An adorable little camper redo.

Somehow I stumbled across the Bella Pop blog of Brandy Frank, with her wonderful stories, photos and design of a vintage camper redo. (Does that little triangle window look familiar?) I found the endeavor -- to live in the tiny space -- and the resulting lessons learned to be fun and fascinating!

Bop on over and check it out. 

Photo by Brandy Frank from the Bella Pop blog. 

Anyone need a latch? Get out the wallet!

On eBay I found a Bargman lock just like those used on the Mobile Scouts. 

The price on it is a bit high, but... you can't get them anymore, and it looks like it's new with keys. Someone might be really happy to find this.

Mobile Scout Serial Numbers Decoded!

Previously I posted about the serial number, but it remains one of the most frequent questions I receive. Jim recently told me additional information about it.

All Mobile Scout trailers had a serial number on the roadside of the A frame. The number would look something like this: 64 MS 17SC 2222 all trailers had this basic format. The number described the year, brand name, floor plan, and number. Number was located on roadside just behind coupler.

(Roadside of the frame means underneath.) 

Another frequent question I receive is, "Is this a Mobile Scout?" Jim provided some very valuable information on this question, as well. The answer to that question is pretty easy to arrive at, based on the body style. While the door is a quick give-away, I've seen Mobile Scouts with replacement doors, and Mobile Scout doors that have made their way onto all manner of other types of trailers. 

The body style remained the same from 1956 through 1964; it's the "canned ham" sort of round front, sloped back that we all know and love. In 1965, a change was made to the shape to add a truck and more head room. That was built on through 1979. When looking at a trailer to see what kind it is, all the details tell the story: what do the sides look like around the wheels? Where are the windows, what size and style are they? 

What fun discovering the past stories of these beauties. 

*** SEE THE NEW DISCUSSION FORUM *** 

http://mobilescoutmadness.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

Preserving information about the Mobile Scout.

Part of running this blog has been seeking out sources of information in hopes of gathering, saving and offering up information about the Mobile Scout. Imagine my thrill when in February, a gentleman named Jim contacted me... to make a long story short, he was Production Manager for Mobile Scout From 1964 to 1978. 

And he's FULL of information, and has TONS of photographs and... it's awesome, it really is. "I designed every model made from 1964 to 1978." 

YEOW. 

I've not had near enough time this late winter/spring to fully harness his knowledge -- but with summer just around the corner, I think it's time to really start bugging him. LOL. So lots more information coming!

*** SEE THE NEW DISCUSSION FORUM *** 

http://mobilescoutmadness.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

The history of the vintage mobile scout revealed!

Last year I received a great contact in response to queries I had made from various corners attempting to gain information about the history of Mobile Scout. My queries for information were answered! 

Mobile Scout was indeed a company that built travel trailers years ago. I will give you an update as I know the history. In the late 70s William Dozer Thornton who owned the company sold it to an investor group. It was bankrupted by the new owners in the early 80s. W. D. Thornton received the right to the name in the bankruptcy in exchange for the money that they still owed him.

In 1992 several of us that were involved in the RV industry started a new venture, SunnyBrook RV, Inc, with Tom Thornton being one of the partners. W.D. Thornton was Tom’s father and Tom owned several RV dealerships in Texas at the time. When we started producing units, Tom wanted his units built with the Mobile Scout name on them instead of SunnyBrook. Then several other Texas dealers also expressed interest in having their units built with the Mobile Scout name. So we acquired the right to use the name and have been building units with the Mobile Scout name on them ever since. 

In December of 2010 SunnyBrook was acquired by Winnebago Industries. [...]

Elvie J. Frey Sr.
President
Winnebago Industries

A big thanks to Elvie J. Frey, Sr. who is President of Winnebago Industries for putting all the pieces together for me!

(This information has been on the right sidebar for almost a year, but recent queries are proof that wasn't a good spot for it; people were missing it.)

More and more...

People are now taking notice of my please for DOCUMENTS. I'm getting a few people sending in good clear photos (at high resolution, so you can actually read them) of their owner documents. THANK YOU. I'm adding them to the library, and will post a link to the library once I get it all in order.

You might also enjoy the restoration blog of Molly and her 1959 Mobile Scout! http://vintage59mobilescoutrestoration.blogspot.com/

And MORE Mobile Scout builders/employees have found us and are watching us! Says James P., "I have been in contact with a couple other people who were in management in the sixty's. And we are following your blog site keep up the good work."

I can't thank James enough for the photos he's sending. You're going to LOVE them! (I know, I know, I'm teasing and just need to show you.)

I promise, I will!

Summer is gearing up -- where are YOU going with your Mobile Scout? Scot and I are kicking off the camping year at a vintage camper rally at Milo McIver State Park here in the PNW in May. Next weekend we plan to do like the Boy Scouts do and welcome spring by pulling out all of our gear, washing up Beatrice (our vintage Mobile Scout you see in the header), and making sure we are well stocked. I'm sure we'll get her out for a little brief weekend before the vintage camper rally.

Let me know you're reading by posting a comment to this thread -- with your plans for the summer or just your love of the little tin cans!

Very exciting news!

2013 has certainly started off with a bang here at Mobile Scout Madness. As I look out my window at a beautiful sunny day (about two weeks before the first day of spring, can't get too excited yet), I'm thinking of warm breezes through the camper as we're out at one of our favorite spots.

The past few weeks, I was contacted by a gentleman who worked for Mobile Scout, and no doubt had a part to play in the creation of many of the vintage beauties I and the readers of this blog are caring for. You won't believe the photos he's dug up for me. I'll be sharing those shortly. Stay tuned!

And another person has a family member who is a past employee. More glimpses into history may be coming from there, too.

THANK YOU to those who have contacted me, and taken time to dig up photos and share information. And a plea to anyone else out there who may have information (even if it's just an old document that came with your original 1950's or 1960's Mobile Scout). An image or a scan can create something which lasts a long time! Never hesitate to email me.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2013, all you vintage camper lovers! If you are like me, you're already thinking of warm sunny days and the trips you can your unique little piece of camping history can go.

Our girl needs a good exterior cleaning when spring comes, I can tell you that. She spent 2011 out in the rain, but we put her under a portable carport this season so she's more protected. We'll get out the warm soapy water, soft sponges and a ladder and clean her up, then put a new layer of Sno-Coat on the top to protect her year round.

What type of routine care do you give your vintage camper? And what groups/rallies are you involved in this year? Give them a shout out in a comment!