This is a 22 foot 1957 Airstream Caravanner has been remarkably well preserved in original, almost time-capsule-like condition. It now shows exactly what these mid-century Airstream travel trailers really looked like in-period.
Classic Airstreams like this remain highly collectible, and some A-list actors like Tom Hanks have bought them and used them as their trailers on film lots while making movies.
This is a 22 foot 1957 Airstream Caravanner has been remarkably well preserved in original, almost time-capsule-like condition.
History Speedrun: Airstream
The long history of Airstream begins with Wally Byam, born in 1896 in Baker City, Oregon. Growing up on a sheep farm, he lived in a small wooden wagon towed by a donkey to follow the herd from field to field in search of fresh grass. This childhood experience would shape his entire life, and change the American travel trailer industry.
Byam graduated from Stanford University in 1921, supporting himself by working multiple jobs, and further developing his love of adventure and camping all the while.
In 1929, frustrated by the rough nature of tent camping, Byam repurposed a Model T chassis to create a towable teardrop-shaped trailer complete with sleeping space, a stove, and an ice chest. The design impressed neighbors and fellow campers so much that he published blueprints and, by 1931, opened a small factory in Culver City, California, to meet the rapidly growing demand.
By the early 1930s, Airstream began producing its first factory-made model, the Torpedo Car Cruiser. Made from Masonite and streamlined for smoother towing, it offered a floor plan with walking space, cooking facilities, and storage.
The true design revolution came in 1936 with the Clipper, its first riveted-aluminum model directly inspired by the Bowlus Road Chief, designed by aerospace engineer and glider designer Hawley Bowlus.
Inside you’ll find a forward lounge, central galley (kitchen), a bathroom with a wet bath, and a rear bedroom. Fitted amenities include a double bed, a refrigerator, a gas cooktop, and a shower room with a built-in toilet, and a Panelray air heater.
The Airstream Clipper had a monocoque structure, excellent aerodynamics, luxury appointments throughout, and a side entry door with windows on all four sides. This design, gleaming silver and bullet-shaped, would become Airstream’s signature throughout the rest of the 20th century, and well into the 21st.
Airstream survived when over 400 trailer makers folded during the Great Depression – it was the sole survivor by 1936. World War II brought yet another challenge. With aluminum rationed and camping deemed frivolous, Airstream ceased production of travel trailers. Byam and his team shifted to aircraft work at companies like Lockheed and Curtis-Wright.
After the war, Byam revived production, first designing trailers under Curtis-Wright and then returning to rebuild Airstream in Jackson Center, Ohio, in 1947.
In 1951, he pioneered the first Airstream caravan journey, a wild trek through Central America that tested equipment and created a lifestyle brand around adventure – long before this became a common marketing method for modern outdoor equipment and camping manufacturers.
By 1952, demand necessitated bigger facilities, and Airstream relocated production fully to Ohio. That decade also saw some of the company’s most important innovations – the International, the first self-contained trailer, the Bambi, a compact single-axle model, and improvements like onboard hot water systems and flushing toilets.
The 1960s saw the company redesign its trailers, adding length and width, to improve comfort and interior space. By this time American vehicles had become similarly larger and more luxurious , but perhaps more importantly they had become a lot more powerful – and were able to tow larger trailers as a result.
The interior is finished with white-painted walls, wood-grain cabinets, vinyl flooring, curtains, and ceiling vents. The lounge area has a fold-leaf table, while the galley has a laminate countertop, sink with running water, a slide-out work surface, a Davis cooktop, refrigerator, storage cabinets, and a power outlet.
Airstream’s cultural impact grew further when, in 1969, NASA commissioned a mobile quarantine unit for Apollo moon mission astronauts – and Airstream delivered. Images and videos of the Apollo astronauts quarantining in their Airstream flooded into television sets and into newspapers worldwide.
In 1980, Airstream was purchased by new owners, Wade Thompson and Peter Orthwein, founders of Thor Industries. Under Thor’s ownership the company returned to profitability within a year.
Since then, Airstream has evolved with new models, the fiberglass Nest, the more urban Basecamp, and it has done collaborations with several major lifestyle brands – all while remaining the longest-continuously operating RV maker in the world.
The Airstream Caravanner
The Caravanner debuted in 1956 as part of Airstream’s post-war expansion, during a period when the company was experimenting with different lengths and floorplans to suit a wider variety of tow vehicles and customer budgets.
Measuring in at 22 feet in length and typically weighing under 3,500 lbs, it was aimed squarely at buyers who wanted something more spacious than the 16 foot Bambi but still lighter and easier to handle than the 26 to 30 foot Airstream Internationals and Ambassadors of the era.
The Caravanner debuted in 1956 as part of Airstream’s post-war expansion, during a period when the company was experimenting with different lengths and floorplans to suit a wider variety of tow vehicles and customer budgets.
Like its stablemates, it used Airstream’s aircraft-inspired riveted aluminum shell, monocoque construction, and polished finish, with interiors trimmed in birch or mahogany veneer and outfitted with modern appliances for the time, such as gas stoves, iceboxes, and built-in water tanks.
Production ended in 1960 as Airstream refined its model range, folding the Caravanner’s niche into other mid-length trailers like the Safari. Surviving examples from the original 1956 to 1960 run are now sought by collectors for their near-perfect of classic styling, manageable size, and for their historic connection to Airstream’s mid-century golden age of caravanning.
The 1957 Airstream Caravanner Shown Here
The travel trailer you see here is an original 1957 Airstream Caravanner and it presents in remarkably true, period-correct condition throughout – right down to the furnishings and curtains.
Inside you’ll find a forward lounge, central galley (kitchen), a bathroom with a wet bath, and a rear bedroom. Fitted amenities include a double bed, a refrigerator, a gas cooktop, and a shower room with a built-in toilet, and a Panelray air heater.
It also has dual propane tanks at the tongue, a single axle with 15″ steel wheels, electric brakes, and Hercules Hercumile 7.00-series tires – the curb weight is approximately 2,800 lbs which will make it towable by a wide variety of vehicles.
The travel trailer you see here is an original 1957 Airstream Caravanner and it presents in remarkably true, period-correct condition throughout – right down to the furnishings and curtains.
The interior is finished with white-painted walls, wood-grain cabinets, vinyl flooring, curtains, and ceiling vents. The lounge area has a fold-leaf table, while the galley has a laminate countertop, sink with running water, a slide-out work surface, a Davis cooktop, refrigerator, storage cabinets, and a power outlet.
It’s now being offered for sale out of Saint Louis, Missouri with a pair of folding chairs, a folding table, and a bill of sale. If you’d like to read more about it or place a bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
