Vintage Snapshots: Cars And Trailers – Traveling And Vacation Fun As It Used To Be

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– Posted on July 23, 2025

The open road calls and today we have a good gallery of adventuresome souls from the past who heeded the call, plus a few who were called towards the water.  Join us as we view some of the travel rigs from yesteryear.

Our first image may have been some snow birds, travelers who head south to escape the northern winters.  It was winter in this image, but it wasn’t cold, which suggests a southern locale.  Their tow car was a ’60 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Holiday Scenicoupe, with a new looking Yellowstone 16′ travel trailer.  The Yellowstone line was manufactured in Wakarusa, Indiana from 1945-1990.  Two different search results date this image as 1963, but offer no further information.  In the near background a white over yellow ’59 Ford Fairlane 500, white ’61 Chevrolet Impala with fender skirts, and a dirty black over white ’54 Buick Super or Roadmaster.

This one is titled “Western entrance of Pennsylvania Turnpike 1953”.  A ’50 Ford Deluxe Tudor Sedan with an Ohio license plate used in ’51 and ’52, and an Alliance camp trailer, were parked while the family posed alongside.  They were on their way to Florida, a good destination on a cold windy day.  The trailer looked very basic, not much more than a dry place to sleep.  There is an Alliance RV company currently operating, but it does not seem to be related to this one.

A couple of couples were camping in the mountains with a ’53 Pontiac Chieftain De Luxe 4 door sedan with an unknown brand camper tagging behind. The sun was low, so perhaps a cool early morning as the gentleman had his cup of coffee.  The Pontiac was equipped with a grille guard, driving or fog lamps, and I’m sure was a respectable tow rig.  The antenna was extended all the way up in order to receive reception as best as possible.

We are now at the Big Rock Candy Mountain Motel and Cafe in central Utah.  It is now a full fledged resort.  The mountain was named after a song that was released in 1928, written by a man who had traveled through this area.

In the foreground a ’57 Dodge Custom Sierra 9-passenger wagon with the hidden spare tire storage accessed through the removable panel on the quarter panel.  It was towing a Shasta camp trailer, probably their compact model which was 13 feet long.  Shastas were very popular and offered several different sizes and models.  The name is still in use under the Coachman umbrella.  Across the road above the Dodge looks like a ’56 Chevrolet Two Ten Sport Sedan, a somewhat rare edition.

A full load of people plus cargo in this ’61 Plymouth Savoy 4 door sedan from Wisconsin.  Plymouth’s name for this color was Air Force Blue, which is exactly what I thought when I first saw the car, that it was a unit from the motor pool.  On top was an AeroCraft canoe, a popular brand back in the day. The sun was low in the sky; perhaps they were leaving after a day at the lake.

Mr. Red Coat was taking a picture of someone who was taking a picture.  Mrs. Red Coat was at the camper door. Their apparent tow rig was a ’62 Buick Special Deluxe 4 door sedan with a boat on top and a Michigan license plate from either ’65 or ’67.  The camper was a Nomad, one of the brands manufactured by the Skyline Corporation, which still is in existence.  It looks like they had just arrived or were about to depart.

A ’60 Mercury Comet 4 door sedan with a ’67 issue Ohio license plate and a wooden boat in tow.  The Comet would have made an acceptable tow rig, especially if it was short range.  It looked good for a seven year old with no obvious rust.  Perhaps the boat was in the winterizing process on a nice fall day.

Here was an interesting pair; a ’61 Chrysler 300-G hardtop with what appears to be a North Dakota license plate, and a ’66 Mercury Park Lane 4 door hardtop.  Both were towing fiberglass boats, with the one behind the 300-G the larger of the two.  They were at the water’s edge, but not a good spot for boat launching.  It did look like a good day for boating.

Now we are in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, at Peter Skokos Drive-In Restaurant.  The image date is 1965, which made this V8 powered ’56 Plymouth Belvedere convertible 9 years old.  It was registered in Hunterdon County, where the seat is Flemington.  Plus it had snow tires on the rear and was towing a small boat.  In the background a white ’64 Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass Holiday Coupe, and a blue ’60 Cadillac Sixty-Two convertible.

This one was the same family from Ohio in photo #2 that traveled to Florida, this time in December of ’63, with their ’61 Ford Country Sedan and an Airstream travel trailer.  Apparently they were Ford people and serial travelers.  The actual location of this image was not recorded, and they obviously hit some messy weather on their trip.  There was lots of Detroit iron in the parking lot, the oldest I can ID is the ’56 Buick between the trees. It looks like a 2 door sedan, which would make it a Special.

We may have another Ohio car here, going by the hard to read license plate.  A ’65 Chrysler New Yorker 4 door hardtop was a good choice for a tow vehicle.  I can’t see a brand name on the trailer but it certainly was well equipped with a TV antenna and an air conditioner in the front window.  The number on front suggests it was a rental unit.  The youngster was bundled up, so a cool day at the campground by the lake.

One more picture before we hit the road.  A sharp looking ’68 Dodge Charger with Chromed Road Wheels and one eyelid open was the tow car with an Avalon camper following behind.  The Avalon was manufactured by the Alliance Machine Company of Bristol, Indiana.  In the background ’67 GMC, likely a 2500 3/4 ton with a Wideside bed, and a cabover camper.  Plus the rear section of another travel trailer, probably an Airstream.

It looked like a spring day in this waterfront campground, where the campers had either just arrived or were about to leave.  The car was a ’75-’78 Ford LTD Pillared Hardtop with about a 16′ tandem axle travel trailer.  The “Monitor” name on the window cover must have been a subname, as I find no information on a Monitor trailer.  The other names on the side were too far away to read, and the license plate is unreadable as well.

Thanks for joining and to all good day!

 

More Vintage Photos Here