Mobile Scout in Medford -- definitely a project.

Check it out!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mobile-Scout-vintage-classic-50s60s-cannedham-project-/230493246598

If you can believe it, this looks about the same, perhaps even a little better, then ours did when we started! So yes, it can be done, but it takes a lot of work and you either do it yourself, pay friends in beer to do it for you... or pay out the NOSE.

But it sure is fun, and the results can be awesome!

A '62 beauty.

Dave at Iron Desert (check out their Chili Grill!) got in touch to say how much he liked Mobile Scout Madness. THANKS! He also shared his 1962 redo. Being "an old hot-rodder" (his words, not mine) he stayed true to the original. I like it! Be sure to check it out at his web site. 

How to discern the year of your Mobile Scout?

Many Mobile Scout owners ferret their little darling out of a back lot of some property and there are no papers, little known history, etc. Our Mobile Scout had two helpful tellers of its story.

The cabinets were all original, and on the inside of the upper right cabinet against the outside (over the stove) was a pasted page that showed the unit's model number and year. And if that is missing, you can find the year as part of the VIN, which is welded into the underside of the tongue. So get out your flashlight, lay on your back, and get looking! You need to get under there to see what shape the undercarriage is in, anyway!

A new beauty in the works!

Shortly after making my "spring" post, I received a fantastic story from Jerry. He and his wife, Kristy, have a great story of how they recently came to have their own Mobile Scout!

Driving to and from work, I spotted a canned ham trailer hidden in the weeds behind a vacant house on a rural road and always was drawn to it as I passed by (I love vintage stuff). I finally stopped and asked a neighboring home owner if they could give me any information about the owner of the vacant home and trailer and they gave me a last name.

The name was unusual enough, I had success in locating the owner through the phone book for that area. When I called and asked about the camper the guy gave a long story of a friend of his son who owed money and gave it as payment. The camper was neglected and needed much work. I asked if he would be interested in selling it and worked a price of $100 out of him. He said he didn't have a title and there were no markings on the trailer. He thought it might be home-made. I put tires on it and my wife and I pulled it home, wires and weeds dragging. Luckily we didn't see any cops... ha. The guy never cashed the check...

I looked all over the camper and couldn't find any nameplate or other info... but it has a triangle window on the door with the gasket and glass missing. I love that characteristic.

I've looked all over the net and finally this week, found out it's a Mobile Scout... it has to be. It looks just like pictures I've seen in your blog except all of my windows are two piece louvered glass instead of several pieces like yours... but I can now google "Mobile Scout" and come up with the same pictures. Wow, what an exciting time I'm having.

We totally have to redo the trailer, but that's ok and we're looking forward to it.

I am writing because I am hoping you can steer me to a site or source where I can properly identify the year. I would also like to be able to get a title for it. My wife and I named it TOD... (trailer of dreams). We look forward to using it and pulling it to meets with our '59 Chevy Apache truck (another project).

This morning, I've visited the neat site of Vintagetrailersupply.com and have already found a gasket for my triangle opening in the door! I look forward to bringing the trailer to life.

I'm very excited about this and look forward to sharing more stories and info along the way. I didn't know how to use the blog but will spend more time and learn. Currently, the server I'm useing has filtered and disabled some features against me.

Sorry this is lengthy... but thanks for any help or info you can provide. BTW I love your Mobile Scout!

Thanks for sharing this, Jerry and Kristy, and I look forward to seeing your progress, however that comes about. I love seeing these beauties come back to life. Thanks so much for writing, and check back again often!

Spring is here!

Spring is here... are you making your plans and reservations for your camping trips already? We have plans with friends for Memorial Day Weekend. (Said we'd never go camping on a holiday weekend again, but when a friend calls up and says, "We got you a spot!" how can you say no?) We'll hit the coast a few times, and we'll use it as our base camp for diving trips into Washington this year, too.

So where are you going with your Mobile Scout? Send us pictures! We'd love to see, and to share.

Adorable gifts for the Mobile Scout - er.

When we first obtained Beatrice (that's what we call our Mobile Scout), the web yielded little info, but over time I ferreted out a few owners, and even found a nift product or two. Richard Neuman created a design that's really adorable, and it's available on lots of chochkies over at Zazzle.com.

Finding information about your vintage camper.

The mid 1900's saw an explosion of camper creation, and it can be difficult to trace back some of the smaller models that were made by any one of the many makers out there at the time.  But someone out there has taken their interest in vintage campers to an extreme, and it's for the benefit of everyone else! A gentleman named Juergen Eichermueller has created archival CDs containing scans of magazine ads, newspaper advertisements, brochures, etc. You can see the catalog of CDs he sells, but if you're a Mobile Scouter you'll want to ask for the custom CD with Mobile Scout items. There are a number of ads, brochures and papers included. It's like looking into a lost box of magazines you found in your grandfather's attic.

Bill and Mary L.'s 12 ft Mobile Scout

Bill and Mary L.'s 12 ft Mobile Scout
Originally uploaded by lavachickie

Mary and Bill have a lovely Mobile Scout they go camping in. It's a lovely redo, thanks to the assistance of their son who is an airline mechanic and pilot and gave it a nice new outer glow.

Welcome to Mobile Scout Madness!

In the past year, my husband and I (but let's be honest, mostly my husband) renovated a 1962 16 ft Mobile Scout camper. A true canned ham. We had a great time discovering what we could about her, and wanted to compile it for others, and hopefully meet other enthusiasts of the cute little campers with the triangle window!