Is there a market for custom wood tear drop trailers?

In my opinion these trailers are very nostalgic, and also very hard to find.

My question is this...

Is there a market for high end tear drop trailers?
Would you buy one?
What is a reasonable price point?
What features would it need to have?

It would be something like this.

 

You would have to do a lot better than this guy! I can not see 20 large for a tear drop. http://www.ebay.com/itm/121266762472?forcerRptr=true&item=121266762472&viewitem=

 

Hey, I could do $19,950!

 

How high end are you talking? I thought that a high end trailer was really a hotel.

You might contact GMC BUBBA, he used to make tear drop trailers.

 

I was thinking more around $10k, depending on the options.

 

You need to get off a hot rod site and onto some of the many camping related websites. I'm sure that will give you a better idea. Those folks are actively into the camping equipment side of things as their main focus...I guess that's why they have websites for it.

But that's your real market, moreso than car guys.

 

I always wondered if there would be a market for them as well since I have an original set of plans from the late 40s/early 50s.

 

I want one... But I think the wife and 3 kids would get a little mad at me...

 

I scratch built one 4X10' back in the nineties using aluminum, used it for ten years and sold it and got my money back out of it. There is a large variety of them out there and frankly some sell for more than they're worth.
Check out the following web site and the for sale section.

http://www.teardrops.net/teardroptimes.html

 

My wife would love one. That way, she can have the whole hotel room to herself.

 

If they sell for more than their worth, it sounds like a good business to get into

 

I swore after getting out of the military I would never camp out again.. But on the serious side I think those things look great and will sell to several deep pocketed hot rod people.. Good Luck!!!

 

It's sort of a niche market, not for everyone. Getting dressed/undressed flat on your back again not for everyone. My wife told friends we slept in a large Coors can while most of our friends had driveable RV's or large trailers.
I had mine for sale for over a year, when out of the blue a couple called and wanted to look at it, came back next day with a cashiers check.

 

I've built and used a half dozen Tears in the last 8 years or so. It's a buyers market. You really need to research more on line. My cost has run from cheap $300 to $2000 in materials. Most are used by real campers and a super fancy high dollar Tear will be hard to sell. Cabinet grade woodwork isn't really practical for running down the road or taking to the woods.

 

Take a look at the "tincantourists" website.

 

I believe if you check out the vintage campers social group you might rethink that idea,a lot of hot rodders also like to camp.

There are also several long threads about campers on the hamb. HRP

 

There is a lot of difference between maintaining an aluminum skinned camper and a wood skinned camper. I would be a hard sell, just because of that difference. With all the individual panels, humidity changes and bouncing down the road, I would think one would have to strip and re-varnish every couple years. (at least where I live)

 

I'm sure it's a nitch market but even in your area Ill bet there is a strong contingency of wooden boat aficionados ,,I can't imaging all the work involved in their preservation.

As for the teardrop campers most of the original ones were built from plans found in Popular Mechanics and were of wooden construction.

I would think that a wooden tear drop built today would use better construction techniques and wouldn't be exposed to the environments 24/7 as in times past. HRP

 

http://www.lilbear.teardrops.net/parts.html

And these guys in Oregon have a neat setup too. See if you can find online the photos of the building one.

http://www.oregontrailer.net/Oregon_Trailer/Oregon_TrailR.html



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I think you could sell a real nice one almost regardless of cost. Have seen some (in pictures) that are knockouts, and the owners keep getting asked if they want to sell.

Whether there are enough buyers to make a market, and how long it would take to sell one, I do not know. I do know there are several restorers of antique trailers doing a good business, and they are not cheap.

You might build one for yourself and see how it goes. If you get a lot of interest you could build them to order. That way you would not get stuck if they didn't sell.

 

But the people (hot rod/custom) are who he is thinking of marketing. Feed back from all potential buyers.

 

That's not true. "Most of the original ones" were aluminum-skinned and built directly after WWII using war surplus materials. They were manufactured by companies such as Kit, Kampmaster, Kenskill, and others.

 

That's the plan...

 

Ed,the only ones I have ever been familiar with were wooden construction,all home built from plans found in magazines.

My granddad was in a camping club when I was a kid and I remember about 8 of them being built in his back yard. HRP

 

I looked into repoping aluminum 4X10 Marville-Dwyer teardrops in the 1980's. Materials and labor invested approx. $1000. Hoped to retail to the public for $2000-2500.

What killed the venture was three little words...

PRODUCT LIABILITY INSURANCE. (unless sold in kit form)

 

Some pics of ones that had the look to me.....
Kind of like a bad chop on a car. The profile says a lot.

 

This is the web site with the most teardrop activity that I know of.
http://www.tnttt.com/

 

I really like the ones that have the fenders that would match your hot rod. That would definitely be a cool option, as long as the buyer provided the fenders.

 

Wood makes it heavy. Heavy is not good. Very, very limited market, I believe

 

They're usually plywood skinned with aluminium - so the ally adds weight, not lightness.