The Find
Cardinal - as found
We’ve been rescuing vintage travel trailers for 15 years, and the rescues seem to fall in one of two scenarios: either they are amazingly, surprisingly easy and they just fall in our lap, or they are pretty difficult and involve some effort and a little luck. The story of our Cardinal acquisition falls into the second category.
We try to keep a frequent eye on local ads for trailers, and one evening came across a 1959 Cardinal which was actually just a few miles from home. There were no pictures of the inside, but we’d always appreciated the graphic paint schemes of Cardinals, and we really wanted this trailer. After having previously lost out on a few beauties by not acting soon enough or getting burnt (one trailer was sold as we drove to the location), we knew we needed to act fast.
Cardinal - as found (with vintage plate still!)
So, John called immediately and the owner said there was a lot of interest in it. She would be taking closed envelope bids at 11am the next day. John asked, “Can I look at it now, I just live right down the road?” Surprisingly she said yes. He went over that same night and knew right away that we needed this trailer. It was a literal time capsule with original everything, even down to the vintage dishes and bug repellant sticks.
The Offer
Though he tried to buy it right then and there, she was determined to take bids through the next day, so we knew we needed to give her an offer that would come out on top, but still not break the bank.
John and I discussed the amount over the phone and gave our bid on the spot, and then after John’s 10 minute drive home, we called to add another $500 to our offer! We really didn’t want to lose out on this beauty.
After that, it was pins and needles waiting until the end of her silent auction the next morning. Then about 11:15 she called. It was ours! She said there was another interested party that was very close to our offer, so it was a good thing we had added on the extra $500.
Kismet
Later we discovered that a bit of kismet (fate/destiny) had helped us out as well. We were moving and our realtor asked, “Hey, where did you guys get that camper?” and we found out that prior to our buying the Cardinal, he had actually sold the lake property where it had sat - the trailer came with the property. Curious, the realtor had asked that new property owner what she was going to do with the Cardinal, and she said “Oh, we’re probably just going to haul it to the dump or scrap it.” He told her that it probably had some value, which is what led her to list it for sale.
If he hadn’t suggested they sell the trailer, it never would have made its way to us!
The Restoration
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The Cardinal is probably one of the most original trailers we’ve ever restored, even the flooring was salvageable, which is pretty rare. As with any camper this old, she still needed plenty of work to make her “campable” and beautiful again, but it was all worth it. This has been one of our favorite restorations to date.
Even with the camper in such great shape, it still needed significant work to get it like new again. Among the projects included:
Resealing and exterior painting and polishing with the original paint scheme retained
Sourced replacement lenses for the running lights and tail lights
Replaced tires, wheels, and chrome hubcaps
All windows and drip caps were polished
Entry door was rebuilt
Original flooring sanded and waxed
Replaced a few patches of water-stained wood, though most is still original
Refinished all the original woodwork
Reinforcement of the frame and new hitch installed
Refurbished the original icebox
Added an outlet with USB charging ports (one of the few modernizations we added)
Various electrical projects
Plus a lot more!
