The Resurrection of a 1968 18' Terry Travel-Pak Trailer.

Original 1968 Terry Brochure

This blog is an ongoing record of the acquisition and restoration of a vintage 1968 Terry  trailer.

My wife (Patti) and I (Paul) have been in the market for a new trailer and had been searching for some time for the right one. Then, about three years ago, Patti read an article in Trailer Life magazine telling the story of a group of female friends who had restored several small vintage trailers and got together several times a year to share their interest in fly fishing - appropriately calling themselves "Sisters on the Fly" - with the monicker applied in one fashion or another to their trailers. Each trailer was uniquely decorated in a Wild West motif, the exteriors emblazoned with colorful Western mural art. Reading the article was an "A-HA" moment for my wife. She no longer wanted the 42 foot 5th wheel trailer with all the bells and whistles. She wanted a mobile art piece that would be small, cozy enough for only two and expressive of her interests and personality. My wife is no fisherman but does have a serious interest in wine. We visit the wineries in Temecula, 45 minutes from our home, go for weekends to the wine growing region of Santa Ynez and have vacationed in the Sonoma wine country for several summers in a row with friends who own a luxury RV.

After reading the article about the fly fishing friends my wife and I began to bid on vintage trailers on eBay. When our friend Carol offered us an abandoned 1968 Terry Trailer, which had been sitting idle on her property near Joshua Tree National Monument, we jumped at the chance. We drove out to look at it and despite the mouse droppings Patti could only see its potential and was immediately inspired to restore, decorate and embellish our newly adopted Terry with one of her favorite pastimes in mind.

Over time the extreme desert climate had begun to take its toll on the vehicle and it had become home to a number of desert critters. Cobbled, as it was, up on blocks, it seemed to be calling out to us to come save it! Patti crawled around under it and took a bunch of pictures to show to a trailer savvy friend and in his opinion the upside of that heat and dry air is that there seems to be no issues with rust or corrosion. That was a green light to commit to the project.

This blog is intended as a record of our attempts to bring this trailer back to life and to share any information we gather along the way, which hopefully, some of you will also find useful. It will not be a restoration back to original condition as, quite honestly, this trailer wasn't all that pleasing to look at externally, being overall white with a wide wood grained stripe running down the middle of the trailer. We will try to keep most of the original fixtures and restore them where possible to keep the trailer feeling "vintage" but it will be reincarnated with a wine country theme using suitable fabrics, flooring and murals and will be christened..."A Fine Vintage"

So, we invite you to follow along with us and share our experiences, offer help or just be amused at our efforts as we venture off into unknown territory!

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