1963 Shasta 16' Airflyte Camper
I've always had a broad interest in restoring things, it all depends on whether I think it's worth my time, and both my wife and I agreed, this was worth the attention. I've been restoring things since I was 16, and I guess what I decide to restore has a lot to do with what crosses my path, and when this camper did, through a colleague at work, I had originally thought we would use it for a place the kids could hang out. When we looked at this more closely though, who couldn't fall in love with anything that has wheels, and wings? The interior of this camper is all birch paneling, I later found out, was made in Canada. Finding the correct birch wood was very difficult, I scoured many lumber yards, and finally found one willing to work closely with me, and even provided pictures of the grain, so they could hand pick some pieces that were the closest match. The original colors were matched by finding a few patches of original paint under things, that were in nice enough shape to match up. I had a great paint company locally come out and take digital pictures of the color, for a perfect match to the original colors. This restoration took a full summer, and the interior seats still need recovering, but my wife made shades from a funky cool fabric that matches the period nicely. All original appliances are in this camper, and are fully functional, including the very cool gas lamp inside. Next to Airstream, Shasta's were probably the most commonly seen camper on the road for many years, and continue to have quite a following. The best part of this project continues to amuse me as we pull into a campground with this camper, where everyone else has a square box! We always have interested campers stop by, as this camper is like a magnet for even those with a casual interest. I will add video soon, that will provide a walk through of this Shasta camper.