The Purchase and Delivery of Capt. Wilson's Overlander

Some of my best memories from growing up in Northern California are the many camping trips my family took every year. We camped all over California with family and friends, often staying at the dozens of great State Parks in California. On occasion we would venture further out and camp in other parts of the West including Idaho, Oregon and Nevada. Most of the time, we were car camping with a giant canvas Sears tent that could sleep at least twelve. When I was about 14 we made our one and only trip to Yellowstone in my grandparents' 1972 fifth wheel. The trip was right out of a National Lampoons movie. We picked up the trailer at my grandparents' house outside of Boise, Idaho and all four of us, my mom, dad, sister and I, packed into a 1972 Ford F-150 towing a 24 foot fifth wheel. It was an incredible trip with many adventures including a long day trying to back out of a dead-end, muddy, one-way road at Beaver Dick Park in Idaho (seriously, Google it, the park is still there). A couple years later, we took that same rig all the way to Camargo, Mexico - a 2,400 mile round trip.

I love camping. In the Northwest, however, where my wife and I ended up after leaving California to go to the University of Washington law school, the camping season is a bit different. It is a little shorter, a little colder, and a little wetter. We went on a few camping trips early on in our lives up here and we even developed a pretty good stock of camping gear. But since our first daughter was born in 2006, the thought of car camping has not really been on the top of our list.

A few years ago, our friends Ryan and Katie Weber bought a 1959 18 foot Airstream and began taking it on all kinds of trips throughout the Northwest. At first, I thought they were a bit crazy, but soon enough I was totally enthralled in the lifestyle and the restoration they ultimately undertook. Ryan began sending me Craigslist posts and eBay listings for Airstreams sometime last year. At first I only paid cursory attention to them, but late last year I really started looking. When our second daughter was born in November 2008, my wife and I decided that a vintage trailer would be a good way to get our family out camping while also feeding my never ending need of a project. You see, I am one of those people who tends to go crazy if I don't have a long to-do list. We recently finished renovating our 1920's Craftsman house and I've been itching for something else to tear apart and re-do.

About a month ago, I began "negotiating" for the purchase of a 1959 Overlander International that I found on Craigslist in San Diego, California. The negotiating process was extensive as we were not very close on the price for several weeks and the previous owner (PO) had to clear up the title before we were even willing to look at it. Ultimately, we settled on a price and then started the real adventure - getting it from San Diego to Seattle.


The first step was completing the purchase. My mother-in-law, who lives in North San Diego County, graciously agreed to take possession from the PO and handle the transfer of ownership for us. Here she is standing in front of the Captain in her driveway.



Before I go any further, though, I should fill you in on the background of the title to this blog. The trailer was originally owned by a Navy Captain who purchased it new on May 28, 1959. Captain Thomas P. Wilson was a meticulous record keeper, so we have not only the original invoice, but all his correspondence with the Airstream factory and the dealership where he purchased the trailer as well as receipts for everything he ever had done or purchased for the trailer. It is an interesting stack of papers and will certainly influence our naming decision ("Capt. Wilson's Overlander" will likely remain the prefix to any future formal name).


The Captain had to stay at Kathy's house for three days while we arranged for a friend from Sacramento to drive down there, get new tires and wheels installed, and tow her up to Seattle. Jeff, my friend who will never let me forget the huge favor he did in picking up the Captain, got off to a pretty rough start last Thursday. Upon picking up the trailer he found neither the lights nor the brakes were operational. To make matters worse, despite extensive research into the proper wheel and tire size, after having the tires and wheels installed, Jeff only made it about a block before one tire blew because it was rubbing against an old shock mount. Jeff ended up spending the entire day at the tire shop "re-engineering" the shock mounts, rigging up direct power to the trailer lights and getting the brakes operational (sort-of).

Despite the initial set-backs, Jeff got on the road Friday morning and never looked back. He drove straight through for nearly 18 hours all the way to Eugene, Oregon on Friday night and made it to our house in Seattle the next day at 2:30.


We spent the rest of Saturday afternoon on our initial inspection.


For a fifty year old trailer, it is in pretty decent shape and we hope to get to camp in it a couple/three years before we need to pull the shell off and do a complete restoration. Nonetheless, we've learned a ton about these old trailers from the Webers and we know this could turn into a huge project.

Please follow along as we tell the story of our restoration of this great Airstream and, more importantly, our family travels in Captain Wilson's Overlander.