Photo: eBay User: benscampersllc
Camping trailers weren't always vehicles that the average joe could realistically acquire. In the late pioneer days of the automobile, that was a luxury reserved mostly for well-to-do captains of industry looking for some R&R away from big cities at their private retreats in the countryside.
The inventor of the contemporary first fifth-wheel trailer, the American aviator/motorcycle builder Glenn H. Curtiss famously marketed his new creation mostly to his own well-to-do friends and family. That's why this 1937 Pierce Arrow Travelodge Model A is so very special indeed.
For those not up to speed on their long-dead American automakers, Pierce-Arrow of Buffalo, New York, was no cheap-econobox runabout type of moniker. Apart from some of the most expensive luxury cars on early American roads, they're also well celebrated for their high-quality commercial trucks, motorcycles, and even bicycles. Even without their pioneering work in camper trailers, that's one heck of a resume.
You'd be hard-pressed to visualize the grandeur this bare-metal hulk once presented nearly nine decades ago. But this jalopy of an old trailer used to be a prized family heirloom to one particularly fortunate American family. Three wheelbases were available for the 1937 Travelodge. Starting with a 13-foot (3.9-meter) Model A and extending to 16 feet (4.8-m) and 19 feet (5.7-m) with Models B and C, any selection was trimmed in the highest quality materials.
From polished wood to soft, plush leather and very nice quality aluminum for the day, only those with the means to own a Packard, Cadillac, or Rolls-Royce with the same level of features ever bothered purchasing these Pierce-Arrows. If only there was someone out there who could add some modern amenities to the interior of this old jalopy, slap on some new paint, and make it into something one could call a restomod sans engine...
Now that'd be a build we'd love to see. As for now, this forgotten piece of old American aristocracy is for sale out of Monongahela in Southwest Pennsylvania. Will it be yours?
For those not up to speed on their long-dead American automakers, Pierce-Arrow of Buffalo, New York, was no cheap-econobox runabout type of moniker. Apart from some of the most expensive luxury cars on early American roads, they're also well celebrated for their high-quality commercial trucks, motorcycles, and even bicycles. Even without their pioneering work in camper trailers, that's one heck of a resume.
You'd be hard-pressed to visualize the grandeur this bare-metal hulk once presented nearly nine decades ago. But this jalopy of an old trailer used to be a prized family heirloom to one particularly fortunate American family. Three wheelbases were available for the 1937 Travelodge. Starting with a 13-foot (3.9-meter) Model A and extending to 16 feet (4.8-m) and 19 feet (5.7-m) with Models B and C, any selection was trimmed in the highest quality materials.
From polished wood to soft, plush leather and very nice quality aluminum for the day, only those with the means to own a Packard, Cadillac, or Rolls-Royce with the same level of features ever bothered purchasing these Pierce-Arrows. If only there was someone out there who could add some modern amenities to the interior of this old jalopy, slap on some new paint, and make it into something one could call a restomod sans engine...
Now that'd be a build we'd love to see. As for now, this forgotten piece of old American aristocracy is for sale out of Monongahela in Southwest Pennsylvania. Will it be yours?
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