The Shasta wings have to be one of the most successful yet simple and inexpensive design features that any vehicle manufacturer has ever come up with. Can you think of another one? It has to be cheap and easy but instantly recognizable. This restored 1964 Shasta Astroflyte trailer can be found listed here on eBay in Colonial Heights, Virginia and the current bid price is $7,600, but the reserve isn’t met.
Vintage trailers have been big business for decades now, there are actual cable shows dedicated to companies that restore and renovate and/or modify vintage trailers. You can see that this trailer isn’t quite ready for Pebble Beach, there are a few wrinkles in the exterior material and some diamond plate has been added.
There are those famous Shasta fins again. Have you thought of anything else yet? Shasta made several interesting small travel trailers in what I call the golden age of travel, the 1960s, including two similar models: the Astrodome and Astroflyte. They were both 16-foot-long trailers with a little (48×82) cabover area for sleeping – or in this case, the seller has an air-conditioning unit mounted up there. The big difference between the two is that the Astrodome weighed 2,100 pounds, had a 30-gallon water tank, and had a small toilet compartment.
The Astroflyte, as seen here, weighed 1,900 pounds, had a 16-gallon water tank (cold water only), and had no toilet. The “Astro” part of the name reportedly meant that they had a small cabover sleeping area. These were nice for the day but would be fairly primitive for most of us today. With a 300-pound hitch weight, a small SUV is perfect for hauling this one, or better yet, a vintage car. This one even has the famous Shasta “S” magazine rack on the wall.
Electric brakes are standard and you can see that this trailer appears to be in outstanding condition. The seller says that it’s been renovated – fixed up inside and painted outside. It has a new refrigerator and microwave and could easily sleep four to six people, although it would be a little cramped inside with six people moving around. I wonder what their reserve is for this one, any guesses?
Before I bellyache about the preceding squarebody, and the ensuing BP rise, the author has a knack for bringing me to happier places. Like here. 1st, I want to thank the staff for “letting go ” of some of the submissions from Scottys “vault”. They generate REAL memories, not some Italian super car on a poster.
As mentioned on the other campers, very similar to my parents, sans the “cabover” part, which really moved the bed away from the table area, also a bed. This was for the married couple with 2-3 kids, probably 75% of America then and getting a camping spot near a bathroom was paramount. It’s going to need something and surely has some “camper funk”. At this price, it’s an okay find, in that, anything even resembling a camper is todays hot button( pulled by a squarebody, oh boy, the hype abounds) and like the squarebody, it’s attraction is it’s simplicity. I think the tide will turn some, people will eventually get fed up with modern vehicles. Too bad there just aren’t enough of these to go ’round. Great find, and probably won’t even make it to the regular postings.
We had a trailer similiar to this but it was a 68.My mom bought it from her older sister for 400.00 back in 77.We parked it at the Candlwick lake camp ground in I believe it was Marengo IL as she had a lot there.It was a blast to go there on the weekends riding my Stingray all over by the lake and explore everything nature and go fishing. It was a accommodating little trailer and fun to sleep in after having a campfire roasting hot dogs and marshmellows on a whittled stick. It’s all built up now like a suburban sub division and jam packed with people and traffic.Sigh.
Cool old rig, the paint makes me think of ZZ Top.
Piece of old school here….and I think my “new” rig would pull it!!
This is really nice. Not sure how expensive it will get, but it looks good to go.
Beautiful little camper, I used to see these all the time at the campground where I worked in maintenance for nearly a decade. They even produce them now that, at first glance, you might mistake for one of these old gems. I still prefer the old ones, kinda like my taste in cars. My wife and I bought a ’57 Spartan Imperial Mansion a few years ago and lived in it while we shopped for a home. I fixed it up to make it more comfy for us, but now I’m wanting to completely upgrade everything and maybe sell it, maybe set it up on our property and rent it, air bnb style. Or I may find the perfect old truck of similar age and become a ‘tin can tourist’ and just roll it around the country and see the sights. It puts me in mind of the ‘long long trailer’ that Ricky and Lucy pulled around in the movie by the same name… that was a riot! This little cutie we could probably pull around with our CR-V, heck, it’s pulled a pontoon boat out of Kentucky lake!
Ended:
May 02, 2023 10:56:56 PDT
Current bid:
US $8,600.00
Reserve not met
[ 42 bids ]
Thanks, Mike!
Always nice to see how things ended when the come up later! Take care.
I agree, sir, that’s why I like to do a screenshot for craigslist ads so when folks are looking back months or years later, they can see the original ad.
60 years old…basically cosmetic inside update…not for the 6’3″ guy….pull it, park and enjoy…old school..