish oil on the plywood brings its own essence of antiquity. The company starts the interior finish with two coats of a fire-retardant treatment that gives the unit's interior a "B" burn rating of 50 or less, well below the "200 or less" requirement for a new RV.
The Twister is not fully self-contained. It has a 6-gallon freshwater tank that gravity-feeds a faucet above the sink, and a second faucet can be pressurized via attachment to a campground water supply. There are no holding tanks; gray water is drained to a suitable receptacle or dump station via a second external hose connection. Our feature trailer had a closet to accommodate a Porta-Potti, and a closet with a permanently installed toilet is included in another floorplan.
Climate control is provided via an optional Dometic "Kool Kat" 12,000-BTU heat-pump-type system that provides both air-conditioning and heating. An LP-gas furnace is optionally available.
A company spokesman emphasized that many items can be modified and options can be added to the trailer, within reason, so custom work is very easy for Fifties Trailers. At $13,800, the Twister isn't the cheapest trailer on the block for its size, but it's probably one of the best built and as a hand-built specialized niche market product, it seems fairly priced.
Use of a non-self-contained RV may not appeal to some, but many may well look at it as a return to the basics. Those who find a fold-down tent trailer perfectly accommodating should find the Twister an interesting alternative, and antique car or truck owners looking for a suitable RV to match to their rigs may likewise feel the Twister is a perfect companion. In any case, the Twister is a delightful blast from the past.
Fifties Trailers Inc., 2070 Concord Avenue, Coquitlam, British Columbia V3K 5S9; (604) 525-3750
By Jeff Johnston
Photos: Jeff Johnston
Back to the top
|
 |
 |
Twister 15'
Ext length: 15' 6"
Ext width: 6' 6"
Ext height: 7' 9"
Int width: 6' 4"
Int height: 6' 2"
Freshwater cap: 6 gal
Black-water cap: n/a
Gray-water cap: n/a
LP-gas cap: 2 1/2 gal
Hot-water cap: n/a
Construction: Wood
Insulation: Polystyrene
Refrigerator: 1.7 cu ft
Furnace: 12,000 BTU (opt)
Air-conditioner:
12,000 BTU (opt)
Converter: 30 amp
Battery: 90 amp-hrs
Tire size: 205/75R14
Tire rating: LR B; 1,600 lb @ 35 psi cold
Suspension: Leaf spring
WET WEIGHTS
(Water and propane tanks full; no supplies or passengers)
Total: 1,800 lb
Hitch: 180 lb
Axle(s): 1,620 lb
Gvwr*: 2,370 lb
Gawr**: 2,860 lb
Owner may add up to 570 pounds in weight of supplies to trailer equipped as test unit without violating manufacturer's maximum gvwr.
|
|
|
|
|
|
