Which Trailer Was The First Laguna Cnc Camp Inn?

I see one of your photos is captioned “westpac96.”

I got to do a Tiger Cruise with my uncle on the Carl Vinson as he came home from a WestPac tour - would have been summer of 94. Small world!

 

Very fun. My grandfather and younger brother came aboard for a Tiger Cruise after WestPac '96, and rode the ship back from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii to Bremerton, Washington. Grandpa was hardly to be found anywhere during the cruise, since he was always out having a ball exploring every nook and cranny of the ship. My brother, on the other hand, was seasick pretty much the whole time...wasn't as fun for him! I was just happy to be heading home. The Persian Gulf is pretty miserable, and by the time I got back to my family, I hadn't seen them for 9 of the previous 12 months, including the last 6. It's always nice to get home, whether travelling by Navy ship or by Camp-Inn (and I much prefer the Camp-Inn!).

Edit: Typos

 

Very cool - uncle was in the air wing, so we only traveled on the ship from Pearl to San Diego where the air wing disembarked. The Tigers who were accompanying personnel assigned to the ship then put back out to sea and sailed to San Fransisco.

No sea sickness for us … small benefit of being on a Nimitz-class floating city.

 

Bear,

Awesome Q&A. I can add some to that.

1) No simple answer on that since not all of the camper woodwork was shifted to CNC at once. The CNC started cutting body parts Feb of 2013.

2) No front window 550s. Front windows can be special order deleted from a 550 model. Like you said, not many have done this, maybe 2 or 3. 500 models had no front windows but there are very few of those models out there and why we stopped offering that model. Deleting front windows was not a option available at a dealer and Bear's trailer was bought from a dealer.

3) Obsolete model qtys.
400 Base - 5, 400 Special - 2, 400 Classic - 1, 400 Ultra - 0, 450 Base - 1, 450 Special - 1, 450 Classic - 2,
450 Ultra - 0, 500 Base - 5, 500 Special - 9, 500 Classic - 3, 500 Ultra -1

4) Wood sides. I believe the number was originally 8 wood sided. One was destroyed in a car crash. One was aluminum skinned at a later date, and two were painted at a later date. So, woodies are very rare. We stopped offering wood side around the time Bears' camper was built, 2004 and somewhere in the 70s for serial number.

Plastic fenders. Classic and Ultra models always have come standard with SS fenders. SS fenders were optional on Base and Special models, plastic was standard on those models. 2008 I believe was when we stopped offering plastic. I could be wrong on that date though. Very few plastic fender Camp-Inns out there.

5) First 560 was 2005. First production 560s were 2006.

Who designed the 560. That was pretty much all Craig. He kept it secret because the concept was so "out of the box" at the time he didn't want to show anyone until he was sure he could make it work.

6) Stainless steel Camp-Inns. There are 2. We built a 550 in SS (with no front windows) back in 2002 as an experiment. We discovered why no one builds SS campers when doing that. In 2012 we built serial number 500 in SS after addressing the original list of manufacturing issues. Building that one created a new list of issues which is why that will be the last one. Serial number 500 will be offered for sale coming up soon now so keep an eye out for that.

7) Year most produced. My guess would have also been the same as Bear's. We were not correct though. 2013,2014,2015 and 2016 all had the same number produced at 76 campers. 2012 however had 79!

8 and 9) Yes, none.

Cary

 

I think it started in the hamper.

Jim

 

A bit rude to come into somebody's house and piss on their hard work. But everyone is entitled to their opinion.

I tend to think they are absolutely one of the most beautiful trailers around. And kudos to Camp-Inn for innovating such an amazing creation.

The 560's have a very historical look to them. They even look a little bit like the oldest Airstream in existence down in Amarillo...though I definitely like the 560's more:

https://roamlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/IMG_7671-1024x683.jpg

Edit: typo

 

The 560 and the 550 also don't really look all THAT different...

 

The 560 is what sold me on Camp-Inn. Having owned a traditional looking teardrop for ten years I knew instantly the 560 was for me.

 

Number 500 is indeed a 560 model, not a 550. When we did that unit and wanted to try SS again we took advantage of the 560 series to do this since forming the front windows in SS on a 550 is beyond our means. That was the key to being able to try a SS camper again. Once we did that though we come up with another list of reasons not to do SS campers.

Knowing your love for the 550 models I surprised before you had an interest in #500. Makes more sense now, I get it.

Cary

 

Horse trailer, ha!

Lets clarify-
The 560 is actually a mini-pony trailer.
Or a mini-Airstream, With the spa option.

Or, Thomas Dolby Steam Punkt art mobile studio...
https://baltimorefishbowl.com/stori...-vintage-time-capsule-trailer-up-for-auction/

The 550 reminds me of Awiens, as in Rosedale...
A baby 560 not yet fully grown, still in the pupae phase, in other words...


Thats my story and I am sticking with it.

 

The horse trailer aspect was not the comment I thought was rude. I routinely describe my 560 as a cross between a horse trailer and a battleship turret. Thus, historical details are not required, nor is your "forgiveness." Even if the historical details WERE relevant, I would think that someone who cares about Cary, Craig, and their fine workmanship, as you state you do, would provide some context considering that this is a public forum with numerous people who DON'T know the history.

My comment was referring to you saying "560s have no appeal in these eyes." For someone who signs off his posts with "Walk in Beauty," saying that the 560s have no appeal comes across as rude for what is normally a very positive online forum....whether Cary or Craig have wrote to you about it or not. Considering, as pointed out in a previous reply in this thread, there are more similarities than not between the Camp-Inn trailer variations. Pretty sure there might be SOME things about a 560 that DO appeal to you if you try to see the "beauty".

You're free to disagree with my opinion. But that's how it came across to me.

I'm glad you love Cary and Craig dearly and wish nothing but the best for them. On that we can agree, even though I certainly don't know Cary and Craig as well as you; my opinion comes from my limited interactions with them over the last couple of years, and from the absolutely amazing work they do.

 

Your tow vehicle could be a "tool for destruction" and an "instrument of death" if you chose to use it that way; yet here you are driving your tow vehicle around the country (while killing other non-human organisms via polluting the environment and splattering them with your windshield). Perspective matters: to the Jews in World War II Europe, the American battleships providing cover for the troops landing on D-day to end the Holocaust were an instrument of life.

This is a friendly, positive discussion forum...where we discuss things until either ALL participants have had their say OR the moderators shut it down. We'll continue as on needed without you. Have a nice day and stop by any time.

 

Uff da!

Uff Da: What the Norwegian American Expression Really Means - Life in Norway

 

There is a negative undercurrent to this bit of 'pissing' conversation that I have never seen before on this forum.

It is my point of view that it is sad and disappointing that the moderator agrees with the current of it.

 

Yes, I agree completely.
Love my teardrop, hate the haughty bullying in this thread.
The attitude is very odd, as well as extremely uncomfortable to read.

 

If I have contributed to the negativity, please accept my apologies. My initial comment was an attempt to address a public statement that I felt came across as rude and negative, and directed toward an amazing product that most of us love. The follow-up comments I made were directly addressing points made in the follow-on discussion. I certainly support maintaining this forum as a bastion of happiness and joy.

 

Thank you for your apology.

Unfortunately your comments came across as rude and negative.

We all agree that the CampInn company gives us the best trailer out there which ever one we choose.

From my point of view you attacked a man I call a Friend. He is well able to defend himself but I'd had enough of what appeared as bullying.

I look forward to your wisdom and posts. I assume this is addressed to Mike. Thank you, sir.

 

Jenn, I appreciate your perspective. It was not my intent to "attack" or "bully" anyone, but to simply call out what seemed to me to be rudeness. This is all certainly more challenging due to the nature of making comments in text form, rather than having the opportunity to have conversations in person, where body language and voice inflection can provide much more clarity and intent. Perhaps campfires were invented to provide this opportunity.

I look forward to your wisdom and posts as well.

-Mike

 

They still say it is.

 

Yes, they were bought by THOR...in 1980. I'm sorry, but every time I hear or read someone lament that Airstream was bought by THOR, and the quality went downhill...how does that make sense? They've owned the company for almost half a century. If anything, THOR saved Airstream from certain bankruptcy, and made into the iconic brand that it is.
I can't comment on the quality of their product, never having owned one. Just watching the walkthroughs by Patrick Botticelli of Colonial Airstream on YouTube shows the top end design ideas and components that go into these trailers.