Airstream is an American icon that doesn’t need an introduction, even if you aren’t into RVs. Even the average person could tell you something like how an Airstream is built like a plane. But one thing Airstream isn’t known for is building super compact trailers. The smallest Airstreams today are 16 feet long, but there was a time when they got even smaller, and one got really tiny. This is the Airstream Der Kleine Prinz, a 13-foot trailer that’s smaller than a Honda Fit, yet manages to have more features than many modern campers.
Der Kleine Prinz is a one-off trailer that’s currently on loan to the RV/MH Hall of Fame museum in Elkhart, Indiana. I went to the museum during the 2024 Thor Dealer Open House and got to experience over a century of RV history, including learning about RVs that you won’t find anywhere else in the world or even on the Internet.
It’s easy to dismiss the Der Kleine Prinz as a custom one-off made to look like an Airstream, but it is believed to be the real deal and very likely the prototype for what Airstream calls a Bambi today.
Pint-Size Airstreams
Airstream is one of a few RV brands out there with an archive full of company history. Enthusiasts then work to fill in the gap that the company hasn’t.
For decades, it was thought that the Airstream’s smallest trailers were the Cruisettes. Built for just a couple of years in the early 1950s, the Cruisette measured in at around 15 feet long and weighed just 1,420 pounds. It offered an Airstream buyer a way to hit the road with their own tiny silver bullet without having a powerful car. The Cruisette was pitched as a weekend trailer that was more or less a step up from a tent. You got a sink, a three-burner stove, a closet, and bedding for four, that’s it. The Cruisette didn’t have a bathroom or even a refrigerator. But it was cute as a button.
Another tiny Airstream was the Wee Wind of the 1940s. That one measured 16 feet long and while it was larger, it weighed in at an impressively light 1,200 pounds while having more features than the later Cruisette. This one had an ice box and a propane heater!
However, for decades, the Cruisette was considered to be the smallest aluminum Airstream. That was until 2004 when Airstream collector Ken Faber of Michigan rolled into the Tin Can Tourists rally in Camp Dearborn. The Airstream he had in tow was smaller than anything any Airstream enthusiast or historian had ever seen.
The Little Prince
That trailer had a plate on the side naming it as Der Kleine Prinz. Sadly, any official documentation about the Der Kleine Prinz has been lost to time. However, retired Airstream employees have looked over the trailer and believe it’s legitimate. It also has a manufacturing plate placing its construction at Airstream’s plant in Jackson Center, Ohio. The historians of the RV/MH Hall of Fame go even further, saying that the Der Kleine Prinz was a prototype for the slightly longer Bambi line.
It’s believed that Airstream founder Wally Byam himself ordered the creation of Der Kleine Prinz after he took a caravanning trip across Europe. According to the RV/MH Hall of Fame, Byam had this trailer built with the intention of putting it into production to sell to Europeans, who tend to buy smaller trailers than Americans do. That could also explain the trailer’s German name: The Little Prince. The nameplate is also an interesting touch as Airstream didn’t often place nameplates on custom-built trailers back then.
The RV/MH Hall of Fame says the trailer was constructed in 1958 and it’s unknown what the trailer spent the 1960s doing. However, the museum says that Byam didn’t like what his factory built, so he canceled the project, leaving behind just the sole prototype. The trailer was first found by the public in the 1970s when it was found at a used car lot and purchased for $800 by an Indiana couple. The couple would later trade in the Der Kleine Prinz for $1,500 towards an Argosy Minuet.
The trailer would end up in the showroom of Berning’s Trailer Sales in Fort Wayne, Indiana as a conversation piece for customers. Ken Faber laid his eyes on the trailer in that showroom back in 1992, then spent the next 12 years trying to get Der Kleine Prinz from the dealer’s owner. Faber eventually convinced the dealer to let the trailer go, and now thanks to him, the world knows about the trailer and the Cruisette has been dethroned from its position as Airstream’s smallest trailer.
The coolest part about Der Kleine Prinz is that it’s just like any other trailer. It’s built out of the same aircraft-like riveted aluminum construction, but there’s just less of it.
Perhaps what’s most impressive is that Airstream managed to fit a whole functional travel trailer inside. This sole Der Kleine Prinz has a tiny bathroom and shower in its left rear, a three-burner stove, a refrigerator, a sink, an electrical system, and a propane heater. That means this tiny trailer actually has more features than a slew of the micro off-roading trailers on the market today. I’ve lost count of how many micro trailers out there want you to take a dump in the woods. No thanks, I think I’ll hold it. This aluminum cutie is also more practical than my old U-Haul CT13, which was the same size.
Now, if you’re thinking there has to be a downside to filling up a tiny trailer with this much equipment, you’d be right. The box of the trailer measures 10 feet long, 6 feet wide, and has an interior with 6 feet, 3 inches of headroom. Toss in the tongue and the trailer comes out to an even 13 feet. Faber and his wife, Petey, actually used Der Kleine Prinz for camping, but it’s not an ideal trailer for it. She ends up sleeping on the tiny bed while Faber takes the floor.
Instead, the Fabers see themselves as caretakers of a piece of history rather than using it as a real camper. And don’t think you’re going to get it off of them anytime soon. Faber has gotten offers from Airstream enthusiasts as far away as Japan, but he’s not interested in letting it go.
It’s believed this trailer was really the prototype for the 16-foot Bambi. The first Bambi was created in 1961 and was taken on the Airstream Cape Town to Cairo caravan through Africa led by Byam. During that trip, Byam learned of a small deer that the Angolan people loved and called the “O’Mbambi” in the Umbundu dialect. The animal was known for its strength and sure-footedness, and Byam thought that would work perfectly for his mini camper.
Since then, the Bambi has usually represented the smallest camper in the Airstream lineup. Today, the Bambi is joined by the Basecamp, which is also 16 feet long, so it’s no longer the smallest Airstream currently for sale.
While Der Kleine Prinz’s origins aren’t known for sure, it’s interesting that someone at Airstream, likely Wally Byam, thought the little baby would work. There’s not a lot of camper that you can fit in 10 feet of space, but Airstream tried, anyway. It’s a shame only one of these was built because I’d love to see Airstream try a modern take on Der Kleine Prinz today. You could easily maximize space with a modular or convertible interior. Come on Airstream, do it!
Mercedes, you need to look into the the Hotel Luna Mystica in Taos, NM. Each “room” is a different converted vintage RV trailer, just outside Taos with absolutely stunning views of the nearby mountain range to the east. My girlfriend and I stayed there last weekend; the experience was transcendent. I have a feeling you would fall in love with the place!
Cozy is a good word here
After a bear scare with only a 25yo pop up camper or an ancient convertible as shelter(needed, as my little dog was insulting Mama bear vociferously), I looked at Bambi’s as possibly light enough to tow behind my diesel Mercedes. Quickly abandoned that idea as prices were—to me—crazy even 12 years ago. They do seem to be constructed pretty well from what I saw of one being worked on at the sheet metal shop we use.
Love the idea of little campers, but just can’t stomach the cost. A cool little Barefoot camper I saw yesterday turns out to run between $40 & $50k. Nice retro design and color, though
My Grandfather – The one who was the President of his region’s Wally Byam club for a time in the early 70’s – owned a Bambi as his first Airstream trailer. The 28′ Overland that I came to know when I was a wee lad came later, in 1968 or ’69.
Apparently he took the entire family – including my 3 uncles and my Mother – camping in the Bambi.
The boys slept outside in a tent.
Something about buying a little German in the 50’s feels a bit funny…
Thanks to the Marshall Plan and bilateral rebuilding efforts on the part of the US and West Germany post-WWII, there was a lot of positive PR and outreach. (And a nontrivial bit of sanitization…) Americans of German descent were also keen to distance themselves both during and after the conflict. In the 1950s, West Germany was the US’ new best friend.
Especially back then, we didn’t talk out loud about how many “Get Out of Jail, Free” cards we handed out to German rocket scientists so we could get ahead in the Space Race.
Politically, forging close ties with West Germany made sense, as it was geographically at the forefront of “holding back” the Soviet Union. (Which, of course, had gone from being an ally immediately prior to and at the height of WWII in Europe, but was now the “Red Menace”.)
So, yes, there was definitely an about-face. It’s interesting to pick apart the history of it all.
Oh, and friendly US-West German trade also begat the sales arrangement between Studebaker’s dealership network and Mercedes-Benz… Which also led to developing the Hawk for placement as Studebaker’s high-end, Euro-inspired car to market alongside Mercedes in the dealerships.
Yeah we gave Germany a big hug and told them it’ll be OK, then gave them a job and told everyone they are awesome! If we only we did the same for Japan at that time period. They figured it out on their own, though.
Yes, the contrasts are readily apparent. Although, if you dive into the geopolitical history, the US had more of a hand in rebuilding Japan’s economy than it might seem on the surface, although the optics of how it was done appear a lot more hands-off. But it’s complex, and fraught with a lot of cultural differences and pitfalls of misunderstandings. And add an overriding urge by the US to bury how xenophobically it treated US citizens of Japanese descent during the war. Then combine it with a Japanese cultural imperative to “save face” and just move forward from the war era, plus a strong competitive urge easily as strong as any in US business and industry. (I think, to this day, we’re still unpacking a lot of that complexity in various aspects with Japan, as generations age. The Internet age has helped a great deal as we all discover how small the world really is.)
Anyhow, Japan’s auto industry was quick to seize on finding success beyond its own borders. Great Britain was actually seen as a primary early market to break into; it had the advantage there was no need to convert designs to left-hand drive, and sizes and power classes of Japanese and British cars could dovetail nicely. Breaking into the US market would take a little more time to gain momentum, but the 1970s energy crisis sure gave the efficient and reliable Japanese imports a boost at the right time. And by then, US consumers were already gaining a better impression of Japanese products as more and more innovative Japanese-made consumer goods entered the market.
Aside — I still recall the little portable, fully transistorized black-and-white Sony TV from the late 1960s that my family used until it finally started giving up the ghost sometime in the 80s. Sony spent a ridiculous amount of research and development resources and efforts on those little TVs, as they were seen as a critically important way to demonstrate not only Sony’s, but Japan’s mastery of advanced electronics. And they had to work perfectly to enter the world stage. And they very much did.
Also, I’m reminded of the scene in Back to the Future where 1950s Doc proclaims that the real cause of the failure in the time-traveling Delorian was in its electronics, because “This part was made in Japan!” — To which, 1980’s Marty replies, “But Doc, all the best stuff comes from Japan!” How times and opinions change…
This is a wonderful and informative comment.
It certainly is! Here I am cracking jokes about post WW2 American sentiment and I got a YouTube script worth of information about post war re-construction. Wonderful little community sometimes.
Airstream’s looks are timeless but I’m not sure about the stove right next to the s—-ter.
Adds flavor, and the heat will kill the e coli, right?
“Hey, Marge. The coffee taste a little nutty this morning.”
I wish I could upload the “confused screaming” meme image. 🙁
I love it, even though I know how limiting this size space can be. But there’s just something about the concept of “existing trailer-style, but Airstream…” that just speaks to me. They’re just too unique not to love.