Airstream Used To Build Shockingly Normal-Looking Campers That Were Nothing Like You’d Expect

Airstream has spent decades crafting an image for itself. You’d expect an Airstream to look like a polished aluminum bullet with aircraft-inspired riveted construction. But for a time in the 1980s, Airstream actually built trailers that looked shockingly normal. This 1986 Airstream Argosy “Square Stream” comes from a time when Airstream experimented with building campers with space-age construction methods rather than like an airplane. It’s so weird in how much it isn’t like a typical Airstream.

The “Square Stream,” a nickname given to these trailers by Airstream fans, wasn’t an experiment that lasted very long. Airstream tried out this new construction style on its Argosy line from 1986 to 1992 and it didn’t prove to be very popular. It’s believed that there were perhaps just 1,200 or maybe 1,300 of these trailers ever made in various configurations. Though, some believe as many as 3,000 were made in total.

For those of you who have been following my RV history series, that lower estimate would make these trailers even rarer than the obscure U-Haul CT13. One of these Airstream oddities has shown up for sale on Bring a Trailer and as you’re about to learn, they look pretty “normal” for a camper, but they’re also anything but that.

Airstream’s Experimental Brand

Brands spend a lot of time and unfathomable amounts of money crafting an image for their owners and buyers. Airstream is known for building high-quality trailers with a style and finish you won’t find with any other brand. The company has spent a lot of time making itself an icon. This is a problem when you want to experiment.

Your ideas may be hits or total stinkers, but you don’t know until you try. How do you experiment without potentially damaging your main brand? Launch a sub-brand, of course! Here’s a clipping from the last time I’ve written about a totally different Airstream Argosy:

As Airstream writes from its archive, in the early 1970s, the company began exploring the idea of offering a mid-priced line of campers. Then Airstream president Chuck Manchester saw the need for a separate line featuring campers with a mix of characteristic Airstream traits and experimental design.

Airstream opened a plant in Versailles, Ohio, 36 miles from its facility in Jackson Center. The new camper line would have a separate production and management team. Those first Argosy trailers were delivered in 1972 and Airstream marketed the campers almost Airstreams. Basically, you were buying a trailer with the riveted aluminum body and quality that made Airstream famous. Even the axle underneath was the same used on trailers branded as Airstreams.

By all accounts, these were real Airstreams, but Airstream distanced the Argosy trailers from the main line. Airstream informed Argosy owners that they could not attend Airstream rallies and were locked out of the Wally Byam Caravan Club. Still, Airstream wanted owners to know: “Argosy, above all means value,” and that their campers were “built by the pioneers of the trailering industry.”

Airstream cut costs by building Argosy units out of scratched and dented aluminum panels. They also used galvanized steel for end caps. Inside, Airstream further cut costs by using less expensive equipment and trim. Argosy trailers were then painted to cover up the imperfect aluminum and the steel caps. Airstream went so aggressive on cost-cutting that it even scrapped the lifetime warranty it offered on Airstream-branded products, instead offering just a one-year warranty on Argosy products.

The impact was that buyers saved $1,500 to $3,500 ($11,075 to $25,842 today) on a new Airstream by buying one branded as an Argosy. Sure, you got locked out of the Wally Byam Caravan Club, but $3,500 was some good hard cash back then.

But something neat about Argosy was the fact that it was also a sort of skunkworks for new ideas Airstream was perhaps too afraid to try out on the main line. Every Airstream built today has iconic panoramic windows. That was an idea that originated with Argosy before Airstream figured out that everyone loved it. Airstream’s first-ever motorhome was branded as an Argosy! If you think about it, Airstream might have been a different brand today if it didn’t have Argosy to test out new ideas with.

Not all Argosy experiments were smashing successes. For example, the galvanized steel end caps had a knack for shedding their paint, which was bad for that whole image thing we talked about earlier. Sadly, the impact of multiple oil crises and a weakened economy meant Airstream shuttered the plant that built Argosy units. Airstream bled $12 million in 1979. The Argosy brand then died in 1980.

The Rebirth

Also in 1980, businessmen Wade Thompson and Peter Orthwein purchased Airstream from Beatrice Foods. The two men weren’t really interested in RVs, but saw potential in the growth of travel trailer sales, especially if they could turn around such a name like Airstream.

So, the guys picked up Airstream and other brands, forming a parent company for their new conglomerate. In case you ever wondered, Thor has nothing to do with the Norse god, but the first two letters of the last names of the company’s founders. Orthwein and Thompson worked magic, too, turning Airstream around enough for the brand to make a million in just a year.

In 1986, Thor Industries reintroduced the Argosy line, and this time things got weird. The new Argosy line leaned even heavier on experimentation. These trailers were not built out of riveted aluminum. Instead, these trailers were built with welded aluminum skeletons on top of a rolled steel frame and a half-inch Blandex oriented strand board floor. As for the exterior panels? They’re tension-leveled aluminum sheets bonded to the skeleton. The steel caps didn’t make a return this time.

Now, Airstream was using aerodynamic caps made out of fiberglass.

Airstream also continued the tradition created with the first line of Argosy trailers. These trailers were painted beige, resulting in the most normal-looking Airstreams ever built.

In 1988, Airstream even introduced its first-ever 5th-wheel camper using the Argosy line. However, the 35-foot fifth wheel lived only through 1989 and it’s believed that there weren’t even 130 of those made and only five of them have a pop-out slide.

1988 was also the year Argosy was technically killed off again, as its trailer design was absorbed into the main line. The trailer was introduced as the Airstream Land Yacht and was painted silver rather than beige. Airstream would build these trailers until 1992, then the Square Stream experiment came to an end.

Weirdly, Airstream tried the fifth wheel idea again in the mid-1990s with the Integrity By Airstream. This wasn’t even an aluminum trailer, but just a typical everyday fifth wheel trailer with plain laminated walls but only marketed by Airstream. Look, that’s Thor Industries for you.

This Square Stream

That brings us to the trailer for sale today. It’s a first-year 1986 model and has been renovated for modern camping.

Let’s start with that exterior. As you surely already know, this trailer doesn’t look at all like your typical Airstream. The seller of this trailer acquired it this year and had the exterior aluminum repainted in white with stripes. This trailer measures 32 feet long from tongue to rear bumper and should weigh around 5,600 pounds dry. Loaded, you’re looking at 7,300 pounds. You’re also getting the full complement of holding tanks with 50 gallons for fresh water, 35 gallons for gray water, and 30 gallons for your waste.

The interior has been totally renovated from bow to stern. There were two floorplans for the 1986 Argosy 32-footer and this one only sort of follows it. Up front is what would have been a convertible lounge, but now there’s a sofa, a chair, and a central table.

A stock Argosy would feature a dinette right behind this lounge on the left and the kitchen on the right. However, the dinette has been deleted and the kitchen has been moved into its place. Weirdly, the kitchen seems only half-finished, from Bring a Trailer:

The kitchenette has butcher block-style countertops, green-finished drawers and cabinetry, and a black sink in addition to overhead lighting, a portable two-burner cooktop, and a refrigerator and freezer. A counter and open shelving are situated on the opposite wall. House equipment includes an air conditioner, a house battery, a power converter, and battery charger, and a Camplux external demand-service portable water heater.

Honestly, I would have expected something better than a portable camp stove and an external water heater. What’s also weird is what happened to the other side of the interior, where the kitchen was originally. The builders filled the space with a bunch of open cubbies. I don’t like this because now there isn’t really a proper place to eat inside. Maybe you can stand and eat on top of the cubbies or crouch over the table in the lounge.

One thing that is an upgrade is the bed in the rear. The original Argosy had a double bed in a primary bedroom. Now the bedroom is more of an open concept, but now there’s a king bed back there. The lack of privacy between the bedroom and the rest of the trailer makes this more of a big camper for two people.

The bathroom gets pretty funky and it starts with one of those trendy sliding barn-style doors that you’ve probably seen in many restaurants by now. That opens up to a porcelain toilet, live-edge wood accents, and what looks like a sit-down type of shower with a big round head.

A Weirder Piece Of Airstream History

As I mentioned above, the Argosy trailers used to be treated a bit like the black sheep of Airstreams. They were a bit too different to be considered real ‘Streams.

However, time heals a lot of wounds and some people are specifically seeking these oddball experiments of Airstream’s past. Airstream also says that the Argosys are also now allowed into Airstream clubs, which is nice.

This unit seems like a solid choice if that interior design fits you. Personally, I would happily trade that several feet of cubbie space for a dinette and maybe cabinets above. I would also like a real integrated stove so it feels more “factory,” so to speak. But I do like how it still has a working bathroom, which too many custom builds forget about.

This 1986 Airstream Argosy is currently sitting at $3,077 with six days to go on Bring a Trailer. Should you be the one to buy it, you won’t have one of Airstream’s far more common silver campers, but you will have quite the conversation piece when you tell people that yep, despite appearances you really have an Airstream. If anything, it’s nice to see the oddballs saved and renovated.