1964 Airstream Streamline Travel Car Motorhome RV

What were the odds of spotting one of these rare vintage motorhomes in the So Cal area while we were camping at a local RV Resort. I talked briefly to the 82 year old owner, he did not know too much about the actual history of the MH but really enjoyed talking about all the upgrades and modifications he made to the rig since he purchased it in the mid 90's. It's a 1964 Travel Car built by Streamline Trailer Company. It was originally built on a 1964 Ford 1 ton truck chassis with a 330 big block truck engine. When Paul purchased the Travel Car in the mid 90's someone had already removed the original motor and haphazardly put a 460 Lincoln motor and transmission in it's place. He then drove it on on a wing and a prayer to his home stating "it drove like a wet sponge rolling downhill on marbles". Realizing he had much work to do, he began to restore and modernize the coach to his taste. He rebuilt the 460 with a mild cam, aluminum heads and installed new headers and exhaust. He had the transmission overhauled and installed an after market GearVendors overdrive unit. He updated the steering gear box and rebuilt the front end and suspension. He then replaced the rear end and had rear dually wheels custom made to fit within the confines of the existing rear wheel wells. Hard to imagine driving this 32 foot beast with single rear wheels on a 10,000 pound coach, Yikes
He rebuilt the brakes and updated the power brake booster. He also made various other updates to the appliances and holding tanks. "It was only built with one waste tank" he said, so he plumbed in a separate black and grey tank for it.
He now drives the coach anywhere with confidence stating he drives up the grapevine (a long 6% grade) cruising 60 mph with ease.

As far as I could tell from my research only 70 Travel Cars were ever produced between 1964 to 1967. One somewhat famous Travel Car nicknamed The Silver Bullet was originally owned by David Janssen (the star of The Fugitive TV series). It has been recently rediscovered and is in process of a full restoration.
Only a few of these Vista View models with rear porch were ever made. At least half of the total production of 70 units came with the standard enclosed rear cap.

Now for a little history...
Streamline Trailer Manufacturing Company began life as a travel trailer company founded in 1957. The owner James Patterson sold part ownership in Silver Streak Trailer Company to be able to start his new company.

It definitely has that Airstream look and I was able to trace it's lineage all the way back to the Airstream founder Wally Byam.
Airstream was founded in 1931 by Byam and first produced the famous "Clipper" travel trailer in 1936. Airstream closed it's doors when the war started due to lack of raw materials. Byam was then hired by Curtis Wright Manufacturing (not to be confused with Curtiss-Wright Aircraft Co) during the war and they worked together until 1948.
In 1947 Curtis Wright (with help from Byam) took over production of the Clipper travel trailer. Byam left Curtis Wright in 1948 to resurrect the Airstream Company. In 1949 three partners (including James Patterson) bought Curtis Wright trailer manufacturing and renamed the company "Silver Streak"
Silver Streak continued on to build travel trailers until the demise of the company in 1986. It is rumored that the owners went on to build a limited number of custom built TT's until 1997.

The Travel Car did not die in 1967. L.K. Newell purchased a new Travel Car from Silver Streak trailers that very same year. He brought it back to the manufacture and made a few "suggestions" on how to improve it's functionality. After exchanging a few words, the builder said "If you think you can build a better coach, then why don't you just buy the company". So he did. A few hours of negotiations later the motorhome division of Silver Streak was now his. He kept the name Travel Car for the first year of production and later changed it to Newell Coach Company. According to Newell Coach's web site, the beach boys owned one of the first models produced by Newell in 1967.

L.K. Newel was an innovator of coach building in the 60's and 70's. He built the first rear engine motorhome in 1969, and the first diesel powered coach in 1970 complete with a custom frame that allowed for another first, pass thru storage. The company was sold in 1979 and renamed "Newell Coach Corporation", and is still in business today producing some of the nicest top end coaches on the market.

Ref;
Vintageairstream.com Frequently Asked Questions
Wally Byam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Silver Palaces - Google Books
Newell Coach Adds Fresh Look to 2011 Model | RV Business
Newell Coach Luxury Motorhomes

References I believe to be incorrect;
silver_streak [Tin Can Tourists Wiki]

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