Mid-States Corporation

Duo – Elcar – Star – Pan American – Terra Cruiser – Kozy – National – “M” Systems

A Brief History

By Ryan Counterman (owner/restorer of a 1951 Star 28)

The Mid-States Corporation was started in 1943 by William MacDonald. Headquartered out of Chicago, Illinois, the company leased trucks to haul small house trailers nationwide for the war effort. At its peak, they had 116 trucks under lease and were one of 4 companies with government contracts to do this work. Current house trailer suppliers were unable to match the demand of the government, so MacDonald decided to get into the manufacturing business by buying Elcar Coach in Bourbon Indiana on Nov. 1, 1944.

Elcar Coach

Elcar Coach was started by Milo Miller around 1934. Miller had started building trailers in Mishawaka, Indiana in 1931 under the name Sportsman Trailer Company. Miller was a pioneer in the early trailer days, building his first trailer out of necessity to carry his family on business trips. After he sold his first trailer, he saw demand and quickly built more. Wilbur Schult saw Miller’s trailers at the 1933 Chicago Exposition Show and bought the Sportsman Trailer Company from him in 1936. This would later become Schult Homes, one of the biggest manufactured home builders today. See https://tincantourists.com/wiki/schult/ for more info on Schult trailers. After this sale, Miller went on to start the Elcar Coach Company, and moved the factory to Bourbon, Indiana. In November of 1944, Elcar Coach was sold to Mid-States. Miller would stay in the trailer manufacturing business by starting the National Trailer Corporation with a factory in Elwood, Indiana. Less than 2 months after the acquisition, the Elcar factory had a devastating fire on Dec 24, 1944 and it burned to the ground.

Early travel trailer built by Milo Miller

Duo Coach

While plans to rebuild the Elcar factory were underway, Mid-States bought the Duo Coach company in Union City, Michigan in January of 1945 for $12,000. Production of government trailers started immediately. Duo Coach was started in the early 1930’s by Harold Dennison and Gerry Davison (Duo D’s). Like Milo Miller, Davison had built himself a travel trailer in the early 1930’s and used it to take his family on trips to Yellowstone, New England, and Washington D.C. Upon improving the original design, Davison decided to go into the trailer manufacturing business.

Early travel trailer built by Gerry Davison

The Elcar Coach factory in Bourbon, Indiana was quickly rebuilt. Due to the importance of the trailers being built for the war effort, the War Production Board aided Mid-States in erecting a new factory. Soon both factories were building government housing trailers to house military families. After the war, Mid-States transitioned Duo and Elcar into making house trailers for the public. A third brand, “Star” was introduced in 1947. The Star was the smallest of the company’s offering, coming in at 19.25 feet long. In the middle segment was the Elcar, offering models between 25.5 feet and 29 feet. Duo was the flagship of Mid-States, with the Monarch and the Empress models being very stylishly designed with many luxurious and unique features.

Always innovating and trying to be on the front line of design, Mid-States built special one-off units for promotions and shows. Some of these units include the Mid-States Executive Land Yacht, the Duo Flagship, and in the early 50’s, the Executive Flagship Coach.

1948 Trailer Show – Philadelphia

In 1947, Mid-States acquired a factory building in Cassopolis, Michigan from American Coach. This factory was used to start a new brand called the Terra Cruiser. They produced a 26’ aluminum model. This trailer was a former Duo trailer and was not the same as Terra Cruiser in California. They also produced the Star, the 19.25’ model. Unfortunately, in September of 1947, a fire broke out in the Cassopolis factory, burning it to the ground, and it was never re-opened. Production continued in both the Bourbon and Union City factories.

In 1949, Mid-States bought the Pan-American Coach company in Pasadena, California for nearly $1,000,000. The Pan-American factory was one of the most modern facilities in the business with a continuous production line running 1,020 feet with modern machinery. Pan-American Trailer Coach was founded in 1945 by Allen Brokate.

Pan American Coach being tested for leaks, Pan American Coach at show

In 1950, Mid-States bought the Terra Cruiser Coach company in Paramount, California.

Late in 1949, Mid-States sent out a trailer owner survey which showed the need for a 21.5-foot-long coach. They decided to redesign the Star for the 1950 model year, and three new trailers were introduced. These included 3 models: a single axle 22’ model, and tandem axle 28’ and 35’. All models had 2 doors and aluminum siding. These would be produced with little change from 1950 to 1953 in Union City. Similar designs and layouts were carried over into the Elcar trailers of the same era.

1951 Star 28’ restored by author Ryan Counterman

In 1951, Mid-States bought the Kozy Coach Company, in Kalamazoo, Michigan from Carleton W. Reade. This acquisition made Mid-States the world’s largest producer of mobile homes. More on Kozy Coach here: https://tincantourists.com/wiki/kozy-coach/

In 1952, Mid- States built the Executive Flagship Coach motorhome at the Pan-American factory. The Executive Coach was like nothing ever built before. Coming in at 65 feet long and weighing 18 tons, it was toted to be the “most exciting mobile home in the world.” Amenities included 2 full bathrooms, a bar and a lounge, sleeping quarters, and a combination sun deck/helicopter landing pad/swimming pool diving board. Yes, this coach even had its own portable 6-foot-deep pool that could be set up behind the coach. Only one unit was ever built and was last seen in the mid-60s rotting away in a St. Petersburg, Florida storage yard.

National Trailer Corporation

National Trailer Corp. of Elwood, Indiana was started by Milo Miller after he sold Elcar to Mid-States. In 1945, Miller sold National to Daniel Singer and E.G. Mann, who were executives for the firm. In 1947, National Trailer Corp. sold to Zimmer Boat and Trailer of Detroit. Zimmer continued to make trailers under the National brand in Elwood and under the Zimmer name in Detroit. In the early 1950’s, the National Trailer Corp. only produced one model, 35 feet long, called the Vanguard. This model could be configured in several different interior layouts. In 1952, Mid-States bought National Trailer Corp. and began manufacturing National trailers at the Star plant in Union City. National trailer production would later move to Kalamazoo to be built in the Kozy factory in 1955. Zimmer continued manufacturing trailers under the Zimmer name after the sale in Elwood.

In 1953, Mid-States bought M Systems out of Vicksburg, Mississippi. More on M Systems here: https://tincantourists.com/wiki/m-system/

“Viral on Facebook” 1954 Duo 8 x 50 Mobile Home

Over the next few years, Mid-States continued building and evolving mobile homes from all its nationwide factories. The trailers got longer and wider, with Mid-States pushing states to change the laws on how large and wide house trailers could be transported. On January 4, 1960, William MacDonald sold the entire Mid-States Corporation to Chance Vought Aircraft for $6,785,000.

More photos:

Early Elcar

1951 Elcar

1951 Star 22’