Some of you may remember a couple of years ago
I had posted some comments about a car trailer that
we were putting together. The trailer has been super,
but with the recent additions to my cars, I've decided to
move from an open trailer (which I prefer for closed cars,
the speedster and for my 1940's sprint car) to an
enclosed car trailer.
Therefore, I'm going to sell my trailer. I recall someone in
the Seattle area that was really interested in my trailer
when I was building it. Maybe he's still interested and still
a member of the Shop Talk list.
Here are the basic details:
It's a 14' all-aluminum bed length. This is a trailer designed
in the 1980s and built up near here in Arlington, WA. The design
was done by a Boeing aircraft engineer and everything is bolted or riveted.
What happened was that I saw a similar trailer on a speedster tour and fell
in love with the design. Tracked down the company (out of business)
and then the former owner who put me in contact with the former
shop foreman. They had built around 300+ trailers and back in
the early '80's they sold for nearly $4000. They were marketed as the
ultimate trailer to haul behind your Bluebird or other deluxe motorhome.
I found that the last set of 'side pods' manufactured never were used.
They had been sitting in the pasture at the shop foreman's home.
I purchased them and went to work with a local man here in Mount Vernon,
WA who is a super fabricator (race cars, etc.) and we upgraded
the design in a number of ways. SS or cad plated fasteners, SS chain, super
deluxe hitch, all aluminum and stainless, we hot-dipped
galvanized the steel tongue support, switched all lighting to LED,
incorporated a tilt-bed design, made the center section aluminum
wood aluminum sandwich composite (Boeing surplus airliner
flooring material), built-in ramp slides, etc.
Included 2 Dexter torsion 3500 lb axels, tilt-bed design,
aluminum wheels and electro-hydraulic driven disc brakes!
I've used it for the past two years and the driver doesn't even know
it's there. Perfect towing and easy to back up (I have to back around
our Guest House and then into the garage with it, and it's perfect).
The only reason I'm replacing it is that my older cars (1914 Overland,
1914 Buick, 1914 Cadillac) have come to demand an enclosed
trailer, plus my wife wants room when we travel to hang up her
Edwardian clothing she's made for us to wear when we tour in
the antiques. The trailer is awaiting action on one or two items,
nothing mechanical....just cosmetic. The plastic film from 20+ years
ago is still on a small portion of the aluminum. It needs to be scraped
off (I've tried every chemical....I'm in the chemical business) and then
it should be polished or swirled for a super look. The locking side
boxes are great and have super cam type locks that work well.
Sorry I don't have any current photos, but will be glad to take them
if your interest is high. Hope this didn't bore you.....btw, the
trailer is $4500. It's not cheap, but you'll never find another one
like it.
Steve Hammatt
Mount Vernon WA USA
360-661-6060
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