Wally Byam founded Airstream 80 years ago. Wally was driven by his passion to build an innovative, well-designed, high quality trailer product that met the needs of a new breed of adventurer. Airstream, Inc. has been making trailers and motorhomes ever since for people to realize their travel dreams. Over sixty percent of all Airstream trailers made are still active on the road today - and of the 300 US trailer companies active in 1936, Airstream is the only survivor.

Airstream began with a single man and a most singular dream. The man was Wally Byam: his dream, to build the perfect travel trailer. One that would move like a stream of air. One that would be light enough to be towed by a standard automobile. One that would provide first-class living accommodations anywhere in the world. Thus, was born the first Airstream trailer. And with it was born yet another dream, a dream of new freedom, new places, new experiences, and new friendships. It was a dream so powerful, so enduring it did far more than create a new way of travel; it created a new way of life shared by thousands upon thousands of families.

The Airstream philosophy has always been and will always be, " Let's not make any changes - let's make only improvements!" Every inch of an Airstream has a functional purpose. There is no planned obsolescence. This is as true in today's models as it was of the first Airstream to see the light of the open road. The classic Airstream of the thirties is no museum piece. Still in use today, it is as sturdy and modern in appearance as the first day it swung into traffic. As a result, an Airstream is always "in style' - conceived and constructed as a lifetime investment in happiness.

Our small community is a great reason why Airstream is also the oldest RV company in the world. We have a close-knit relationship with our people and their needs that extend to Airstreamers everywhere.

And Airstreams ARE everywhere! Not only on roads around the world - but in magazines and on television too. With the rising popularity of trailer and motorhome travel and consequent surge of enthusiasm for our own iconic 'silver bullet', we have more new product development under way at Airstream right now than ever before in the company's history.

There's a growing sense of enthusiasm for Airstreams and Airstreaming. This is reflected in membership within the International Wally Byam Caravan Club - the world's oldest existing organization for recreation vehicle owners and the largest club dedicated to a specific RV brand. The club's 20,000 members participate in regional, national and international rallies throughout the year. Today's Airstreamer is a new breed of adventurer with a wanderlust spirit equal to Wally's founding passion 75 years ago. We, at the company, share that passion and try to use it as the centerpiece of everything we do.

Today, the Airstream is the most thoroughly tested Airstream in trailer history. It is years ahead in engineering — the culmination of over 70 years of experience in trailer making, millions of miles of Caravan travel throughout the world; plus millions of miles more, run up by happy Airstream owners! More than ever, the Airstream remains a testimonial to the practical vision, the tenacity and know-how of one dedicated man - Wally Byam, and his team who made your travel dreams come true.

AIRSTREAM EUROPE HISTORY

Airstream's European range was developed in 2004-2006 by Airstream Europe in tandem with engineers in the USA, essentially to follow the design cues of the most successful décor developed to date in the USA (the International CCD, styled by architect Christopher Deam) and put this into a European compliant form.      

Five years later, to come up with something fresh and better for such an iconic brand, was a big challenge.   In early 2010, Airstream Europe (AIRSTREAM’s European manufacturing and distribution partner), decided to step up a gear.      They sought permission to take ALL design work in house, to develop the new vehicles completely themselves, giving them control on materials, specification, timing etc.’  

The first generation 684 was named Best Caravan in the Caravan Club Caravan Design Awards for three years running from 2007 to 2010.   Airstream Europe decided not to enter the competition in 2011, but to keep their powder dry for a return in 2012 with the Series 2 model.

Anthony Slocock, Technical Director at Airstream Europe explains the design strategy:  ‘Getting it right is a question of taking measured steps – we always start with hand drawn sketches, plus much time is spent at the floorplan development phase in 2D.  Only when we have a very clear idea of the floorplan, functionality and design themes do we move into 3D.   In terms of 3D work, the Series 2 684 is the first vehicle we have developed completely ourselves using true digital modeling (Autodesk Inventor).  First we had to fully model the Airstream shell in 3D which had not been done in the USA.  It took us some 8 months to fully model every component of the new trailer shell and interior in 3D.   The benefits are considerable – you get a much clearer picture of the end result much sooner, plus the transition from prototype to full production is much faster as many fit issues are resolved digitally, before the prototype is even built’.

Initial reactions to the new décor following photography of the prototype Series 2 684 seemed to suggest the 8 months of detailed 3D design work were on track -  ‘Simply outstanding’….   ‘I believe this ranks among the best “production” Airstreams I have ever seen, really great work!’

With exciting new products being developed for the European market and new European dealers and customers to enjoy them, the build up to Airstream's Centenary in 20 years time will be an exciting journey.  We hope to see you down the road!