Ford Bread truck. It was a hit at car shows
and because we are competitive with
each other I decided to jump in and do
something similar and one better him.
Since then we have totally enjoyed
doing trailer rallies as well. The biggest
advantage of trailer rallies and shows is
that once you park up, you are there for
the whole weekend making for a laidback
and fun-filled weekend.
After being inspired to buy a Winnebago
after seeing a 1969 one a friend had
bought, Ken found the twelve-foot 1959
“Minnie Winnie” located in Chicago for
sale on eBay. He asked the owner to send
him as many photos of the interior and
undercarriage as he could, and when
he was satisfied with the condition
of the trailer, he placed his bids and
bought it sight unseen for $2,000. The
next challenge was how to get it back
to California. Ken ended up having to
pay another $1,000 to have the trailer
transported to Pomona, California where
the restoration as to take place.
“I paid for the shipper’s insurance for the
total amount just in case it got destroyed
on the tow here! I also told the driver if it
fails or falls apart to just drop it and run!”
Ken laughs.
Thankfully the trailer made the 2,500-
mile journey in one piece, a fact that
Ken figured was a testament to its travel
worthiness even despite its age and
condition.
From the photos, Ken could see that it
appeared to have very few water stains
on the interior panels but says they could
not tell how much dry rot was in the
framing until they opened it up.
“I was told you buy a vintage trailer from
the inside out, seeing if the wood panels
show any water damage, as opposed to a
vintage car where you want the outside
to be perfect knowing you can repair the
inside”, Ken says.
They took the trailer to professional
restorers ‘Vintage Trailer Store’ in Ontario
who peeled back the lower skins around
the trailer. Taking care not to disturb the
paneling, once inside they found a lot of
rot on the joist surrounding windows and
wheel wells requiring them to replace the
outer skin to get to the bad joist. Once
repairs were done, they stripped, sanded
and re-varnished the entire interior to
Every trailer owner’s
worst nightmare
Stripped out to repair the rot
22 | vintagetrailermagazine