Airstream Nest no longer in production?

[floyd]

Maybe they bought it to kill it?

[Glenn Baglo]

I heard Scamp is for sale.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by floyd

Maybe they bought it to kill it?

That may not have been their original intention, but it surely was the end result.

[Material Guy]

The fact that the Nest had a back only entrance was enough for me to just say no. Would not even consider it.

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by Material Guy

The fact that the Nest had a back only entrance was enough for me to just say no. Would not even consider it.

That was to accommodate the side lunch counter.

[Civilguy]

Gosh, I had no idea; it looks like it's got ample seating though!

[Civilguy]

Originally Posted by Raz

Having watched from the beginning, I'm sorry to see it didn't succeed. I wonder how many they sold.

Someone on the Airstream forum says "The magic number is 465 produced."

https://www.airforums.com/forums/f54...ml#post2381066

[Raz]

Originally Posted by Civilguy

Someone on the Airstream forum says "The magic number is 465 produced."

https://www.airforums.com/forums/f54...ml#post2381066

Interesting read. I particularly like the story of the fellow who drove 1000 mile to get one of the last units and towed it home with his diesel Porsche. Mileage dropped from 31 to 18 mpg. And everyone seems to like the Oliver but it's too small. I seem to recall someone saying Scamp sells about 400 trailers a year. Hope Thor doesn't buy them out.

[redbarron55]

The Nest it the answer to the question that not that many people asked.
If you are spending that much money you could buy an Oliver.
I get about 20 MPG towing my Scamp with my almost identical to the Porsche Touareg.
Little things are curious like an awning that is not near the door.
At some point there is a cost vs benefit ratio that is too high for commercial viability.
If they can't sell them when there is a boom in sales for trailers then...

[Alf S.]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

I heard Scamp is for sale.

Hi: Glenn Baglo... You can only go on so long before you have to "Scamper"!!!
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[steve dunham]

With all the FG trailer manufacturers that have gone in an out of business, it’s hard to get excited about one more being added to the list .
I suspect that when this current covid induced trailer boom is over more names will be added to the memory books.

[redbarron55]

With molded fiberglass campers the tooling is expensive, the layup is fairly fast with a chopper gun, but it takes time to cure and remove and prep for the next one. From there it is more labor intensive and fussy.
Hard to reach economies of scale at the pace and demand.
This is a niche market at best.
Several have thought that they had the secret and been proven wrong.
A number have thought that they had the secret and found out that they misunderstood the stresses involves in fabrication and finances.

[Raspy]

Oliver has shown that a high quality fiberglass trailer can be produced successfully. I think several things have been key to this success.

First is that the trailers are quite conventional in their layout. No big decisions have to be made about something that is different form the norm, such as floor plan or rear entry.

Second, they have an excellent reputation for quality, for standing behind their trailers with a good warrantee, and for being friendly.

Third, they have achieved momentum. Now, people who know nothing about trailers, can buy one with confidence, and in doing so, join a club of other owners. The admission fee to that club is the purchase of an Oliver. They can live the fantasy of travel and freedom. This is similar to why so many buy Mercedes cars. They know they are good and no close scrutiny is needed.

The price is mostly not an obstacle. They appeal to a group who have the means to buy them, and they are made in a complicated way, with great attention to detail. Everyone who looks at one gets that right away.

No typical salesman pressure and back slapping is involved. You deal with those that built it and they are a nice bunch of folks.

Oliver also has and had the advantage of being in the fiberglass business for many years, they had the shop space and knew how to do most of it. They already owned fiberglass trailers and could see how to do it better. They were not driven by accountants who constantly pressed for cheaper, faster results and false deadlines.

The next time you think an Oliver is expensive, take a factory tour, and do some research. Sometimes, a lot of money can be cheap. Also, buying something and not having the added hassle of warrantee work, excuses and spent time, means a lot.

When a company like Thor has to deal with lots of negative comments and the perception of poor quality, they are damaging their strongest sales force: word of mouth from past customers. When they are apparently interested in cutting every corner they can, and it bites them, how do they react and change from their core philosophy? They have to fight the headwinds of bad customer relations, while spending more on the product, and figuring out where they went wrong. Thor seems to have had those problems for many years, and they don't ever seem to get passed it. Why should the NEST problems be any different?

[LindaandPat]

Originally Posted by Raspy

Oliver has shown that a high quality fiberglass trailer can be produced successfully. I think several things have been key to this success.

First is that the trailers are quite conventional in their layout. No big decisions have to be made about something that is different form the norm, such as floor plan or rear entry.

Second, they have an excellent reputation for quality, for standing behind their trailers with a good warrantee, and for being friendly.

Third, they have achieved momentum. Now, people who know nothing about trailers, can buy one with confidence, and in doing so, join a club of other owners. The admission fee to that club is the purchase of an Oliver. They can live the fantasy of travel and freedom. This is similar to why so many buy Mercedes cars. They know they are good and no close scrutiny is needed.

The price is mostly not an obstacle. They appeal to the group who have the means to buy them, and they are made in a complicated way, with great attention to detail, that everyone who looks at one gets that right away.

No typical salesman pressure and back slapping is involved. You deal with those that built it and they are a nice bunch of folks.

Oliver also has and had the advantage of being in the fiberglass business for many years, they had the shop space and knew how to do most of it. They already owned fiberglass trailers and could see how to do it better. They were not driven by accountants who constantly pressed for cheaper, faster results and false deadlines.

The next time you think an Oliver is expensive, take a factory tour, and do some research. Sometimes, a lot of money can be cheap. Also, buying something and not having the added hassle of warrantee work, excuses and spent time, means a lot.

When a company like Thor has to deal with lots of negative comments and the perception of poor quality, they are damaging their strongest sales force: word of mouth from past customers. When they are apparently interested in cutting every corner they can, and it bites them, how do they react and change from their core philosophy? They have to fight the headwinds of bad customer relations, while spending more on the product, and figuring out where they went wrong. Thor seems to have had those problems for many years, and they don't ever seem to get passed it. Why should the NEST problems be any different?

Very intelligent response and the truth . We thought we wanted a Airstream but saw quality problems right out of the gate . Once at a show Linda happened to open a front cabinet the the whole side piece fell off it was just nailed with a nailer . No glue and I really like better attachments like screws . Anyway kept trying to find a older one and couldn’t . So we moved on .
Didn’t know about Oliver until after we were invested in our current trailer . Yes you are right about the quality etc. Saw a few especially number two and Wow ! For us it was too late already spent the money but I still look at Oliver . The old saying you get what you pay for is so true . But in our mind Oliver is the Rolls Royce of fiberglass trailers and that would of been our pick . Pat

[dblcola]

Does anybody know what the Escape 23' will look like?

[Carol and Mike]

Originally Posted by Raspy

Oliver has shown that a high quality fiberglass trailer can be produced successfully. I think several things have been key to this success.

First is that the trailers are quite conventional in their layout. No big decisions have to be made about something that is different form the norm, such as floor plan or rear entry.

Second, they have an excellent reputation for quality, for standing behind their trailers with a good warrantee, and for being friendly.

Third, they have achieved momentum. Now, people who know nothing about trailers, can buy one with confidence, and in doing so, join a club of other owners.

John, good points coming from a former Oliver owner. Dealing with the Oliver family is unique in the way they stand behind their products. Plus, they are open and approachable. The price is an obstacle, but with Oliver you get what you pay for.

[Jack Walter]

The Nest seemed very heavy with a lot of tongue weight (around 400 lbs) when I looked them over at the RV shows - plus very expensive. I like the finishes but wasn't crazy about the layout. The Lil Snoozy had a better interior design I felt. Its a shame that the small innovative trailer designers are getting eaten up by the big corporations that value volume over quality.

[Osos1]

Looked carefully inside a Nest at a dealer nearby. For the money compared to an Escape: what a joke- not even close. And the " appealing to Millennials- a bigger joke. Bu-bye!

[Civilguy]

It looks like Airstream outsourced the fiberglass shells for the Nest.

Airstream Builds a New NEST | Composites Manufacturing Magazine

Goldshield Fiberglass of Indiana is constructing NEST’s fiberglass shells.

The Nest, launched in April 2018, isn’t Airstream’s first experience with composite materials. In 1955, company founder Wally Byum, recognizing composites’ versatility, designed a fiberglass trailer called the Wally Bee. Although a prototype of this trailer traveled through Central America in 1962, the model never made it to production.

The article makes an interesting read about something that is now apparently going to be another of the vintage molded fiberglass trailers designs which are no longer produced.

And here's the Wally Bee, a one-of-a-kind.

[Glenn Baglo]

Lacks windows. Who couldn't see that?