(first posted 10/16/2012) Don’t ask me why, but I love these big old aluminum trailers from the ’40s and early ’50s. Actually, I just remembered why: there were a couple of old timers who ran the little amusement park (ferris wheel, merry-go-round and a little train) in Iowa City Park, and they lived right in the center of the train’s circular track in a trailer very much like this one. Lucky them.
I also just remembered that the name was Lyle Drollinger, who had a small band and operated the little mini-carnival in the park next to the pond. Having just arrived from Austria, the idea of folks living in trailers was still brand new to me, and quite a change from living in centuries-old stone and masonry buildings.
The only picture I could find was of the train, which I loved dearly. We lived right next to the park, so it became my extended back yard. The amusement park was my favorite destination, if for no other reason than to watch the mesmerizing whirl of the merry-go-round or listen to the chugging Jeep engine of the locomotive clattering on its endless circle.
Makes a nice guest suite for when the in-laws come, eh?
That’s a pair of interesting CCs next to the trailer as well — the 900 is relatively rare as a four-door, non-hatch sedan.
That’s one nice lookin’ SAAB! I have 2 of them in that style.
….except in the US where the 5-door 900 was discontinued after two short years and all further original 900s sold for the next 13 years were all sedans – infuriating for American Saab fans who wanted the most practical 900 and had to settle for either a 3-door hatch or a 4-door not-quite-a-notchback sedan. This was a boneheaded move on Saab’s part IMO and cost them many sales of what may have been their most iconic model.
The first thing that popped into my mind was the Lucille Ball/Desi Arnaz movie The Long Long Trailer. This one, though, is probably too long to pull behind a Mercury flathead.
Maybe a Lincoln disguised as a Mercury?
I’m not sure about how much difference in length there is between the two. It’s clear from the hitch that it was designed to be towed, more than just once. I’m guessing it was designed to be as light as possible for what looks like might be a 40′ trailer. I’m guessing Desi and Lucy’s was maybe 35′?
According to imdb, the trailer in the movie was a 1953 New Moon, made in Alma, Michigan. It was a 32 foot long unit, and weighed 6,000 pounds. Pulling that across country with a 3600 pound Mercury convertible – no wonder Desi’s hair turned white early. A 4500 lb Lincoln ragtop would not have been a huge improvement here, although the extra power would be helpful.
If this thing was 40 ft, it probably weighed closer to 7,000 pounds and was designed to be pulled by something with a bulldog on the hood.
This from Wikipedia:
During the scenes of Nicky and Tacy pulling their trailer in the mountains, their 1953 Mercury Monterey convertible is replaced with a larger but similar appearing 1953 Lincoln Capri convertible. The distinct Lincoln grille is clearly evident in a shot as the car rounds a curve. The more powerful Lincoln (which is equipped with a 205 HP V8 engine) was needed to pull the heavy New Moon trailer up and over the steep grades of the Sierra Nevada where the scenes were filmed.
We covered that little bait-and-switch here a while back, although I was wrong on the length of the trailer: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/saturday-matinee-the-long-long-40-long-trailer/
I wonder if anybody burned up their Merc-o-Matic trying that themselves. “But Honey, they drove a Mercury just like ours…”
Re: City Park in Iowa City: The “City Park Express” is still in operation. It’s the same train seen in your picture above, but fully restored. All of the carnival rides are still extant with the exception of the Ferris wheel.
The subject of the article reminds me of a trailer I saw recently. The residents of an old mobile home park are being evicted to make way for lakefront development in my area. I went down for a final drive through the place, and there is at least one trailer of this vintage still occupied. It looks very similar to your spotting except it doesn’t have the upgraded “modern” windows. I’m not sure if it’ll make the move or get bulldozed.
Last time I was there, in 1992, I noticed that. At that time, it was still being operated by the Drollinger family too.
I believe they ran it up until about 2000, at which point it sat dormant for a few years. My recollection is that the City (in typical Iowa City fashion) squabbled about who would get the concession to run the rides, finally settling on a local non-profit. I just don’t think they could stand an outside party making money on their property.
There are still quite a few Drollingers around I.C.
The Iowa City government, which had acquired the train and other amusement rides from the Drollinger family and licensed the operation to a nonprofit, finally shut it all down and tore it out after the Summer of 2018 to replace it with something contemporary (who needs amusement when you have a CELLPHONE?) and, probably more important, CHEAPER.
With the sheer size of that beast it must be semi-permanent. I can’t imagine dragging that out for a bit of camping.
Trailers like these would probably require a semi to pull. Looks too large and heavy for any light vehicle to me. Heavy trucks and buses were not unknown for travelling circuses, but such a trailer in an amusement park is new to me. Good find.
Not a semi. That’s a conventional ball hitch. A good 3/4 or 1 ton truck or Travelall could handle it. Didn’t someone point out the 7000lb towing capacity of a B-Body Cadillac the other day?
How silly of me to forget that… 🙂
Yup IH pickups and Travelalls could be equipped for up to a 10K trailer. Not sure when they got that rating but it was present at the end of the 61-68 model run. On the other hand people back then didn’t pay all that close attention to ratings.
Here’s some pictures of Spartans being towed:
And another, this one a 53 footer!
And one more:
I am warming to your fascination with these. The Spartan fan website pointed out by an earlier comment is very interesting. Probably more useful than a boat. And it would be a good excuse to get myself a Travelall or a big New Yorker or Imperial. “Hey, honey – look what I found!”
I hope that 53-footer has training wheels or something on the back. Looks like it would drag its butt on a moderate driveway.
That is a Spartan trailer, one of the better trailers of the time, just google it and you can see the cool streamline style plywood and stainless steel interiors they had originally. If I remember right Walter Matthau’s character lived in one just like this in the movie “Charley Varrick”
Right you are; and one of my favorite movies of that excellent movie era!
Absolutely, Paul. It’s in my early 70s Matthau trilogy of Charley Varrick, The Laughing Policeman, and The Taking of Pelham 1.2.3., each of which are great car movies in and of themselves – Joe Don Baker’s ’67 Imperial Crown sedan in Charlie Varrick and Charley’s A100 van in particular.
I’ve got to see this movie!
Its a real good movie, with lots of car-spotting potential but it doesn’t end well for a lot of the cars you see!
That and almost anything by its director Don Siegel (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Coogan’s Bluff, Dirty Harry, among others). He was a significant influence on Sam Peckinpah, as well as Eastwood (as a director).
Never realized Siegel made Charlie Varrick but it makes sense since Andy Robinson, who also played Scorpio in Dirty Harry, was Matthau’s nemisis in Varrick.
I never heard of “Charlie Varrick“, looks like fun!
It’s a great movie–including a memorable chase between a ’67 Imperial and a biplane!
don’t know how i missed that one since i’ve always loved walter mathau. i stayed up until 1am watching it last night. the film is littered with curbside classics. thanks for the tip!
I’ll take that trio, keep my F350 to pull the trailer, and live in it until I die happy. Although I might trade the small pickup for a small SUV with the back seat and fixtures stripped out.
Tornado magnets.
What’s does a woman and a tornado have in common?
In the end, they both wind up with the trailer.
Great joke! Here is a variation:
How are a tornado and a Texas divorce alike?
Someone is going to lose a trailer.
Anyone wanting to spend a night in a parked 50’s Spartan should check out the Sou’wester lodge in coastal WA, with over a dozen vintage travel trailers (we chose a Westcraft).
http://www.souwesterlodge.com/vintage-travel-trailers/
Very cool. There’s a similar business in Bisbee, AZ called The Shady Dell.
http://www.theshadydell.com
Ah, Charley Varrick. Great movie. Anybody remember Charley’s “boxing the compass”?
After seeing that movie, I viewed all red Imperials of that vintage with suspicion.
my question would go back to the Lucy and Desi movie. I am presuming that both the Lincoln and Merc convertibles used in the movie would have been sold off after. the Lincoln might have survived but I’d be curious if someone ended up with a low mileage Mercury convertible that needed a motor job VERY early in its life!
This style of trailer also strongly resembles the trailer Mickey Rourke’s character in The Wrestler lived in.
Some great vintage trailers on this website: http://www.mobilehomeliving.org Plus floorplans and interior shots, old ads, etc.
See: “Awesome 55 Spartan Imperial Mansion Remodel” for some great pictures and details.
http://mobilehomeliving.org/awesome-1955-spartan-imperial-mansion-remodel/
Before/after shots of the restoration
Since this piece first ran, the Mrs. and I came across a show on the GAC channel called Flippin’ RVs. Despite sounding like one of those shows where someone slapdashes a POS trailer back together for some unsuspecting buyer, this is a couple in Oregon who loves these old trailers and does a fabulous job of restoring them for customers (or resale). They do them right and make them look fabulous when finished. Trailers like this are what they like to do.
JP: thanks for the tip. I thought it was exactly what you first described. I will have to tune in.
BTW: Bisbee AZ has an entire motel court of vintage trailers, all decorated in period style.
The classic aluminum trailer, the Airstream, appears to be making a comeback. They now cost a nice chunk of change, too.
Yes a friend of mine bought two Airstreams over 30ft long and shipped them back, one has become a mobile wine bar the other is lived in, moving them is the biggest problem due to the weight, a LWB F150 solved that problem.
VERY nice Paul ;.
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A friend of mine used to live in a Spartan trailer in Cottage Grove .
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He always called it his ” areoplane house ” and he loved it dearly .
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R.I.P. Bullfoot (Jerry) .
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-Nate
For anyone visiting the Pacific Northwest, I highly recommend the Sou’wester Lodge in Seaview, Washington, just across the the Columbia River from Astoria, Oregon. They have several Spartans as well as other vintage trailers. The place has a bit of a hippie vibe and is utterly charming. We go at least once a year (usually in my ’64 Impala) and absolutely love it. There’s a wonderful bike trail that runs along the beach, as well as excellent restaurants (The Depot and the Pickled Fish; be sure to make reservations).
Love the look of these vintage aluminum trailers. Very mid-century, and just an attractive shape in general. And big enough to have some real room inside as well–that 53′ in one of the comments is ridiculous! That’s probably close to the square footage of my first apartment… I imagine that would be not exactly maneuverable, especially given the size of truck needed to haul it.
When I was around 10 in 1972 we moved to Salt Lake City and one of our neighbors had one of these big boys. Used it for out of state trips and towed it using a good old 1948 Chevrolet. Kept in contact with him for quite a long time after because of how cool he was, poor guy passed away at 86 last year. RIP Dave.
Your tow vehicle is never too big. That is not true of the trailer.
At any rate, the two vehicles parked next to it were not going to tow it anytime soon.