Unidentified Trailer Object

[Patrick M.]

Saw this trailer in the distance while in SE Arizona at the Whitewater Draw Wildlife Sanctuary. It appears to be fiberglass, but I don't find it's picture in the directory of Trailers. Any ideas, or is it an Aluminium Fiberglass Wantabe?

Photo from Feb 2008 visit, as the main herd has not arrived yet!

[Martin D]

Appears to be an Airstream produced as a lower priced alternative to the the silver high end units. They were painted aluminum( a light tan/cream color) rather than the coated silver type finish. I believe the were called Argosys. I don't remember if they offered a single axle but from the picture is sure looks like an Argosy produced in the early to mid 80's

Martin

[Chester Taje]

Appears to be an Airstream produced as a lower priced alternative to the the silver high end units. They were painted aluminum( a light tan/cream color) rather than the coated silver type finish. I believe the were called Argosys. I don't remember if they offered a single axle but from the picture is sure looks like an Argosy produced in the early to mid 80's

Martin

I agree with Martin

[james kent]

They were painted aluminum
I believe the were called Argosys. sure looks like an Argosy
Martin

Yes you are correct. It is an Argosy, and yes they were built by Airstream. They were a slightly lower class of their trailers with a lower trim level and instead of aircraft grade aluminum, I believe they had a different metal so they had to paint them. My brother-in-law had one for several years.

[Patrick M.]

Mystery solved. Thanks!

[Mr. W.]

Airstreams' beautiful aluminum bodywork is also their biggest flaw. Once damaged, they are notoriously difficult to repair. I can't vouch for the accuracy of this, but a die-hard Airstream friend of mine once told me that Argosy was a means for Airstream to recover money from Airstreams that got damaged or had cosmetic flaws during construction -- a little Bondo, a little paint, ba-dum ba-ding, you got an Argosy.

[Roger H]

...a die-hard Airstream friend of mine once told me that Argosy was a means for Airstream to recover money from Airstreams that got damaged or had cosmetic flaws during construction -- a little Bondo, a little paint, ba-dum ba-ding, you got an Argosy.

That's probably a Six-Meter Minuet (1974-79) or Argosy 20 (1972-73). They were built from 1972 to 1979.

Nope, Paul. That rumor has been floating around for thirty years. The other rumor is that Airstream used marred sections they wouldn't use on an Airstream and just painted them. That's not the case either. You can't strip the paint off an Argosy and find an Airstream. Argosy used steel endcaps rather than the aluminum segments used by Airstream. Argosy was a test bed for features on Airstreams. For example, the wrap-around front windows you see in this trailer didn't appear in the Airstream line until 1980.
Here's a link to a thread with some interesting Argosy facts.

Here's a link to a thread that discusses Airstream vs. fiberglass trailers.

And, of course, if you're really interested in Airstreams, one of our sister Social Knowledge sites is www.airforums.com, a site devoted to Airstream and Argosy trailers and motorhomes.

Roger

[Mr. W.]

There ya go! Thanks for clearing it up, Roger -- based on your history with Airstreams, I'm confident that your info trumps mine!