Piece of History Returns to Camp-Inn

In July, we picked up a special little trailer. Camp-Inn #0000. This is the first teardrop trailer that Craig and Cary built. It was built for Craig & Betsey's own personal use and went on it's maiden voyage down Route 66 to the Grand Canyon.

#0000 was sold to finance starting the Camp-Inn business and to buy materials for the first two demos (one of which Craig and Betsey still use #0002)

You can see #0000's resemblance to the designs that came later. The front windows, front storage bump-out, teardrop shape doors and streamlined fenders have been there from the first.



That first trailer had smaller tires and painted fenders. After that first trip to the Grand Canyon, Craig added stainless guards to the front of the fenders to cover the chipped paint from going down a couple miles of gravel road.



The half hatch and support arm stayed the same but that is about all that remains of the original kitchen design.


The stove plugged into a receiver on the rear of the trailer.



It had a gas line with a quick-connect to hook it up.



Under the counter there was a large drawer. This was a really great idea that never worked quite right.



It was impossible to keep it air-tight enough to keep the dust out. On the first gravel road, about 1/4" of dust filled in on top of the pots and pans. After that, we put a towel on top of everything and shook out the dust when we stopped.



Here you can see the end of the drawer and the lock pin on a short chain. The lock pin held the drawer shut during travel.



Because the drawer slid out, there was no need for counter lids. But on the plus side there isn't the need for a "dust towel" any more.



The left cabinet had a flip down door so you could see what was behind it.



The right cabinet had two small drawers. The top one had dividers for utensils.



The cooler fit in a little alcove, but Craig hadn't come up with the sliding stove idea yet.



Same basic door shape but the door seal wasn't very good yet.



In the cabin, there was a duffle shelf. Below that, there were a couple drawers. The drawers went into the lower section of the kitchen cabinets.



Drawer on the other side...



These weren't the original curtains.....



The front storage was about the same but there was a divider between every door.



So now you know how it all started.... The plan is, when we build a new showroom, we will make room for #0000 to be in it's own "museum" area. Until then, we will keep it warehoused out back and include it in our factory tour for people who are interested.

 

Absolutely incredible!!! Thanks for sharing the history lesson with us, Betsey!! WOW!!!

 

You know the quality is good when model #0000 still looks better than most homebuilts.

 

Thanks Evan!

Well, actually...it WAS a homebuilt!

 

You never forget your first love. Glad she is home safe.

Sue

 

That's so neat! I can't wait for the official camp inn museum. I can picture the billboard on the interstate now.

 

Betsey,
Where did you re-aquire it from?
What a great piece to have back.
Sure would like to see it when we pick up our 560 in Oct.

 

The gentleman who bought it from us has had it for the past 11 years. We've kept in touch with him & told him that if he ever decided to sell it, to give us a call...and he did! It has been in Wisconsin the entire time, only a couple of hours away.

 

Betsy I was telling the story of Camp-Inn Saturday to a friend and wishing I had taken a picture of the first one to show him and now here are the pictures and a great explanation - I love it. Seeing it in person was so fun. I forgot what year it was built but I thought: wow if the first one held up this good my 550 will surely last a long time.

 

Pat,

It was built in the spring of 2000.

 

I totally agree with Evan - these babies are built to LAST! Congratulations on the acquisition! It's a beaut!

 

All I could say when it came back was "Gee, I remember it being nicer". LOL!!! Parking it next to a current one really does show the subtle improvements over the years.

We talk to alot of homebuilders of course. One subject that always comes up is the idea of building a teardrop to strictly have one for the lowest amount of investment possible. We have learned over the years that generally this is a false savings because you typically will be three of them before you are happy. The average evolution will be three trailers on the way to getting it to work right and to be happy with it. This I would say was true for us too. This one is soooo different. The next one was very different too but also had a very unique galley layout. The third one Craig and Betsey still have and many have seen this one. That one (serial #0002) is very very close to what we build today, at least is general design and layout. Materials, construction methods and general quality is where you really see all the improvements these days.

Cary

 

Betsey thanks for sharing the pictures,history and evolution of our present day Camp Inn's.

 

George,

It does have wear & tear on it. Hard to tell in some of the pictures. But it also wasn't used as extensively in the 11 years it was gone as some people's are used. The gentleman who owned it had a street rod he would use to pull it. He won a bunch of awards for the combo. He didn't upgrade...health issues have slowed him down & it sat in storage the past 5 or so years, as he just wasn't using it anymore.

 

Doesn't Alan Jackson have a song about that

 

If you don't mind me asking, did you have to pay more for it than you sold it for?

 

yes.