Where celebrity or movie memorabilia and your need for the proper vacation vehicle meet, lies Tom Hanks’ custom Airstream trailer. It’s never been used for the purpose it was designed for, but it still traveled places, and could take you to even more. If you can afford it.
Even by celebrity standards, this is a rare occasion: the trailer Tom Hanks has been using as his home-away-from-home while shooting on location has been listed for auction with Bonhams. It will sell at no reserve during the Quail Lodge Auction in Carmel, California, on August 13, with the auction house estimating it could go for anywhere between $150,000 and $250,000.
It’s a 1992 Airstream Limited Excella model that the actor bought one year later and then customized as his own. As Hanks explains in an interview with Bonhams Magazine, he didn’t want it to feel like a trailer, since he’d already lived most his adult life in ugly, impersonal and cramped movie trailers on sets. Instead, he wanted something that felt like a home, something that he could make his own, and love living in for whatever the duration of the shoot.
So, he ordered the Airstream almost bare, with just the bathroom and the kitchenette, and then worked to personalize it. By the looks of it, he achieved his goal of turning it into a home-like trailer, even if, by today’s standards, it does give off a certain dated vibe. But if you consider the fact that he really lived in it, the places it’s been and the people it hosted over a period of almost three decades, the dated décor can be overlooked.
Photo: Bonhams
And you could have the perfect getaway vehicle for the summer, with the most interesting story to tell.
Hanks’ Airstream is a triple-axle trailer with a small bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchenette with dining room, and a lounge slash living room. It is being sold with all the furniture inside, including the sofa Hanks picked for the living, the carpet and the electric fireplace.
Furnished in soft fabrics and real wood, as opposed to plastics, vinyl and formica, the trailer displays personal touches throughout: Hanks signed one of the AC units mounted on the roof, as well as the side of a cupboard, for the next owner. He also added stuff from his movies: there’s an FBI evidence tag from Catch Me If You Can, an Apollo 13 sticker from the film of the same name, and a FedEx sticker from Castaway. The cupboards are filled with dishes that he picked himself and mugs from various movie sets, including an Apollo 13 mug signed by co-stars Gary Sinise, Bill Paxton, and Kevin Bacon.
At the rear, there’s a small single-person bedroom, with storage underneath and in the cabinets overhead. The bathroom is small but complete: a shower with a glass door, a toilet, vanity, and a large lit mirror.
Photo: Bonhams
The kitchen has a burner with incorporated stove, a double sink, and plenty of countertop space. The cupboards also host an impressive collection of coffee makers, because, who knew?, Hanks is very much a coffee guy. Two teakwood chairs and a table allow for indoor dining, or can be used as patio furniture, under the large side awning. The living is mostly occupied by the large sofa and the fireplace.
Other features include electric leveling jacks, two propane tanks, a Honda ES 6500 120/240-volt generator, hot water heater, and window blinds. Dry weight is listed at 7,300 pounds (3,311 kg), with another 1,600 pounds (726 kg) additional capacity.
Though never used for traveling, the Airstream has traveled throughout the U.S., from Los Angeles, to Seattle for Sleepless in Seattle, Beaufort, South Carolina for Forrest Gump, and Philadelphia for Philadelphia. When not used by Hanks, it was stored inside and maintained professionally, so it presents in excellent condition.
Photo: Bonhams
To Hanks, it’s not the custom work or the celebrity provenance that recommend it, but the very fact that it’s an Airstream. “You haven't lived well until you survive a movie-stopping thunderstorm in an Airstream while on location in Carolina,” he says. “But, more than anything, an Airstream is gorgeous and cozy, which is why everyone who visited mine went away wanting one.”
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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