1959 Shasta 19 Deluxe

Owner: The Duggers -

Location: Near Indianapolis, IN

My husband has been interested in old cars and hot rods his whole life. He has been building vintage style rods and customs since the 80s. In the late 90s, we both got into rockabilly and all things retro. So naturally to go with the vintage cars, a vintage trailer was next. A friend of ours had also recently acquired a '62 Shasta Airflyte, but we were willing to look at any  vintage trailer pre '65. 

In the fall of 2002, a friend of ours was traveling north to Michigan when he spotted what looked like an old trailer in a back yard in Fort Wayne. On his way back, he stopped and left a note on the door. To our surprise, the owners called back. We live SE of Indy and made the trip up the next day. It was a very nice, very elderly couple in their late 80s who had bought the Shasta Deluxe brand new in 1959. It had been sitting in their back yard under a tree since at least the early 1980s. They hadn't thought about selling it, but obviously didnt use it anymore so a deal was struck on the spot. The exterior was well worn and drab with one wing intact and one in pieces but the interior was in surprisingly nice shape with all original fixtures and seating-even the sparkle yellow upholstery was in good shape. The 19 footer with full  bath seemed rather large compared to what we had been looking at but with 2 young boys, it has worked out perfectly.

Since the exterior needed the most attention we got started that fall. I spent two weeks scraping off layers and layers of old aluminum roof sealant. We removed every bit of the exterior  aluminum trim to polish it and replaced it with several hundred new screws, after recaulking all windows and seams. We rebuilt the missing wing and had to totally redo the wiring which was all funky. We replaced all the vents and sidelites too.

For a personal touch we removed the original taillights and replaced them with vintage '55 T-Bird taillights. We also added wide white walls with vintage oldsmobile caps and bullet centers. Fortunately my husband has the expertise and equipment for automotive painting, so we tackled that as well. We sanded down the exterior with fine steel wool and rubbed with paint remover several times. We picked out the automotive paint of 1959 Dodge canary yellow for the lower portion and a slightly off white for the top.

Inside the trailer only needed a good cleaning and polish, including the original linoleum floor tiles. The original furnace and range are functional, but we have not found a need for the  bathroom, so it is used as storage. The cool Krefft refrigerator (with pink and black interior!) was in need of extensive repair, so just this year we removed it and much as I hated to, replaced it with a modern compact. Everything else in the trailer including kitchenware, small appliances, linens and decor are all vintage 50's; even my husband's rod magazines in the  "S" magazine rack!
 
The original owners were so pleased with our efforts that they kindly sent us personal photos from the camper's first year out taken in Yellowstone National Park in 1960.

We own a 1959 Rambler wagon that we hope to pull it with someday soon. Our first trip was down south to Santa Claus, IN to camp at Holiday World. There is always lots of  interest no matter where you go.

We had a blast restoring it and love camping in it. Now if I can just get my old farmer neighbor to let go of that '58 Rod 'N reel.......
 
The Duggers

Here is a photo of the Shasta when it was new and being used by the previous owners at Yellowstone in 1960...