By: Tim Heintz
As many of you know I own and operate Heintz Designs Vintage Trailer Restorations and we get to repair, restore, assess, rescue, and see some of the most interesting vintage trailers that surface around the country. You may remember in issue #25 of the Vintage Camper Trailers Magazine where we had just delivered the world’s oldest Airstream to a museum in Texas after brokering the sale. Well, we have had another interesting adventure since then but this one actually started over a year ago!
About a year ago good TCT (Tin Can Tourist) friends Harvey & Astrid Dunn were driving around where they live and came across a very unique looking vintage trailer. They knew I would enjoy seeing photos of it. They took a few photos from the roadside and sent the images to me. I knew exactly what the trailer was; it was a very cool 1955 Ventoura TWO STORY trailer! Although big, it was meant to travel…. and most of these huge trailers did just that back in the 50’s. Harvey and Astrid never saw anyone around the trailer and with me being 6 hours away there was little I could do to try and contact the owners of this vacation property. After doing all I could to find the owners, I just forgot about trying to contact them. Even if they were found, the trailer was likely not for sale and would likely not be in the best condition since the actual exterior of the trailer looked neglected.
Fast forward 8-10 months later …. I came to work one Monday morning and found another typical email with someone stating they had an old trailer and wanted to know if it was something that could be sold, parted out, or if it just needed to be scrapped. Many of these emails I get, end up being much newer 1970’s, 80’s or even 90’s trailers that have sat in the woods for a long time. I emailed the person back and they stated they would try to get photos for me the following weekend. When the couple sent the pictures I was shocked to see it was the same trailer that my friends had sent photos of almost a year earlier. I emailed the couple back and told them I could not believe it was ‘THAT’ trailer. I told them how I already had photos of the exterior as friends of mine had spotted it months ago and contacted me! The photos she sent showed that the trailer appeared to be in great condition; water and power were still hooked up and still working!
It was a huge trailer and I needed to know just how long it was because here in FL our maximum length law to pull a trailer is 40’ long. I knew that in 1955 Ventoura built their two story trailers in 38’, 40’, and 46’ lengths. I also knew that just the 38’ and the 46’ were offered with two bedrooms and the 40’ was the only model that was a three bedroom. I asked how many bedrooms it had and they told me it had three. I knew that as far as length laws here in FL it was still within the size limit and that it could be titled as an RV (Travel Trailer) and be street legal. Next, was the weight issue. I dug into my files and found original spec sheets for the Ventoura Company.Although a crazy big looking trailer, these huge trailers in the 50’s were quite light. This 1955 8’x40’ two story model only weighs in an 8,500# with just a 775# front hitch weight. Now there was nothing to really stop me as my truck (2011 F-250 Super Duty) is rated to pull 12,200#. However, I just did not need another trailer, as I already have a vintage 1951 Lighthouse Duplex Two Story Trailer that I have yet to get started on!
The more I kept trying to talk myself out of this big trailer, the less I was succeeding! I figured I better come up with plan B, and that is always an easy thing to do with a friend like Tommy Thompson! Tommy and Leanne Thompson are usually always camping next to me at all the TCT rallies! Leanne Thompson actually works for my Restoration Company and Tommy is always at our shop whenever he is not working his real job as a Firefighter/EMT. If there is ever a trailer I pass on I usually can talk Tommy into it, although Leanne is usually not happy with me! However, this time it was the complete opposite, Leanne wanted this trailer and had visions of it being a great guest house behind their home here in Panama City, FL. The first thing we needed to do was to actually go and see the trailer in person to make sure it was truly in as good shape as it appeared in the photos.
The trailer was in great shape! Yes, it needs quite a bit of work, but it was all there. Only the original fridge and stove were missing. All lights, hardware, and even the two windows (that had been removed for AC) were still in the trailer. The couple told us this trailer was a family trailer. Their great uncle and great aunt originally purchased it in California and traveled with work, towing the trailer for many years. In 1961 he took a job in central FL so they loaded up all their stuff in the trailer and car, hooked up the trailer to the car and the great uncle pulled the trailer all the way cross country from Los Angeles, CA to Floral City, FL with his wife and children riding in the trailer the entire way! Once in Floral City the trailer was jacked up and sat on large pyramid blocks, never tied down, but siting on all the blocks. Thankfully with two floods in the area water only reached within 2” of touching the bottom of the trailer both times! There is also a great story about a HUGE alligator living under the trailer and wildlife officers taking 3 hours to pull the angry gator out from under it!
After we looked over the trailer we decided it was in really good shape and was structurally safe for road travel. Tommy and Leanne agreed they wanted the trailer! Now, we faced the fun task of prepping for the rescue, getting new tires, rims, etc. Before we left we made sure to spray all the lug bolts and front hitch with penetrating oil, and broke free all the lug bolts so they would all have time to loosen up with the oil before we returned to pull the trailer out from its long resting place.
We decided to move the trailer over Memorial Day weekend. My parents were able to join us on the trip. It is always an adventure when all 5 of us are together and vintage trailers are involved!
Pulling down that two lane overgrown road was nerve racking, every power line and tree limb looked so low! Although it is a tall trailer at 12’6” tall, it is still a little shorter than a modern semi-truck so there really was no chance of hitting anything but that sure did not ease my mind when we were first pulling it! We did hit a few small limbs, but nothing big enough to do any damage. Once we made it to the end of the road we got out and checked the bearings, everything was cool as could be so we decided to pull on another 25 miles to our hotel for the night in Inverness, FL. When we arrived at the hotel, we checked the heat on all the bearings. One was a little warm so we decided to remove all the grease caps, dig out all the old grease that we could and packed as much new grease as possible. This was much easier to do in the parking lot than it would have been back at the original site. We were also able to get under the trailer and grease all the torsion axle fittings. After that it was time for a good night’s rest at the hotel!
The next morning, we were back on the road! You should have seen all the looks we received driving through all the small towns. We decided to stay off the interstate with this trailer since it was so large and I did not have a sway bar on the trailer, just a weight distribution hitch.
The trailer pulled great and the more I got use to pulling it, the more comfortable I was to pull at higher speeds. We maintained around 55 MPH on the highways and my truck never felt like it was pulling a big trailer. The trailer is not the best aerodynamic design I have seen, especially with that large forward facing overhang upstairs. I still did a pretty good on fuel averaging 7.8 MPG all the way home.It was a lot of stop and go in all the small towns we went through. Tommy did much better since he was as close as he could get behind me to keep people from getting in-between us. Tommy averaged 30 MPG in his Chevy truck drafting behind that huge two story wall on the back of the Ventoura!
Our hopes are to see this trailer back to original. Ventouras were awesome trailers that when new, actually looked like a real 50’s style ranch home! It even had a faux chimney cover for the heater vent on top (see ad on page 15) which was removable for travel and the bricks were painted on the cover as well as down the side of the trailer until it reached the A frame roof line. Many will argue that this trailer, as well as all huge trailers (house trailers) of the 50’s were not mobile, but they are incorrect. They have trailer brakes, running lights, turn signals, and as the ad states “A real home that travels too”
