Can you tell us about how you got into the vintage trailer hobby?
I got covid in 2020 and subsequently had a couple scares where I was exposed to people who had Covid and I had to quarantine away from my wife and kids. We borrowed a 10-year-old rPod 171 from some friends and I lived in it in our yard for 3 separate quarantine periods. It really opened my mind to how comfy trailer camping can be and showed me that we can get a full featured, hard-shell trailer behind our Jeep Wrangler. Well, turns out it wasn’t quite so easy to find a small enough one to fit behind a 95 Wrangler with all the features we wanted. So, we combed the classifieds and found a 72 Serro Scotty nearby that needed a home. As we started to get into it and update the things we knew we wanted to change, we found extensive rot and some sub-par repairs, so it turned into a full gut and refit operation. The time spent working on it with my daughter has been amazing, and the weekend trips we’ve made with the camper have been priceless. We’ve had friends ask us to build one for them and are already discussing what our next project camper should be!
What type of trailers have you owned and what do you have now? What is your dream vintage trailer?
We’re on our first camper, a 1972 Serro Scotty 13’. We’ve always dreamed of having a 1940’s Spartan Manor, and I’d love to find a derelict one to restore from the frame up. Of course, I’d need a real shop to do that build correctly and a much larger tow vehicle to move it, so that’ll be a way off.
What do you tow with?
We primarily use a 1995 Jeep Wrangler to tow with but have also recently gotten a VW ID.4 that is more than capable of towing our little 1300 lb. Scotty.
Do you attend rallies and what do you like the most about attending a rally?
We attended our first rally in fall of 2021 and met so many nice people! We always love going new places and seeing new things, but rallies have been so fun to meet people and see all the different things they’ve done with their campers.
Why did you decide to join the Tin Can Tourists?
Always interested in more tips/tricks for vintage campers and wanted to be dialed in to the vintage rally scene.
What are your camping plans for this year?
We have some paint and cosmetic work to do this winter and then are hitting the road. Have a mini rally in Georgia in March where 20+ of our friends from our running club are converging for 4 days with their campers. Then we have one rally in Maryland in May and are working on plans for this summer. Trying to plan a weeklong, multi-location trip to see a number of sites.