Flagstaff Business News
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Retro trend has renovation crews busy.
Retro trend has renovation crews busy.
Silver Airstream trailers are unmistakable symbols of America’s wanderlust, traveling the nation’s roads and nesting in campgrounds since the 1930s.
The iconic American brand with tens of thousands of shiny aluminum trailers still on the move has gained popularity in recent decades with their retro design and reputation for long-haul reliability. Indeed, your uncle’s “silver bullet” trailer is now a hip home on wheels.
This has spawned a niche business for Flagstaff Airstream Renovations LLC, incorporated in 2021 by owner Lance Reynolds. He’s a longtime restaurateur, consultant for US Foods and part-time musician with the Las Vegas country band Cash Presley.
The trailer odyssey began as a hobby in 2015 when Reynolds started renovating his own Avion trailer. Avions are similar but squared off more than the rounder “shoulders” of an Airstream.
“In 2020, when the world shut down and I wasn’t traveling for business, I had some free time,” Reynolds said. “I decided to kind of accelerate the hobby a little bit. We had some people who had come into our life that were very, very, very handy and out of work. So, I actually started the company to help them.”
The plan was to renovate two or three trailers per year to make enough money to pay them and provide health insurance, he said.
“And it took off.”
Reynolds’ second client wanted 10 trailers for his Air Village park in Prescott, which opened in December 2023 with Avion rigs.
“That was a labor of love for all of us. We really learned a lot.”
The crew went on to build a teardrop-shaped trailer for a client and converted an Airstream into a bar and cafe for Sky Ranch Lodge on Airport Mesa in Sedona.
Flagstaff Airstream Renovations – also known as Go F.A.R. – has six employees including Reynolds’ wife, Amy, and daughter, Hannah, who is the director of operations.
Hannah said she is working with a client who wants a hair salon built in her 1965 Boles Aero trailer.
Go F.A.R. is also working on an off-road, off-grid trailer for a client in Mexico with a modified chassis, solar power and a satellite connection for Wi-Fi and other communications.
“That was the inspiration for Recon Rig, the offshoot company that we started,” Reynolds said.
The firm’s website – reconrig.com – features conceptual images of rugged Airstream trailers fortified with bulletproof glass and Kevlar panels for security in remote settings. Listed prices range from $189,000 to $449,000. Prices on new Airstream trailers generally range from about $50,000 to $150,000.
Inquiries have been flooding in and Reynolds said he’s at the point of looking for a larger shop and hiring more staff to keep up with demand.
Go F.A.R. currently operates out of a shop on South Blackbird Roost in Flagstaff. The team was at work recently upgrading an Avion trailer for Desert Haus, a trailer park just north of Williams. It is set to open this year with three vintage trailers and plans for seven more, according to Hannah Reynolds.
America’s roadside attractions have a new look, with retro trailer parks like Desert Haus and Air Village beckoning overnight guests to stay in restored Airstream, Avion and other vintage trailers.
Tin Can Alley in Kingman plans to open in 2025 with restored vintage trailers on Route 66. Shady Dell in Bisbee has hosted overnight guests in its trailers for decades.
A national outfitter – Auto Camp – has eight overnight trailer parks for glamping in scenic spots across the country.
Denny Durbin, owner of Silver Travelers in Phoenix, said he has renovated vintage trailers for clients all over the world, including RV parks in Moab, Utah and Borrego Springs, California.
In business for 14 years, Durbin has seen a spike of interest in old trailers. “It took off like gangbusters about five or six years ago,” he said. “My specialty is triple-axle Avion trailers,” adding that he prefers Avions to Airstreams.
Reynolds said he’s also partial to Avions because they are a little roomier and have rugged 2 x 6 steel frames.
Avion competed with Airstream from 1956-90, but is no longer in business, making parts hard to find.
Reynolds compared the divide between Avion and Airstream enthusiasts to the split between Ford and Chevy fans. “If you get ‘em in the same room, they’re never going to agree” on which trailers are better, he said.
In any case, restoring Airstreams and Avions is time consuming and not inexpensive. It can take three to eight months to do one trailer.
A key element of restoring trailers is removing the aluminum shell from the frame to redo the subfloor and get rid of any remnants of stowaway rodents or black mold, Reynolds said. A standard trailer renovation costs $75,000 to $125,000.
“We’re not the cheapest. We’re really focused on creating a high-quality experience for our customers so that they can enjoy it for decades, as opposed to – pardon the expression – putting lipstick on a pig.” FBN
By Peter Corbett, FBN
Photo by Peter Corbett: The crew at Flagstaff Airstream Renovations worked last month on an Avion trailer for Desert Haus in Williams.
Filed Under: Business, Local News, Sedona, Tourism, Williams, Winslow
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