Vintage is wildly popular over seas

I had to go to the Port of Baltimore and drop off another trailer. Her destination is South Hampton England. I went way up to Northern Michigan to retrieve her back in May. She has been sitting in the storage lot since then. An ironic thing is the name of the boat she is going on is called the Michigan Highway.

For some odd reason my TWIC Escort "forgot" that the Union run Port office closes at 11:30 for lunch. I had no choice but to keep the clock rolling until 1:oo when they all returned to admit my paper work. Kind of odd how he forgot, but I still had to pay him for his time. With so much time to kill there was nothing left to do but check out the classic cars lined up at the terminal.

Just receintly was the Hersey and Carlisle Auto Shows. I take it there is some kind of auction or for sale area there. All these cars had stickers from one of those two shows.

Oddly enough every car you see here was bought by the same buyer.

Every one of them is being shipped to Sweden.

Some one in Sweden has a real love for vintage American cars. This is a real good representation of 50's and 60's classics.

A little muscle thrown into the mix.

There must have been 50 all together in this group.

Now that would look so sweet towing my Overlander.

Or really any trailer for that matter. Sorry most of these are so washed out. It was VERY sunny and I was hiding my camera in my palm as I took all of these. I should have adjusted the ISO, but then the cameras on the light poles might have noticed me taking pictures.

Surf City here come the Shark...

Be careful you don't impale yourself Dave. Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself. I know you are rather forgetful and would not want any accidents. After working the Port twenty years it easy to forget hours of operation and where you are walking....

Stay close to the fifties cars that are all rounded over.

Or stay close to the Airstream.

I will refrain from comment as to what this old girls next life will be. Let's just say Wally intended his product to travel. That is why it is called a "travel trailer."

You are probably wondering what she is. This is a front kitchen Safari. A 1955 that is titled as a 54.

She is rather complete inside even though all the wood work was painted at some point.

A little dent up front and a very soft floor inside. This one is off on her big adventure across the pond. Her owner has big plans for her.

I just cannot imagine what it must cost to fill that beast up in the UK. A 345 Classic gets what, about 7 mpg? Gasoline over there is well over $5.00 a gallon. At least this one looks like it could actually drive. The last time I was here there was another Airstream motorhome that looked so broke down it. I bet she had to be dragged onto the boat.

Hope you enjoyed another adventure to the Port. I am not to sure you are going to be seeing too many more. I have some transport obligations I plan to follow through on, but after those I do not think I will be taking any more trailers to this destination. My business is to restore these wonderful trailers. I need to focus my energy there, not helping export American Icons. I would feel so much better putting a restored trailer on the boat, knowing someone was dedicated to the project. Unfortunately many of these classic trailers are being converted to vending vehicles. The interiors and their complete history is thrown away to make room for the fish and chips fryer. I am fully aware that someone will step right in and fill my void, but a man needs to have his beliefs and he needs to stand behind them.

Falling for the flu

Things might seem a bit slow around here, but many little projects have been getting done that just have not warranted photos or explanation. I mean, do you really want to see axle swaps and more window work? How interesting is it to see a fantastic fan going in or a catalytic heater? I thought I would save you the boredom of seeing all that.

One thing that has gone on though is that I was visited by the N1H1(not confirmed but it was so bad only media hype could provide this kind of severity) flu. I was literally laid up for fourteen days. Somewhere in the middle of the entire illness I recovered a trailer. Yes, I went with a raging fever and recovered a trailer. Common, it was only a twelve hour day and I drank lots of hot fluids.

I went up to New Jersey and picked up this 1977 rear bedroom Argosy. Now if you want to see a time capsule, you need to see this Argosy. I would say this rig is 110% original and all in working order. It needs a little cleaning, a new paint job, and new axles, but she is very mint. Well, not mint, more like burnt orange. I had obligated to go fetch it right before I took ill. Even though I was very sick, I felt I needed to get it done. I was able to rewire the pig tail plug and get everything working except the electric brakes. I also learned that an Argosy uses a very non vintage 2 5/16" ball. A couple of trips to U haul and we were on the road. I took the trailer to her new owner and seeing her expression when I backed into her drive way made the entire trip so worth while. To see a mature woman skipping, clapping, and giggling as you are backing her trailer in makes it so worth the minor inconvenience of having the flu. Sure I got paid to do the job, but seeing Mary skipping like a little girl was the best payment I have ever received. So many look at these things as "just trailer" or a source of income. For Mary, it was the start of a whole new way of life and she was so glad to have it brought to her. I was very glad I pushed myself to do the move. I am also so glad an old girl has found someone to love her again. Good luck Mary, see you up the road....