The Maker Of America’s Craziest Neo-Classic Cars Also Made Some Cozy Fiberglass Campers

If you’re the kind of person who wants a vehicle with maximum 1930s flamboyance minus the price or vintage platform of a car from that era, something like a Zimmer might be your choice. For decades, Zimmer has been perhaps the most famous American brand of weird neo-classic cars for eccentric people. But did you know that Zimmer also made campers? This is the 1981 Mobile Traveler, a rare and lightweight fiberglass fifth wheel trailer that could be a quirky option to pull with a smaller truck.

I stumbled on this Mobile Traveler on Facebook, and at first, I couldn’t find anything about it. The seller didn’t say anything about its history or give any real helpful information. A search for “Mobile Traveler” also populates results for random gigantic luxury fifth wheel trailers.

Then I flipped to a page that piqued my interest. Mobile Traveler was a brand of Zimmer, a company that really hoped you were into neo-classic cars. This little 18.5-foot-long camper is also a pretty neat choice for someone looking for a unique vintage rig. It’s not the best design I’ve seen, but it’s still pretty different.

Yes, That Zimmer!

The part that still makes me giggle is that this camper was built by a company that was owned by the Zimmer Corporation. Truth be told, it’s not at all surprising to see this. Companies get into different markets all the time. In this case, Zimmer was actually in the RV business before it got into making weird cars.

Zimmer Motor Cars was founded in Florida in 1978 by father-son duo Paul and Robert Zimmer. As Hagerty writes, the team set out to make a bombastic car during an era when cars were in a pretty sad place. Remember that, today, we refer to this period as the ‘Malaise Era.’ Zimmer’s first car was the 1980 Golden Spirit, which was a Ford Mustang underneath, but with a chassis stretch and a dramatic transformation done to most of its body panels that gave it a dose of pre-World War II style.

The Golden Spirit was then garnished with lots of chrome, adorned with leather, and equipped with Recaro seats. The whole idea here was to have what was then a new car, but with the opulence a buyer would have expected in decades past. Zimmer would also play around with the Pontiac Fiero, creating the neat Quicksilver coupe in the process.

Many retrospectives talk about just Zimmer Motor Cars, but don’t mention that this wasn’t the Zimmer’s only venture. Zimmer Motor Cars was actually a subsidiary of Zimmer Homes Corp., a builder of recreational vehicles and mobile homes.

According to the Sunbury Daily Item, the family empire started in 1932 when Donald Zimmer launched Zimmer Boat & Trailer. This company built trailers and experienced a boom in business because of the emergency housing demands of World War II. After the war, Zimmer Boat & Trailer restarted trailer production. Zimmer then changed the parent company’s name to Princess Homes in 1947. The company marketed trailers for travel and for more permanent mobile homes.

News reports throughout the decades indicated that Princess Homes was a growing business, and had even expanded its line from old-school mobile homes that looked like campers, to modern manufactured homes that looked more like regular houses. Come 1968, the parent company changed its name again to Zimmer Homes Corp. Records show that during this period of growth in the 1960s, Paul Zimmer was the chairman of Zimmer Homes. Later, Zimmer Homes absorbed a competitor, Windsor Mobile Homes.

Zimmer Homes rode high. In October 1971, the Orlando Sentinel reported that the company saw a 36 percent increase in sales and was making good money. The good times continued through 1972 and then encountered a speed bump in 1973. Then, in the wake of the Oil Crisis of 1973 and a faltering economy, earnings began falling in 1974, Zimmer Homes sold off assets, and then even closed plants. The bad times then continued until about 1975, when the company began turning the corner and making money again.

Zimmer Buys An RV Manufacturer

A curious footnote happened in Zimmer history in 1977, when the Tampa Bay Times reported that Zimmer had spent $2.85 million to buy Junction City, Kansas-based Mobile Traveler, Inc.

According to the Zimmer Registry, Zimmer bought Mobile Traveler in part to build a small, front-wheel-drive luxury motorhome with a transit bus-style entry door, a full fiberglass body, and power from a PRV V6. Zimmer didn’t have experience building anything like this, but Mobile Traveler was already an RV manufacturer.

In a way, the Mobile Traveler Astron was Zimmer’s interpretation of the GMC Motorhome, but Zimmer made mistakes that GM did not. Most prominently, the PRV V6 was woefully underpowered to carry the weight of a 26-foot motorhome; the coaches reportedly had frame issues; and the equipment inside was also reportedly unreliable. And then there was the price: The Astron carried a $104,000 tag, and that was in mid-1980s money. Oof.

Thankfully, the Mobile Traveler business didn’t put all of its eggs into the Astron basket, and the company also made traditional Class A and Class C motorhomes, as well as a line of towables.

The Mobile Traveler Fifth Wheel

I haven’t been able to pinpoint exactly when the fifth wheel line entered production, but the earliest model I’ve found was built in the mid-1970s. Mobile Traveler fifth wheels were sold in at least two lengths, 18.5 feet and 22.5 feet. This unit is the smaller 18.5-foot model.

Sadly, I’ve found no documentation about this rig, so I cannot say with certainty what it’s made of. If you look at the pictures, however, you will see that the exterior body is made out of fiberglass. Not molded fiberglass, mind you, but separate fiberglass panels that are attached to the structure somehow. Mobile Traveler claimed that it did some streamlining to its so-called “Durastron” RV bodies and had fully welded frames and thick insulation.

At least from what little information I have, it does seem to be a well-built camper. Again, it’s not the best RV I’ve seen – the Scamp 19 fifth wheel looks to be a cut above – but it is neat and interesting. Take a peak inside:

The seller doesn’t say a whole lot in the listing:

All original, central heat, fridge, a/c, new water heater but not installed. New wiring for lights. One of the front windows has a crack but doesn’t leak.

… But we can use our eyes to figure out what’s going on. I see a twin-basin sink, a three-burner stove, and an oven. There’s also a wet bath in the back, a refrigerator of decent size, and a separate sink for the bathroom. Nice! What I’m most surprised by is the fact that the interior looks pretty decent despite the trailer’s 44 years of age.

The one data point I have been able to find is that this trailer weighs 2,960 pounds empty. That is more dry weight than a Scamp 19, but still within the towing capabilities of current mid-size pickup trucks.

Of course, buying this trailer will put you in an interesting position. There aren’t many of these around, so if you break one of the unique fiberglass panels, you’re sort of screwed. But that comes with the territory of owning a weird, orphaned camper. The seller, based in Cripple Creek, Colorado, wants just $4,700 for it, too, which seems reasonable.

Sadly, Mobile Traveler would go down with the ship when the Zimmer Corporation filed for bankruptcy in 1988. By that time, Zimmer managed to get involved in ultralight aircraft, trucks, yachts, and conversion vans, too. The RV division managed to limp two more years before shutting its doors for good in 1990. Zimmer Motor Cars restructured and made it to 1997 before being sold off to Art Zimmer, who didn’t have a relation to the original Zimmer family.

Art Zimmer rebranded the company and restarted production. The handful of Zimmers made after 2000 have that old-school Zimmer style, but are not related to the original company.

So, this camper is a weird part of history. It came from a company that was known best for its ostentatious cars, but actually had a history in building trailers in the first place. Chances are, once this one sells, it’ll be a while before you see another. If you’re a vintage camper nut like me, maybe it’ll be worth taking a trip out to Colorado and picking this cutie up.